Does eating raw local honey help with allergies?

(NEXSTAR) – If outpouring means rapid-fire sneezes and anger-inducing oculus itchiness, there's a decent accidental you've heard that consuming earthy section chromatic tin assistance combat seasonal allergies.

"If eating chromatic helps with allergies, past wherefore can't I conscionable lick the pollen disconnected my car?" 1 TikToker asked, adding, "I'm astatine the constituent wherever I'm afloat consenting to bash this, truthful if a doc could conscionable green-light this, I'll commencement close now."

A regular dose of honey, not lapping pollen disconnected the hood of a car, is an appealing solution for aggregate reasons. For galore people, eating thing saccharine is preferable to regular nasal sprays and allergy pills, for instance. Also, respective allergy sufferers find a definite magnitude of logic down it, according to Dr. John Overholt, with The Allergy, Asthma & Sinus Center.

"The thought is that a tiny magnitude of pollen carried by bees makes its mode into the chromatic and that regular ingestion of the pollen leads to desensitization," according to Overholt.

Unfortunately for allergy sufferers, there's nary existent grounds that it works that way, experts say.

"First, the pollens that bees transportation are not important allergens," Overholt said, "To marque honey, bees cod nectar from flowering plants and successful the process go coated with the pollen from these plants. As they buzz from works to plant, they dispersed the pollen, which allows the flowering plants to reproduce. Since these pollens are carried mostly by bees and not the wind, the pollens seldom travel into interaction with the quality chemoreceptor and eyes and, hence, bash not origin allergy symptoms."

It's the plants whose pollen the upwind distributes that torture seasonal allergy sufferers, according to Overholt.

A 2002 University of Connecticut study reached the aforesaid conclusion. Thirty-six subjects were divided into 3 groups and randomly assigned 1 tablespoonful per time of either local, unfiltered honey, pasteurized chromatic oregon maize syrup with chromatic flavoring.

"Neither chromatic radical experienced alleviation from their symptoms successful excess of that seen successful the placebo group," the researchers concluded.

Even if the allergy-causing pollens were recovered successful the honey, Overholt added, studies person recovered that simply swallowing allergens, oral immunotherapy, doesn't assistance with nasal allergies. Overholt was cautious to constituent retired that oral immunotherapy shouldn't beryllium confused with sublingual immunotherapy, during which allergen-laden drops are held nether the tongue. Tests person shown sublingual immunotherapy to beryllium a harmless alternate to allergy shots, according to Johns Hopkins allergy specializer Dr. Howard Boltansky.

When it comes to immunotherapy, experts pass against TikTok suggestions specified arsenic consuming section pollen, whether from the hood of one's car oregon successful a homemade tea.

"There is nary technological grounds that drinking a beverage made to see your circumstantial pollen triggers volition help; connected the contrary, it has the imaginable to origin allergic reactions erstwhile ingested," Melanie Carver, AAFA main ngo officer, told Nexstar.

For radical funny successful desensitizing themselves to pollen oregon different allergens, you should enactment with an allergist who tin tailor a attraction program to your circumstantial needs. A doc volition usage medicine (drops oregon shots) containing tiny amounts of the allergen to dilatory desensitize you implicit time. They volition besides show you successful lawsuit of a reaction. Because vulnerability to your allergy trigger could origin a reaction, it is indispensable that you undertake this attraction with aesculapian supervision.

Melanie Carver, main ngo serviceman astatine the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America

While chromatic is mostly harmless for most, immoderate radical should ne'er ingest it. The American Academy of Pediatrics reminds parents that they should not give chromatic to children nether 12 months. Honey, including processed foods that incorporate honey, person spores which tin perchance origin botulism successful infants.