Can I use honey to treat allergies? If so how?
Yes, but the application is limited to plant allergies specific to the area near you. There are 2 ways
currently that allergies are medically detected. Most recently is a blood test. The other involves placing
minute amounts of various substances under your skin by needle to measure your sensitivity to exposures.
The most common allergy triggers include: dust, pet dander, trees, grasses, weeds, and molds relative
to where you live.
Traditional allergy testing consists of providing exposure to offensive substances in very small amounts
to determine if your body will respond to a given substance. In other words, a series of shots at the doctor’s
office under the skin to see if it swells. If you react you’ll receive that substance as shots in low amounts
to boost your tolerance. Bee Honey by its nature does the same thing. Bees collect small amounts of the local
flora and return them to the hive to make honey. You ingest minute amounts of these substances below your
allergy tolerance which builds your tolerance over time. Just like the treatment shots do.
Ideally, if the honey is collected within 15-25 miles of where you live raw local honey should alleviate
your symptoms over time with continual use. How much? A tea spoon in your cereal or tea should be enough
and remember, less is better. Children under 2 years of age should not ingest raw honey, their immune
systems are too young to test this much variety of substances on.. Also remember, honey will have no
effect on animal dander, seafood or drug allergies. It only helps alleviate symptoms caused by plant
life from your living area. And as with any new food, stop use if symptoms of allergies develop.
Last, honey is produced during floral blooms. Some in Spring, Summer or Fall. Allergic benefits are
derived from specific blooms. Therefore, specific flavors such as orange blossom do nothing for rag
weed. There are a number of ways to deal with this. First, purchase “wildflower honey”. This is usually
a mixture of locations near & far with the widest variety of floral sources. Try to speak with the
beekeeper to see how it was collected. Tell them you are using it for allergies & they are usually
very happy to help. The more it was mixed with other seasons the better.
The new allergy lab tests are expensive and you may need them . I provide the following as reference
material for those allergy sufferers who may need them. Allergy blood tests may be referred to as
immunoassay tests and include:
- Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, or EIA)
- Radioallergosorbent test (RAST)
The ELISA test measures the amount of allergen-specific antibodies in your blood.
The RAST test also looks for specific allergen-related antibodies in order to identify your allergy
triggers. Since the introduction of the ELISA test, RAST testing has not typically been used.
Other blood tests may be ordered that measure the release of chemicals responsible for allergic
reactions.
These tests are expensive I recommend you check with your insurance company to determine your costs
before submitting to these procedures. Last, all technology is time sensitive and my references may be
out dated in a year. Always double check.
(April 2016) – Tim Blodgett, RN
