pj’s post about hayfever reminded me…

I was reading an article which claimed hayfever and hayfever-type allergies can be cured by eating locally produced honey. The idea is that, by eating honey made from your local trees, you build immunity to them and eradicate your allergies. It sounds like it would work… does it? (I can’t do the experiment as I don’t suffer hayfever)

Divine Angel said:

pj’s post about hayfever reminded me…

I was reading an article which claimed hayfever and hayfever-type allergies can be cured by eating locally produced honey. The idea is that, by eating honey made from your local trees, you build immunity to them and eradicate your allergies. It sounds like it would work… does it? (I can’t do the experiment as I don’t suffer hayfever)

Maybz you can post the URL so we can track the refs.

I don’t get hayfever over here, presumably due to the different species of trees, grass etc.

I can do a Zardoz for you and search…

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/05/27/can-eating-local-honey-cure-allergies.aspx The study featured by the New York Times, published all the way back in 2002, found that local honey offered no benefit over a placebo.

However, a far more recent study, published this year, in fact, differs in its conclusion. This study “assessed the effects of the pre-seasonal use of birch pollen honey (birch pollen added to honey) or regular honey on symptoms and medication during birch pollen season.” One of the primary differences between these two studies is that the latter narrows it down to one specific allergen (birch). A total of 44 patients with diagnosed birch pollen allergy consumed either the birch pollen honey or regular honey daily from November to March. The control group consisted of 17 patients who were just using their usual allergy medication to control symptoms. From April through May, the patients recorded their symptoms and use of medication daily. The study found that, during birch pollen season, compared to the control group, the patients using birch pollen honey experienced: 60 percent reduction in symptoms Twice as many asymptomatic days 70 percent fewer days with severe symptoms 50 percent decrease in usage of antihistamines Interestingly enough, there were few differences between the two honey groups (those who took regular honey, versus those who took honey that contained birch pollen.) However, the birch pollen honey group used less histamines than those who used regular honey. The authors concluded that: “Patients who pre-seasonally used birch pollen honey had significantly better control of their symptoms than did those on conventional medication only, and they had marginally better control compared to those on regular honey. The results should be regarded as preliminary, but they indicate that birch pollen honey could serve as a complementary therapy for birch pollen allergy.”

——

So yeah, maybe.

I followed a link on fb, so I’d have to trawl through my history at home. As I said, I only remembered when pj mentioned hayfever.

My conspiracy theory about hay fever is that it’s smoke and diesel contributing to it in a big way

We are stuffing out lungs by allowing diesel to be used for normal road vehicles

A bit of further googlation indicates that this is the common view: most studies have shown nothing, a small number of studies have shown some correlation, there is a suggested mechanism for its operation, the jury is still out.

wookiemeister said:

My conspiracy theory about hay fever is that it’s smoke and diesel contributing to it in a big way

We are stuffing out lungs by allowing diesel to be used for normal road vehicles

It is 2014. Surely everyone is using electric cars.

wookiemeister said:

My conspiracy theory about hay fever is that it’s smoke and diesel contributing to it in a big way

We are stuffing out lungs by allowing diesel to be used for normal road vehicles

I think my hayfever used to get worse on polluted London days, however they are also the hot still days when I guess pollen wouldn’t get blown away by the wind. so it’s not very scientific.

I developed hay fever when the council started burning for 6- 8 months of the year

This coming winter I’ll be installing an air filter to take the smoke out the air and just stay inside , eventually we are going to move because of it and let some other sucker be killed by the council.

dv said:

It is 2014. Surely everyone is using electric cars.

That fly.

on Mars

pommiejohn said:

wookiemeister said:

My conspiracy theory about hay fever is that it’s smoke and diesel contributing to it in a big way

We are stuffing out lungs by allowing diesel to be used for normal road vehicles

I think my hayfever used to get worse on polluted London days, however they are also the hot still days when I guess pollen wouldn’t get blown away by the wind. so it’s not very scientific.

I would bet that its air pollution now, it’s true some people have an allergy to vegetation but the trigger would be smoke and man made dust. The day of reckoning for me when they were burning, I was in a dusty place and someone started smoking near me. It didn’t stop after that. The rain has stopped them burning for a while

Sugar cane is a fairly dirty product thanks to the burning aspect of it

>>I was reading an article which claimed hayfever and hayfever-type allergies can be cured by eating locally produced honey.<<

This isn’t logical to me. If you are living with the trees anyway, you are exposed to the pollen. Eating honey for exposure to the pollen is an odd idea.

buffy said:

>>I was reading an article which claimed hayfever and hayfever-type allergies can be cured by eating locally produced honey.<<

This isn’t logical to me. If you are living with the trees anyway, you are exposed to the pollen. Eating honey for exposure to the pollen is an odd idea.

I was thinking it could work in a vaccination kind of way: expose yourself to a small amount to build your immunity instead of a big whack of pollen all at once.

But you are talking about plants that you live with anyway.