Honey and hay fever
I am 41 and have suffered from hay fever, sometimes very severe, since the age of 16. For the last two years, I have been adding 1 tablespoon of honey, three times a day to a hot drink and my symptoms virtually disappear. If I stop taking the honey, the hay fever comes back. I am happy I stumbled across this remedy but why should this be the case?
Hay Fever - or allergic rhinitis - is a reaction of the mucous membranes of the eyes, nose and respiratory airways to everyday allergens including, of course, seasonal pollens. What happens is that the body releases large numbers of antibodies to fight the perceived allergen but these antibodies also produce histamine which causes swelling and irritation to the body’s own tissue.
Honey is the sugary nectar of flowers gathered, modified and stored in a honeycomb by honeybees. As the bee swallows the nectar, its saliva splits the sucrose (sugar) in the nectar into two simple sugars - dextrose and fructose. The bee takes a little nectar for its own nourishment but relinquishes most of it back at the hive where it regurgitates it into one of the hexagonal wax cells in the comb.
Nectar transforms into honey by evaporation and the finished product consists of 35-40% fructose, 30-35% dextrose, small amounts of other sugars and gum, 17-20% water and traces of pollen, wax, acids, proteins, enzymes, vitamins, minerals and pigments.
The reason honey and bee pollen products can help with hay fever - in one clinical trial involving 30 patients, 73% reported a dramatic improvement while 18% believed themselves completely cured - is that you are effectively using the same principle as homeopathy and treating like with like. In other words, taking a small amount of pollen into the body each day helps build your resistance to pollen in your locality.
In fact, naturopaths who treat illness without resorting to allopathic drugs and who may draw from homeopathy, nutrition or herbalism to do so, argue that using honey that is grown locally to where you live will be even more effective in keeping your hay fever symptoms at bay.
If you want to take a supplement to help, I like Country Life’s Aller-Max - which includes stinging nettles (which contain an anti-inflammatory agent called scopoletin that will counter the action of the histamine), vitamin C (which boosts the immune system), and a bioflavanoid called quercetin (which is also an anti-inflammatory agent). Quercetin always works best in the presence of an enzyme called bromelain, which is derived from fresh pineapple, and this is included in this comprehensive formulation. 50 capsules cost £16.45. Take two a day. If your local health stores does not stock this range, mail order from Revital (0800-252875).