The Best Way To Fight Off Allergies This Season

For the past couple of weeks, my allergies have been bad.  With the first bloom of a new season, specifically in spring and summer, my eyes and nose begin to suffer. This has always been something that’s affected me, and I know I’m not alone. Thankfully, when we were in Atlanta, I picked up a tip from a friend who swears by a sweet and gooey substance that will help do the trick…

Honey.

honey on wood

But not just any honey…it has to be raw, and it has to be local.

Raw honey is completely unheated, unpasteurized, and unprocessed…so basically, straight out of the hive. Typically, bits of honeycomb or natural pollen will be left in the honey, which is essential for helping your body fight off allergies.

It’s also important for the honey to be local because it will contain pollen from your specific region.

raw honey

Bees carry the local pollen that aggravates our allergies, and those pollens are then transferred during the honey making process. As we take in that pollen, our body builds up an immunity to it, resulting in less of those nasty symptoms.

honey drip

I stopped by Reading Terminal Market here in Philadelphia to track down honey that I knew would be local to the area. I visited Bee Natural to get some more information on the type of pollen that has been making my allergies act up this season. Wildflower pollen has been the biggest culprit in the Philadelphia area, so I picked up a raw and local wildflower honey.

wild flower

The best way to use raw and local honey to combat allergies each season is to start consuming it a few months prior to the first bloom. Getting an early start on ingesting the honey will help adjust the body to the pollen so that the immune system will be less sensitive to the allergens in the air after blooming begins.

I unfortunately heard about this remedy after everything had already bloomed – but it’s never too late to start!

honey over honey comb

Taking 1 spoonful of raw honey a day is the easiest way to start getting the pollen moving through your system and to help fight off those annoying allergy symptoms. You can also try mixing it in with some other ingredients to create a tasty elixir.

elixir ingredients

The most important thing to remember when dealing with raw honey is to make sure it doesn’t get heated, so whatever way you choose to consume it, keep that in mind!

I mixed together the juice of one pink grapefruit, the juice of half a lemon, a few bits of fresh ginger, one spoonful of raw and local wildflower honey, and garnished with a cinnamon stick.

honey elixir

I hope this trick helps you as well! If you have any other tips, leave them in the comments!

More Healthy tips from the BLDG 25 Blog. 

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9 years ago

Yum, that elixir looks delicious! Add some gin and you have yourself an earthy cocktail, my friend!

Kat
9 years ago

All hail honey! Beautiful photographs and great recipe, sounds so yummy. I am a honey gypsy :)

Sophia
9 years ago

Yet another reason why we must save the honeybees! Growing up, I had the worst allergies imaginable, until I moved back home in around sixth grade. My dad kept bees, and we would put the fresh honey on EVERYTHING and use it in a million different ways. I soon discovered my allergies were a thing of the past! They were completely gone, and now I know why!

littleladysadie
9 years ago

I recently had three months of a type of acupuncture/acupressure combo called NAET. It worked amazingly well- it made my numerous food allergy responses go away. I was a little skeptical when I began both because the treatments are so gentle/simple and because if you google the method so many “official” doctors discount it, rather nastily IMO. I tried it, it worked for me. If you seriously suffer from allergies (as I did, for many many years) then I’ say give it a go. Make sure your acupuncturist has good reviews/knows the method though. And good luck! :)

Brigette
9 years ago

Beautiful photos Janny. Luh dat honey on honey on honey.

Niki
9 years ago

Thanks for sharing! I just made it, it’s so simple and delicious. It can be even sauce, dressing for sweat fruit dessert.

9 years ago

Wow, I would have never thought of this! Definitely going to try adding honey to everything.
http://juliettelaura.blogspot.com

9 years ago

Oooooo definitely got to get myself some honey! Ouch hay fever is killing me!

Chelsea
9 years ago

I’m a HUGE believer in essential oils. I LOVE doing Young Living (safe for ingestion) lavender, lemon and peppermint oils in a spoon full of honey or a capsule. Works like magic.

