If you experience seasonal allergies, you might’ve heard the old tale that eating honey can help curb or even cure the unpleasant symptoms. The thought is that the pollen in honey can help desensitize the body to the pollen outside.
Seasonal allergies (also called seasonal allergic rhinitis or hay fever) occur when pollen in the air causes the body to release histamines, per the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. This triggers symptoms like sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, and itchiness in the mouth, throat, eyes, or ears.
There are three pollen seasons which occur during different parts of the year depending on where you live, according to the AAAAI.
Does honey help with seasonal allergies to pollen?
No, honey does not help with seasonal allergies or treat allergic rhinitis, unfortunately, Dr. Dave Stukus, a professor of clinical pediatrics in the division of allergy and immunology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and fellow of the AAAAI, tells TODAY.com.
There is no evidence showing that honey relieves seasonal allergy symptoms when given to allergy-sufferers, he says. Moreover, not all pollen is the same.
“Honey is made by honey bees, which collect a very different type of pollen than what causes allergy symptoms,” says Stukus. The pollen that bees collect — which ends up in the nectar that turns into honey — comes from flowers, he adds, and this pollen is very large so it doesn’t spread around in the air.
The pollen that causes seasonal allergy symptoms comes from trees, grasses, weeds and ragweed, Stukus adds, which is smaller and spreads easily through the air.
“It is a common misconception that honey helps you get desensitized or tolerant of airborne allergens, specifically pollen,” Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergist and immunologist at NYU Langone Health, tells TODAY.com.
Stukus says the honey myth may be rooted in immunotherapy, a long-term treatment for allergic rhinitis. “We’ve been doing allergy shots for over 100 years, where we expose…
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