Honey to Treat Allergies?

Many people have heard that eating local honey helps treat seasonal allergies, commonly referred to as hay fever (i.e., allergic rhinitis), but is it true?  Many beekeepers also agree with this concept, but again, is it true?  This belief has been present for many decades.  The theory makes some sense, but the answer is no, local honey does not help treat or prevent seasonal allergies.

The hypothesis is based on the fact that when a bee lands on a flowering plant or tree, its abdomen becomes full of pollen because the pollen adheres to the bee’s abdomen just by contact.  Likewise, when the bee makes honey from the nectar of a plant, the pollen that was on its abdomen becomes incorporated into the honey.  Processed honey, that is common in grocery stores, is usually pasteurized and heavily filtered.  This store-bought honey is processed to delay crystallization, so that it stays liquid longer.  As a result of the processing, the pollen becomes filtered out of the honey and thus the pollen is not present in the honey.  Local honey or “raw” honey, on the other hand, is not pasteurized and may be minimally filtered, allowing tiny bits of pollen, wax, and natural enzymes to remain in the honey.  Local or raw honey often crystallizes faster, which is normal and a sign it has not been overprocessed.  The theory is that by eating the local pollens that are in the local honey, an individual will develop a “tolerance” or “resistance” to the pollens that are in that local or raw honey.  By consuming the local honey, the person is building up their resistance to those pollens which, in turn, would lead to less allergic symptoms or perhaps no allergy symptoms when exposed to these local pollens.  In theory, this sounds good, but in fact, there are multiple flaws in this concept which are as follows:

The first and most important fault in this idea is that patients who have seasonal allergies in the Springtime in the Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland  metropolitan area have allergies to non-flowering plants and trees (e.g., birch, hickory, beech, cedar, maple, elm, ash, oak trees), not generally flowing plants and trees (e.g., cherry trees, forsythia bushes, redbud trees, Bradford pear trees, dogwood trees).  The explanation for this is rather simple.  The pollen from flowering trees and plants tend to be heavy in weight and thus are not wind-dispersed.  Since the pollen is heavy, through evolution, these types of trees and plants had to develop flowers in order to attract bees so that they could cross-pollinate and thus reproduce.  After the bees are attracted to a flower, they land on a flower and the pollen then sticks on their abdomens.  The bees then fly to another same-species flowering plant or tree and when they land on these flowers, the pollen on their abdomen gets transferred to this new flower and thus cross-pollination occurs.  The fact that the pollen is heavy and not wind-dispersed means that people do not breathe in the pollen and thus do not become allergic or sensitized to these pollens.  Unlike flowering plants and trees, the non-flowering tree pollens are light in weight and are wind-dispersed.  Since they are wind-dispersed, they are able to cause sensitization and thus allergy symptoms may occur to select allergic-prone individuals who inhale these pollens in everyday life.  This translates into the fact that eating local honey (which is composed of flowering tree pollens) will not reduce one’s allergies in the Spring because it does not contain the correct types of non-flowering pollens that are the cause of seasonal allergies.

The second fault in this theory is that there is no standardization from one batch of local honey to another.  The amount of pollen in local honey is not consistent between different bottles of honey from the same beekeeper yet from different beekeepers.  The idea of allergy immunotherapy (i.e., allergen desensitization, allergy hyposensitization) is to give a very small tolerable dose to an allergic individual and slowly increase the dose over time, so that the individual can become tolerant to that allergen (e.g., tree pollen).  In raw, local honey, there is no measurement of the amount or type of pollen in any jar of honey, so immunity cannot be attained through this method.

The third fault in this thinking is that there are no published scientific papers documenting any advantage in using local honey to treat allergies.  There are a handful of studies that are flawed in the manner that the studies were done.  In others, the number of participants in the studies were too small to make a good statistical correlation between the consumption of local honey and its beneficial effects on allergies.  The use of honey to treat allergies is also not recommended by either the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology or the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology.

Honey does have some advantages, however.  It is sometimes recommended to help relieve coughs and sore throats, and of course, it tastes good!  It is rich in antioxidants, has a lower glycemic index than sugar, it can be used for a quick energy boost, it may help heal burns and wounds, and it may help in digestion.  It is also interesting to point out that honey is antibacterial and does not spoil.  This is thought to occur because organisms cannot survive long enough within a jar of honey due to the very low moisture that exists in a jar of honey and thus does not have the chance to spoil.

So overall, honey has its merits, but treating allergies is not one of them.  If you suffer from allergies, please contact Black & Kletz Allergy so that you can see one of our board certified allergy specialists in the Washington, DC metro area.  After a comprehensive history and physical examination, allergy testing may be performed, and the appropriate avoidance measures will be discussed.  Depending upon the results, medications and/or allergy shots (i.e., allergy immunotherapy, allergy desensitization) may be recommended.  Allergy injections have been proven to be effective in 80-85% of patients undergoing this course of treatment and they have been given in the United States for over 100 years.  Unlike eating local honey, there is abundant research and medical publications demonstrating the efficacy and benefits of allergy immunotherapy when administered in the appropriate manner.

The board certified allergy doctors at Black and Kletz Allergy have been diagnosing and treating allergies and asthma for more than 5 decades in the Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland metropolitan area.  We see and treat both pediatric and adult patients.  We have offices in Washington, DC, McLean, VA (Tysons Corner, VA), and Manassas, VA.  We have on-site parking at each of our 3 locations.  Our Washington, DC and McLean, VA offices are Metro accessible.  Black & Kletz Allergy offers a free shuttle service between our McLean, VA office and the Spring Hill metro station on the silver line.  If you suffer from allergies, asthma, sinus problems, hives, or immunological disorders, please call us to schedule an appointment.  You may also click Request an Appointment and we will respond within 24 hours by the next business day.  Black & Kletz Allergy is dedicated to providing the most state-of-the-art allergy treatment in a warm, friendly, and professional atmosphere.