Local Honey Helps Kids With Allergies
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Did you know a little honey on your child's cereal in the morning may help prevent some allergies? Turns out those little bees are making some of nature's best antidote to the effects of pollen that irritate kids' eyes and noses.
Why Local Honey?
Local honey is produced closest to where you live. This honey contains tiny bits of the pollen specific to your geographical area. This minimal exposure helps your child's immune system develop defenses against the particular irritants she is likely to be exposed to.
You can find local honey at your local farmer's market or health food store.
How Allergies Work
Allergies develop from continuous exposure to the same allergens. Over time, repeated exposure to the same plants builds up in your system until one day you have an allergic reaction.
It seems strange that adding more exposure to pollen through honey will help allergies, but it does. It's the same reason people take allergy shots. The amount of pollen you get from the honey (or the shot) is so small that your body is able to ‘fight it off' easier than when you get hit by a full onslaught of spring pollen. This immunity then continues into pollen season protecting the child from allergic reaction - or at least making them less severe. While it's the same principle behind taking allergy shots, honey all-natural, less costly, and tasty!
Science Proves Honey Helps!
It's not all hippie nonsense. The positive effects of honey on allergies have been studied by the National Institutes of Health, Office of Alternative Medicine, where they found it was an effective substitute for expensive and potentially dangerous allergy shots. However, like all natural remedies, honey is subtle and it takes a commitment to use it over time to reap the benefits.
Remember, honey isn't safe for infants under one year of age.
Common Sense Medical Disclaimer:
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Honey is one of the greatest and simplest foods on the planet but, before suggesting giving honey to children, it might be advisable to add that honey should never ever be given to children under one year of age. There is a danger of them contracting Clostridium Botulinum, which is extremely dangerous to small children. Although this danger is small, it is present. Please be aware.
Good Hub! Here's another one: http://hubpages.com/hub/controllingallergies
I've read about local bees and local honey being affective for allergies before and had forgotten about it. I'm glad that i stumbled upon this article/hub. Thanks for the reminder! -TRiG
I think the QUALITY of the honey likely has some say in whether it's helpful or not, too. Honey can be graded in varying levels of quality according to this article, for instance:
I think the idea is to eat the honey over a sustained period of time, not as a quick treatment to allergic symptoms. Here are a few sources:
http://www.pioneerthinking.com/to_honey.html
http://apitherapy.blogspot.com/2007/02/raw-local-h
http://www.reallyrawhoney.com/healthfacts.php
Please site your supposed study, since Rajan et al in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology has shown quite contradictory conclusions.
Also remember that most allergies are to pollens from trees and grass, which don't make their way into honey, and that the dose of such any pollen in honey is way to low to be comparred to actual allergy shots.
i heard also honey was good for a cough
It is pretty interesting. Every little creature has a big purpose!
reminds me of Marty Robbin's song.... ..."He took a hank of hair and a piece of bone And made a walkin', talkin' Honeycomb....honeycomb, won't ya be my baby, honeycomb be my own..." good ol' honey bees.... has anyone heard why there are disappearing? Is it getting any better? a good thing to google....thanks for the info...Marisue
Very interesting! I believe in eating local as much as possible anyway, and now I have another reason to do it.
Very interesting. I learned something new about natural health today.
Honey is the most powerful antibiotic known to man, and does not lower the immun system as antibiotic prescribed by Dr. does.
Great advice, and it makes perfect sense! I also read recently that eating apples and fish while pregnant also reduces the likelihood that your child will have asthma and eczema:
Lois Danut 3 months ago
visit http://winterparkhoney.ecrater.com/p/10901226/alle
for allergy honey.
New, All Season, All U.S. Allergy Honey. The only allergy honey you'll ever need! Our Allergy Bee Gone is packed with pollen. This honey will help with your allergies all year long anywhere in the U.S.. This honey contains honey from all over the U.S. with bits of pollen from all of the plants that bother allergy sufferers all year long. It's our attempt to make it simple. We have many customers all over the U.S. that take this honey for their allergies. Because of the huge variety of pollen, this honey works for nearly everyone, no matter what part of the country you're in.
Winter Park Honey is a small family owned honey company keeping bees throughout Central Florida and, during the summer, we keep bees near Winter Park, Colorado also. Check out our website, WinterParkHoney.com to learn more about our commitment to providing you many gourmet, varietal honeys in the most natural state possible. All our honey comes to you straight from the comb to the bottle.