# Local honey for allergy relief, true or woo-woo?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 7, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206 "2009-09-07T22:22:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/1 "2009-09-07T22:22:47Z")
I’ve read several webpages that advise a person to consume a couple teaspoons of local honey daily to alleviate seasonal allergies. There doesn’t seem to be much scientific research about it, so I’ll have to ask for people’s experiences since there’s no definitive answer. Has anyone here ever tried eating local honey for allergy relief? Did it help or do nothing?
The reason I ask is because I just noticed that the farm we pick blueberries and apples at has started carrying their own honey, and OTC drugs don’t do much for my plant allergies.
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### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/2 "2009-09-07T22:46:42Z")
Well, consuming local honey _might_ desensitize you to local flora… IF the bees are taking nectar and pollen from those plants your allergic to. There’s no way to know for sure. I mean, if they’re collecting from blueberries and marigolds and your allergic to ragweed and they _aren’t_ collecting from ragweed then it does you no good.
It _might_ make your allergies worse.
It _might_ do nothing.
It _might_ help.
Me, I think allergy shots with a medical professional would be more reliable - and even that doesn’t work for everyone.
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### Author:  [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2009, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/3 "2009-09-07T22:50:06Z")
Given the dearth of articles on Google Scholar on keywords like honey immunotherapy, honey allergies, and honey antibody induction, I am led to conclude that there’s not any mainstream evidence of any quality to support the proposition.
Given that, I like **Broomstick** ’s thinking on the topic.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/4 "2009-09-07T23:18:30Z")
if the thought is that you are getting some form of imunotherapy because you are eating some pollen in the honey then that would be limited to what the bees feed on. airborne pollen allergies won’t be affected. most pollen allergies are to airborne pollens.
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### Author:  [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2009, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/5 "2009-09-08T12:01:17Z")
The way I heard it, you’re supposed to eat honeycomb, not just the honey. My non-allergic mother was a big believer in this cure and got me to try it a few times but I never noticed much relief.
I’d suggest trying several different types of antihistamines (one at a time, of course). There are some like Dristan that work for others but do absolutely nothing for me. Some like Chlor-trimeton that work like a charm for me but not for others.
Allergy shots worked for me, but I found it to be a pain in the ass to go to the doctor’s office every week so I stopped going. Over a period of several years, my immunity faded and the allergies came back as bad as ever.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/6 "2009-09-08T14:02:10Z")
While honey [doesn’t seem to have much to offer](http://www.harthosp.org/HealthLibrary/NaturalAlternativeTreatments/default.aspx?chunkiid=155289) for seasonal allergies, a “natural” remedy that has promise is [butterbur extract](http://www.medicinescomplete.com/journals/fact/current/fact1202a05t01.htm).
The above reference notes that the butterbur plant contains toxic alkaloids which need to be removed to make an extract safe for human use.
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### Author:  [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/7 "2009-09-08T16:55:51Z")
Note to self: avoid basing health decisions on anecdotal evidence from non-professionals.
There are plenty of reasons to enjoy locally-produced honey. No need to event a farcical (read: homeopathic) health benefit to justify it.
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### Author:  [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/8 "2009-09-08T17:09:17Z")
My doctor–an actual MD–recommended this local honey thing to me when I was a kid, and it seems to help, so I’ve been doing it for years. Of course anything you truly believe is going to help is much more likely to help. And who knows, I might have stopped sneezing even if I hadn’t eaten the honey-drenched biscuit.
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### Author:  [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/9 "2009-09-08T17:21:11Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> While honey [doesn’t seem to have much to offer](http://www.harthosp.org/HealthLibrary/NaturalAlternativeTreatments/default.aspx?chunkiid=155289) for seasonal allergies, a “natural” remedy that has promise is [butterbur extract](http://www.medicinescomplete.com/journals/fact/current/fact1202a05t01.htm).
>
> The above reference notes that the butterbur plant contains toxic alkaloids which need to be removed to make an extract safe for human use.
Taking a close look at the Results table for this meta-analysis, it seems that results are decidedly mixed.
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### Author:  [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-honey-for-allergy-relief-true-or-woo-woo/509206/10 "2009-09-08T22:21:52Z")
> [@Knorf](#):
>
> Note to self: avoid basing health decisions on anecdotal evidence from non-professionals.
>
> There are plenty of reasons to enjoy locally-produced honey. No need to event a farcical (read: homeopathic) health benefit to justify it.
I don’t know that I’d use the term homeopathic - after all, at least with local honey, there should be measurable (if small) amounts of at least some allergens. And traditional immunotherapy (“allergy shots”) is based upon the principle of introducing tiny but increasing amounts of the allergen, on an ongoing basis, to get the body to react less strongly to the allergen.
So, I can see the argument for using honey, and I can understand why someone would suggest it.
But I have to agree with the other posters - only limited, selected allergens helped (if it works at all), no scientific evidence, there are more proven alternatives, etc.
Still, I suspect it is not likely to hurt the vast majority of people, and (if one likes honey - I don’t) is certainly tastier than a shot in the arm 🙂