Got Allergies? Try Local Honey As A Home Remedy For Hay Fever Or A Pollen Allergy

A new thing I’m trying this year to tame my allergies is: HONEY!

But not just any honey. It has to be local honey made right where you live.

Here’s how it works…

Plants are pollinated by both insects and by the wind.

>Honeybees will collect pollen from each of these species and it will be present in small amounts in honey that was gathered by bees that were working areas where these species are growing. When people living in these same areas eat honey that was produced in that environment, the honey will often act as an immune booster. The good effects of this local honey are best when the honey is taken a little bit (a couple of teaspoons-full) a day for several months prior to the pollen season. Source

 

Find Local Honey

So, where do you go to find honey (or bee pollen) made in your home state?

You might think you could find it at your local grocery stores. That’s not necessarily so.

At my local Kroger, there was a huge supply of honey products (near the bread section). Despite ALL of the different types of honey found there, none was from right here in Tennessee. Instead, they said “product of Oregon” or “product of Michigan”. The other states were: Florida and Indiana. I was fairly surprised that there was no honey from Tennessee there.

UPDATE: 76% of  honey sold at grocery stores has had the pollen removed or filtered out anyway!

I remember someone mentioning that local honey could always be found at your local Cracker Barrel store, but I haven’t checked there yet. [UPDATE: I checked… My local Cracker Barrel in Nashville Tennessee only carries honey from Wisconsin.]

Living in Tennessee, I found Pick Tennessee Products to be a good source of Tennessee honey. I presume searching for Upick locations in your state would yield similar results. Also, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture pointed me to a list of local honey producers.

For the most part, beekeepers are your all-time best source for locally produced honey. If they don’t sell honey themselves, they’ll definitely know where to find it.

To find local beekeepers in your area, try these links:

• State Honey & Beekeeping Associations
• Local Harvest
• Eat Wild
• Honey Sold Online From Across The USA
• Bee Pollen In Large Quantities (or small quantities)

Specifically for Tennessee, I found a wealth of info at Tennessee Beekeepers Association and the Nashville Area Beekeepers Association.

  

UPDATE: I’ve since learned that that pure, raw wildlfower honey is best. And the closer it’s made to the city you live in, the better!

 

How To Eat Raw Honey

Now, the fun part comes with trying to find fun recipes to add honey to your diet on a regular basis.

To help with allergies, you’ll want to eat a couple teaspoons of local honey a day.

UPDATE: You should start eating local honey before allergy season begins. Here in Nashville TN, I eat honey from March through August because my allergies are really bad. While local honey has not eliminated my allergies, it has delayed the onset a bit and they’re not nearly as bad as they used to be.

My favorite ways to eat honey for allergies:

• Dribble a little bit of honey on each bite of a banana. (I do this a couple times a day — love it!)
• Pour a little bit of honey in a cup of hot tea.
• Instead of using maple syrup, drizzle honey over your pancakes.
• Dip apple slices in honey.
• Make a smoothie honey (my favorite: bananas, strawberries, honey & crushed ice). More honey smoothie recipes: Fruit & Honey Smoothie, Fruity Honey Smoothie,
• Drizzle honey over ice cream or nuts to make a sweet treat. A few other honey & nuts ideas: Toasted Nuts In Honey and Honey Glazed Mixed Nuts
• Mix in a little bit of honey with hard liquor. I like Wild Turkey 101 or Four Roses bourbon.
• Try fun new honey recipes like these: Fried Bananas With Honey, Honey Oat Bars, Peanut Butter & Honey Banana Pops, Honey-Dipped Cookies
• Sometimes I just eat a teaspoon of honey on a spoon. Mmmm!….

The list is endless. There are lots of fun ways to substitute raw, local honey as a sweetener when preparing meals for your family!

 

Honey For Dog Allergies

Psst… does your dog have allergies?

Well, good news! Honey in small doses is safe for adult dogs as well.

Here are a couple of homemade dog treat recipes for your dog:

• Honey Banana Squirrels
• Cream Cheese & Honey Dog Treats
• Nut n Honey Drops
• Banana & Honey Dog Treats
• Oats & Honey Dog Treat #1 and Oats & Honey Dog Treat #2

 

More About Honey & Allergies

• Local honey helps kids with allergies
• Health benefits of really raw honey (…straight from the bee hive)
• Local honey: Even if it doesn’t work…
• Put honey in your eyes to cure allergies?
• Fun facts about honey (Psssst… it’s GREEN!)
• 10 ways to minimize the misery of allergies
• Effectiveness of local honey & bee pollen is unclear
• Use with caution: honey & bee pollen