Honey for Allergies

The idea behind using local honey for allergy relief is elegantly simple and draws on the same principle as allergy immunotherapy (allergy shots). The theory goes like this: bees in your area visit local flowers and collect pollen along with nectar. Some of that pollen ends up in the finished honey. When you eat locally produced raw honey, you're consuming small, natural doses of the very pollen that triggers your seasonal allergies. The idea is that this gradual, repeated exposure could desensitize your immune system, the way allergy shots do. The concept is popular with beekeepers and natural health fans, and many people try a daily spoonful of local honey for hay fever. Real allergy immunotherapy uses measured doses of purified allergen prescribed by an allergist; honey contains small, unmeasured amounts of pollen, mostly from insect-pollinated flowers, and no trial has shown that ordinary local honey works.

The scientific evidence on honey for allergies is thin. The study most often quoted is a 2011 Finnish pilot (Saarinen et al., International Archives of Allergy and Immunology). 44 people with birch pollen allergy ate either honey with birch pollen added or regular honey every day from November to March, and 17 people on their usual allergy medicine served as the comparison group. During birch season, the birch-pollen-honey group had a 60% lower symptom score, twice as many symptom-free days and used half as many antihistamines as the medication-only group. But there was no placebo, the honey was spiked with pollen rather than ordinary local honey, and the birch-pollen honey was not significantly better than regular honey on symptoms. In a 2013 Malaysian trial (Asha'ari et al., Annals of Saudi Medicine), 40 people with allergic rhinitis took a daily antihistamine plus either 1 gram of honey per kilogram of body weight or honey-flavored corn syrup for 4 weeks. Both groups improved during treatment; only the honey group kept improving a month after stopping. That is a very large amount of sugar, about 70 grams a day for a 70 kg adult, in a small study. There is also a basic problem with the theory: most honey pollen comes from flowers that bees visit for nectar, which are typically insect-pollinated species. The pollen that causes most seasonal allergies comes from wind-pollinated plants — grasses, ragweed, oak, birch and other trees — which bees don't typically collect for honey. So the pollen in your local honey may not overlap much with the pollen causing your symptoms. No trial has shown that ordinary local honey reduces seasonal allergies.

If you want to try local honey anyway, know that there is no tested dose or timeline for ordinary local honey, and the evidence for it is weak. People who try it usually start a few months before their allergy season and eat a small amount daily; count it toward your daily added sugar. Pollen is mostly removed by fine filtering, so look for honey labeled unfiltered or raw. Local honey from within a short distance of home is the idea behind the theory. The best places to find it are farmers markets, local apiaries, and farm stands. Talk to the beekeeper if possible — they can tell you where their hives are and what their bees forage. If you try it, keep a simple symptom log so you can judge honestly whether anything changes, and keep using the treatments your doctor recommends.

No honey type has been shown to help allergies. If you want to try the local honey idea, wildflower honey from a local beekeeper is the usual pick because it comes from many flowers in your area. Clover honey is another common local honey. Spring honeys such as orange blossom honey and acacia honey, and late-summer honeys such as sourwood honey and buckwheat honey, are popular for their flavor; they still come mostly from insect-pollinated flowers, not the grasses, ragweed and trees behind most hay fever. Ultra-filtered honey, which is common in grocery stores, has had most pollen removed for clarity, so it does not fit the theory at all. Comb honey is unfiltered by definition.

Before incorporating honey into your allergy management plan, there are several important safety considerations to keep in mind. First and most critically, honey is not a replacement for proven medical treatments. If you have moderate to severe allergies, you should continue taking your prescribed medications — antihistamines, nasal corticosteroids, or immunotherapy — as directed by your allergist. Honey is not an alternative to evidence-based medicine. For people with severe allergies or a history of anaphylaxis (life-threatening allergic reactions), honey consumption carries a small but real risk. Raw, unfiltered honey contains actual pollen particles, and in extremely rare cases, this could trigger an allergic reaction in highly sensitized individuals. If you have a known severe allergy to bee stings or bee products, consult your allergist before consuming raw honey. Never give honey of any kind to infants under 12 months due to the risk of infant botulism — the immature digestive systems of babies cannot handle the Clostridium botulinum spores that honey may naturally contain. Pregnant women and immunocompromised individuals should consult their doctor before starting any new dietary regimen. Finally, set realistic expectations: no trial has shown that ordinary local honey reduces allergy symptoms. Keep your EpiPen current, continue seeing your allergist, and use the treatments that are proven to work, such as antihistamines, steroid nasal sprays and allergy immunotherapy.