When it comes to seasonal allergies, how beneficial is honey?
Learn the best way to treat seasonal allergies with honey by reading this article. Investigate the reasons why this time-honored treatment is not supported by any scientific data.
My first disclaimer is that I am not a medical professional, and I do not suffer from any allergies. In spite of this, I have never been able to be without a viewpoint. I have a tendency to examine meaningless pieces of popular wisdom, much like a hornet enclosing a beehive. One step at a time, I continue to look for a back door, a crack, or a means to bring it down, much like the hornet; I keep looking for it.
Following that admission, it is no longer necessary for me to say what I think about the effectiveness of honey in treating seasonal allergies. Neither am I the only one who harbours scepticism. A number of research have come to the conclusion that there is no evidence to suggest that the pollen in honey has any impact on pollen-induced allergies.
Outer-side allergies
I was sceptical when I read that some individuals were using local honey to help with their allergies. Even after all these years, I still don't get it. Why? Not a single record.
People who consume honey as a remedy for seasonal allergies often give vague descriptions of what they're allergic to, such as plants, pollen, or spring. "Blackberry, I guess" or "I think it's mostly fireweed" are some of the answers I get from beekeepers when I inquire about the pollen content of their honey. They are as clueless as I am about the kind and quantity of pollen that floats inside their baby bears.
What does "local" imply when someone asks for honey from a specific area? I always have to ask. Sometimes, they will shrug. "You know, from this area. There's a sister in Spokane who needs it. On the opposite side of a desert and a mountain range, "here" is located three hundred and thirty-three miles from Spokane. However, Washington remains, doesn't it? "Local" can signify anything you desire.
These fluffy buds open into delicate, pollen-filled blossoms of vibrant yellow. A tiny tree or large shrub, pussy willow is an important food source for hungry pollinators because it is one of the first plants in the landscape to blossom.
Seasonal allergies
Information on seasonal allergies is something we have plenty of. Pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds—"small, light, and dry pollen grains" that float on the wind—is the most common allergen, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation. Red, itchy, swollen eyes; sneezing, wheezing, and coughing can all be brought on by these microscopic pollen grains that find their way into our respiratory system and eyes.
My primary concern is that very thing. The wind-borne pollen grains are tiny, dry, and rarely found in honey. Honey bees prefer pollen grains that are heavier, bigger, and stickier—the kind that glues themselves into a pollen basket—to feed the colony. Melittophilous plants are those whose flowers have adapted to attract pollinators like bees, and these grains are big and sticky.
Similar to smoke, airborne pollen floats.
Pollen clouds in the air aren't very appealing to honey bees, especially when there are plenty of other nectar sources. In the spring, honey bees ignore the small, dried grains that irritate people's allergies since there are an abundance of pollen sources to choose from.
Trees include birch, cedar, pine, mulberry, oak, ash, alder, aspen, beech, and cottonwood are among the species that can trigger seasonal (often spring) allergies. Due to nature's aversion to waste, the majority of plants that rely on wind for pollination do not waste energy on creating fragrant flowers or sugary nectar. Because wind is inexpensive, there's no need to support pollinators.
But sometimes, especially when excellent pollen is rare, honey bees will gather the smaller grains of pollen. Everyone has seen bees gathering pollen from corn, timothy, fine fescue and meadow foxtail, among other plants. Then surely this delicate pollen can end up in the honey.
Pine tree catkins, which are the tree's flowering portions, discharge billions of pollen grains into the air. The wind is responsible for dispersing pollen. Catkins from pine trees undergo pollination, also known as fertilisation, when they land on suitable female trees. Subsequently, the tree releases seed-filled pine cones.
Why pollen carried by the wind rarely lands in honey
Very little pollen from the wind gets into the honey. Why? Since flowers that attract bees produce pollen and nectar at the same time, a shortage of either one will lead to a shortage of the other. However, even when the colony has an abundance of honey stored in the hive, the bees' requirement for new pollen remains during a nectar shortage.
Bees will keep foraging for pollen, even when nectar is scarce, and they may even gather pollen from lighter, windier types, because fresh pollen tastes better. In any case, the colony isn't actively beekeeping since wind-dependent flowers don't provide nectar. This means that pollen grains carried by the wind almost never end up in honey.3
Naturally, any pollen in the air has the potential to settle on a beehive full of ripe honey. However, it wouldn't be consistent from one year to the next; it would be a random event. In addition, no matter how much honey a person consumed, the quantity would likely not be sufficient to assist in developing a resistance to the allergen.
The start of an unusual conviction
Those who read the WebMD article "Does Honey Prevent Seasonal Allergies?" are led to believe that pollen immunotherapy and honey eating are synonymous. As part of immunotherapy under a doctor's supervision, patients undergo testing on their skin and blood to identify the specific pollens that trigger their allergic reaction.
The goal of the doctor's injection programme, once an allergy has been identified, is to gradually raise the dosage until the patient develops a tolerance. Despite its efficacy for pollen allergies, this method fails miserably when used to food allergies.
Immunotherapy is far different from just eating honey and crossing your fingers that it has the proper kind of pollen. Most of the time, customers who say they're using honey for allergies want to know if it's local. No one ever bothers to inquire as to when the bees gathered it, what plants they ate, or if it contains certain pollen types. Locality isn't even a consideration for them. The majority of the time, people will purchase spring honey in the hopes of avoiding a fall ragweed allergy. I don't understand.
