Honey, the Best Remedy for Allergy Treatment

Honey is a sweetness galore! It has variations, namely raw honey and the normal one. Raw honey has more sweet content and carbohydrate than normal honey. But it has more health value than manufactured honey. Curious to know does honey help with allergies? Yes, it does.

Honey has health benefits. Physicians recommend having honey for allergies because experts believe that the honey contains the pollen, which is an allergen that could fight allergies effectively(1).

However, doctors advise that honey shouldn’t be given to infants below the age of 1 (2), as it causes a type of food poisoning in them.

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Honey as a Remedy to Control Allergies

It is true that honey can be used to treat allergies but there are certain things that you should keep in mind when you are using honey for allergy treatment:

• Be it a cake, pie, toast or any other beverages, honey is a better option over sugar. It acts as an appetizer for light and healthy breakfast. But it is recommended not to heat or overheat the honey with the bread or cake. Just adding to food will suffice. Heat or roast tends to destroy the ingredient values of the pollens in the honey.
• If honey is included in the diet, it is recommended to you have it at the start of the day. Starting it as young as possible accelerates your immune system, thus preventing you from all kinds of allergic problems.
• Intake of pollens, as an alternative to honey, is also possible. You can opt for this if you find honey for allergies too sweet to be consumed. On the other hand, it is also believed that the direct consumption of pollens may be dangerous. So the dosage should be according to the physician’s prescription.

Arguments Against the Use of Honey for Allergy

If the above arguments favor the use of honey for allergy treatment then there are few researchers who believe that using honey always do not help the people suffering from allergies. Well, they have their logic and reasons behind it and those have been elaborated below:

1. It is true that bees collect honey that contains pollens, which can cure a person suffering from allergy as allergens too contain pollen in it. However, the argument here is that the bees may contain pollens from those trees which are not at all responsible for causing in any kind of allergy attacks. In that case, the honey will not help a person suffering from allergy in any way.
2. The second argument that has been put forward by the researchers is that none of you could guarantee on the amount of pollens one jar of honey is having(3). So, the exposure of the pollens in the jar of honey could be less than that of the allergens that are causing the problem of allergy in you. Hence, in such a situation you will not get much help from the local or from the raw honey for allergies.
3. Researchers are of the opinion that the fact that honey is good for health is based on the theory of immunotherapy. According to this particular theory you should at least have very small doses of those things that you are allergic to(4). Now the problem with this theory is that the theory is not based on any scientific research, and as it does not have any clinical or scientific proof many are not ready to accept the theory. Moreover, most of the honey produced and consumed by you not even contain any type of pollen leave alone the allergens in it.

Also Read: Natural Remedies to Get Rid of Blackheads Using Honey

So, these are the reasons behind not favoring honey for allergy treatments, however, those, researchers who have put forward these arguments also could not deny the fact that the honey has most of the time proven to be the best homemade remedy for the allergic reactions.

An extensive discussion on the use and benefits of a natural ingredient might fall short of words. Even if one may at least try to club the maximum possible information, points, dos and don’ts in a piece. However, no one can deny that in this fast and hectic scheduled life we tend to go the natural ingredients.

Honey proves to be a sweetener sweeter beyond human contemplation. Along with raw, local honey for allergies also gives relief to those who are suffering from this particular problem. One may find a certain argument against honey but then none is strong as those that are favoring it. Thus, go for it, but of course, after having a word with your nutritionist or doctor.