Seasonal allergies are one of the downsides to our otherwise beloved problem (well, the changeable weather, of course). If we suffer from this health problem, surely we have already stocked our first aid kit with antihistamine prescriptions and hope that we will get away with it this time.
There is no cure for allergies, we can simply suppress the symptoms in order to live normally – without runny nose, itchy eyes and other similar extras. And while some rely primarily on traditional medicine, others rely more on homeopathy and natural remedies to deal with them. And honey is often mentioned among them.
American scientists from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University say there is no scientific evidence that honey helps with seasonal allergies, apart from a few small studies. Considering this, it is no wonder that we have heard the recommendation to consume the bee product produced in the region in which we live in order to alleviate allergic manifestations.
And the idea is that ingesting the bee pollen that is contained in honey will make us less sensitive when exposed to it outdoors in nature. However, the scientists explain that while this may sound logical in theory, it doesn’t work in practice because the pollen that bees collect is different from the pollen that causes hay fever.
The main allergen is wind-pollinated plants that release microscopic pollen into the air. These are grasses, weeds and trees. Bees don’t collect pollen from these plants, so it doesn’t have much in common with the other one that makes us sneeze and rub our eyes constantly, writes NBC News.
So consuming honey may not directly help us deal with seasonal allergies, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it at all. However, it has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and is useful for our health in general, and even if it turns out that we do not have an allergy, but a cold or a virus.
Source: lifestyle.bg
Photo: iStock
