The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates around 36 million people in the United States alone suffer from seasonal allergies. This means that if you don't directly suffere from allergies, you probably know a friend or family member that does. The signs of allergies are easy enough to spot. They slowly creep up on you as soon as the weather starts to get nice. As the grass turns green and flowers start to blossom you start to get a runny nose and ithcy eyes. What happnes is that your body mistakes pollen for damaging invaders like fungal spores and dust mites. This triggers the release of histamine, a natural chemical that's part of an immune response. Histamine causes inflammation and irritation of soft tissue, thus resulting in sinus congestion, watery eyes and all the other symptoms of allergies.
Many people swear by the use of local honey to ward off their allergies. It makes sense that by consuming local honey, that has the same pollens in it that your body is reacting to, your body is slowly able to build a resistance to it. If you consider trying honey as a natural remedy for allergies, follow these few guidelines: 1) start early! Give your body time to build up its immunity to the allergens. I would recommend starting a few months before spring, maybe around the beginning of the year; 2) start slow! Make sure that you start with a very small amount of honey in order to give your immune system a chance to defend itself. If you overload it too quickly you may have an allergic response to the honey. Start with a 1/4 tablespoon per day for a week or two and if you don't have a response, slowly increase the amount until you have reached a tablespoon/day; 3) make sure its local! This remedy only works if you use local honey that has the same allergens that you are reacting to in the first place. The closer the honey source the better.
While this natural remedy may not work for everyone, it is a great natural and inexpensive alternative to help combat seasonal aller
Many people swear by the use of local honey to ward off their allergies. It makes sense that by consuming local honey, that has the same pollens in it that your body is reacting to, your body is slowly able to build a resistance to it. If you consider trying honey as a natural remedy for allergies, follow these few guidelines: 1) start early! Give your body time to build up its immunity to the allergens. I would recommend starting a few months before spring, maybe around the beginning of the year; 2) start slow! Make sure that you start with a very small amount of honey in order to give your immune system a chance to defend itself. If you overload it too quickly you may have an allergic response to the honey. Start with a 1/4 tablespoon per day for a week or two and if you don't have a response, slowly increase the amount until you have reached a tablespoon/day; 3) make sure its local! This remedy only works if you use local honey that has the same allergens that you are reacting to in the first place. The closer the honey source the better.
While this natural remedy may not work for everyone, it is a great natural and inexpensive alternative to help combat seasonal aller
RSS Feed
