Unheated Local Honey Recommended for Allergies

Honey May Be Sweet Allergy Medicine
NBC 17 (USA), 9/20/2006

RALEIGH, N.C. -- When it comes to treating allergies, local bee honey might be the best medicine for some people.

Paul Fleckenstein is a local beekeeper and said more people are using honey to treat allergy symptoms like sneezing, itchy watery eyes, headaches and nasal congestion.

"There's several people that have figured it out," said Fleckenstein.

Dr. Cynthia Young said this home remedy trend is catching.

"I have actually recommended that to patients," said Young.

Young believes people develop allergies from constant exposure to common allergens, like dust, plant pollen or certain foods including eggs, wheat, soy, nuts and seafood. Doctors said prescription medicine can help, but so can honey.

"By using locally grown honey, which contains small amounts of pollen from all around the area that patients are living in, they eventually may become desensitized to those same pollens in the environment," said Young. "The idea is that you expose patients to very tiny, miniscule amounts of the substances that they're allergic to, whether that be pollen, dust or animal hair. By giving them a shot every week, eventually their body becomes used to seeing those substances and becomes desensitized."

Beekeepers warn consumers that not all types of honey should be used to treat allergies.

"It should be raw and unfiltered, which means it hasn't been cooked. When it gets cooked, it ruins part of what helps," said Fleckenstein…