Just to how some people prepare their "system" for spring allergies by purchasing fall dandelion, goldenrod or Japanese knotweed honey, I've also seen people do the same thing. It would be futile to treat an allergy with honey if the patient doesn't care about or, even more likely, isn't aware of the kind of pollen it contains. Going blindly into a drugstore and picking out a bottle of medicines in the hopes that one of them will heal your illness is the best way to put it.
A lot of trees, including birch, release clouds of pollen in the spring, which is really annoying for a lot of people.
What is the effect of consuming pollen?
What happens to pollen in your digestive system is an additional factor to think about. There is a difference between administering an allergen dose orally and injecting it straight into the bloodstream. Pollen is difficult, if not impossible, for humans to digest, according to studies. The pollen typically leaves a mammal in the same shape it came in because the exine, a strong outer covering, is very protective to the gametes within.
The pollen grain's exine is where the allergens live, according to several sources. Since all it takes for an allergic person to experience a reaction is to breathe in pollen, this makes perfect sense. Still, it doesn't say anything about the allergen's digestibility, neutralisation, or safety as it moves through the body. Is it possible for an inhaled allergen to reach the bloodstream in the same way that an injection from a doctor would? We shouldn't presume injecting and consuming yield identical results; I haven't discovered definitive solutions to this subject.
To what extent does honey contain pollen?
To pretend for the sake of argument that pollen may help alleviate allergies would be ridiculous. How can we determine the exact type and concentration of pollen in a given honey sample? The nectar may contain the desired pollen even if honey bees gathered it from the appropriate plants at the right time, in the right place. Is the amount significant if any?
Imagine this: you have a five-gallon pail of honey, and you ground up some aspirin tablets. Would you think that a teaspoon of this mixture poured to your tea would alleviate your next headache? Not. Still, some individuals think that a tiny amount of pollen in a massive jar of honey may do such a miraculous feat.
A beekeeper may have filtered the honey after extracting it. For many beekeepers, the basic process of straining is enough; it removes the large debris, such as floaters, wings, legs, chunks of wax, and even insects and their progeny. Although some beekeepers use a sieve to catch larger pollen grains, many others use a sieve to catch smaller particles like dirt and eggs.
One reason to filter honey is to postpone crystallisation, which can be caused by particles like pollen. By removing even more, so-called ultrafiltration increases the honey's chances of remaining liquid (i.e., sellable) for a far longer period of time.
However, consumers seldom inquire about whether the honey has been filtered because of these regular practices. People may wonder if it's raw, although the term itself is open to interpretation. Raw is defined differently by different beekeepers; some believe it just means not heated (or not heated very much), while others claim it also means unfiltered and unheated.
My definition of "no data" is this. It appears that very few people who use honey for allergies have any knowledge about the honey they purchase, and even fewer have proof that it works. This is based on my preliminary polls with these people.
Pollen that is large-grained, sticky, and easy to transport is preferred by most bees.
Selling honey as an allergy remedy: is it moral?
I spent a lot of time trying to persuade people that there is no solid evidence linking honey consumption to a reduction in seasonal allergies. You can still find hordes of believers in the concept, even if there are medical websites that cast doubt on it. Additionally, they shell out a hefty penny for what they think is allergy-free local honey.
The location, season, or frequency with which the bees visited such plants are irrelevant factors in the quality of the honey. Their allergies to pollen carried by the wind, which bees never touch, also make no difference. The absence of pollen in the honey is irrelevant. They don't care if it's not imported honey; what matters is that it's local.
"I don't want my customers over-thinking it," a number of beekeepers have cautioned me, telling me to keep my ideas to myself. But seriously? To hell with it. Those who are convinced that local honey will alleviate their allergies will believe it. All the research, reasoning, and pollen analysis in the world won't change a thing.
Conversely, I've been amazed by the beekeepers' incredibly detailed directions. I obtained a brochure from a beehive booth at a farmers' market. A spoonful of honey consumed first thing in the morning can help alleviate seasonal allergies, according to the article. Gradually raise the dosage to one tablespoon every day as your immune system strengthens. Never miss a dosage. Regardless matter where your allergies are coming from, clover honey will provide the greatest relief, it says farther down. I see.
Claims like this must be entirely legitimate, but they sound like something a snake oil salesperson would say. Is it appropriate for beekeepers to assert their medical expertise and prescribe dosages similar to those of doctors?
When honey is solely considered a medicinal herb, something important is missed.
Honey and the power of suggestion
If you think honey can help with your allergies, as I did at the beginning of this piece, then you should keep consuming it. I believe in the placebo effect, not because I think it works. Many people report feeling better after taking a sugar pill instead of actual medication if they are so confident that the remedy would work. This is something that should be encouraged.
To me, it's different from trying to convince someone who is still on the fence about an idea to believe something that you don't really agree with. In contrast, I feel let down whenever others maintain that honey may be used medicinally. Why? The idea of being forced to consume a tablespoon of honey daily prior to noon would make me despise it. Time to take your horrible medication, my beauty!" The evil witch cackles with joy.
People could visit a doctor for their allergies and the hive for a delightful, ethereal treat whenever they wanted—no excuses, pretences, or timetables needed. It would be pleasant, wouldn't you agree? Instead of worrying about what honey could accomplish, wouldn't it be wonderful if we could just enjoy it for what it is?
A more fantastical than realistic interpretation of honey's nature and utility would be that it can alleviate allergies. Honey may not be able to alleviate your allergies, but it is still exceptionally remarkable.