9 years ago

Local honey is an ageless and time tested source for allergies, as well as colds.

Here are a few other tricks:

The bee pollen itself can be consumed, separate from the honey. This can help build up a resistance to allergies. You should be able to get some local pollen from a health food store in your area. you can sprinkle it over yogurt, or granola, or literally anything else.

Neti Pots, help to clean out the nasal passage way and can alleviate allergies.

Additionally, there are certain yoga poses and sequences that can neutralize the effects of asthma and allergies. These postures can help you connect to the respiratory system. The focus is on using Asanas that open and lengthen the chest, strengthen the diaphragm, and clear head and ground.

Here are a few to get started:
1 Supported Bridge~ utilizing a block or bolster to make this pose more accessible and restorative. Lie down on your back, plant your feet behind your hips with your knees up facing the sky. Lift your hips to a level you feel comfortable and place a block underneath the sacrum, your sacrum is a little triangle at the base of your spine. lower your sacrum back to the earth resting on the block. when finished. gently slide the block out and lower your spine to the earth one vertebrae at a time. windshield wiper your legs back and forth after performing this pose to protect the back.
>>> this pose opens the spine and chest, opens the top fronts of thighs.

2 flowing through Cat/Cow postures~ starting in a neutral ‘tabletop’ position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees underneath your hips. for ‘cat’ rounding the spine, tucking the tailbone, exhaling, and for COW arching the back, dropping the belly looking forward and taking a long inhalation.
>>> cat cow is like yin and yang– a smooth sequence of poses that lubricates the spine, stretches the body and gently opens up the lungs, coaxing your breathing into a slow, deep rhythm.

3 Cobra Pose~Lie face-down on the floor with your hands at your sides, and the tops of the feet resting on the earth. Take a deep breath in. On the exhale press your palms into the earth as you push your upper body off the ground, rolling your should blades flat along your back. taking care to keep your hips, legs, and feet touching the mat, and your arms as straight as possible. Lift your chest upward toward the sky, opening your heart, hold the pose as you take in five deep breaths.
>>>this pose promotes an open chest, and heart reduced stress, and back pain relief.

4 Mountain Pose~ essential this pose looks like you are just standing still. while in mountain pose take effort and care to maintain a strong back while staying rooted and grounded down through the feet. Engaging your core.
>>>This uncomplicated pose helps to balance the spine, which in turn balances the respiratory system to make breathing easier. Since there are no complicated moves involved, you can devote your energies to proper breathing.

klara
9 years ago

Is it safe to eat raw hone? Just not sure…

9 years ago

@ klara honey is safe for adults, but should NOT be consumed by babies, I would consult with a doctor if you’re having hesitations about it.

9 years ago

Having been put on two different types of antihistamines twice a day solidly for two years (I have evil skin), my allergies are now awful without taking antihistamines and I now have to take them. Which is sad, I wish I could take just honey, seems a lot healthier.

suzy
9 years ago

my daughter and i have a spoonful of pure honey every morning. does wonders….:)

TamarackAndKhus
9 years ago

When taking a supplement like raw honey or ghee, I often prefer to just take a spoonful of it plain- to enjoy the flavor and make processing it a little easier on my body.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/TamarackAndKhus

9 years ago

I LOVE raw honey, and at my local health food store, there is even Allergy raw honey– supposedly cures or helps allergies. So great! Much better than benedrill!
http://livobeautiful.blogspot.com
xoxo
Keep sneezing!

Liz
9 years ago

BLESS! I love it when you guys make posts that are relevant to the seasons, and this one came just when my allergies were starting to hit- perfect timing!

http://fleurs-de-liz.blogspot.ca

Maryann
9 years ago

It only really works if you live a certain radius from the bees producing the honey, I think it’s like 10 miles

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Very interesting way to combat allergies! Never would have thought raw honey would do the trick!