In the spring, the wind carries clouds of pollen through the air. This causes stress to people who have a predisposition to hay fever. Their immune system overreacts to pollen grains with an excessive production of histamine. This causes irritation to the mucous membranes of the nose, eyes and mouth.
In research in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, among others, a significant reduction in symptoms was observed after the digestion of local honey. It seems that local honey works to some extent against hay fever. It is important that there is enough of the allergenic pollen in the honey to trigger immunity, and that you start consuming honey long enough before flowering.
A teaspoon of honey (10 grams) contains an average of 50,000 pollen grains. That is enough to be recognised by the human immune system to develop antibodies as a defence. You may notice a therapeutic effect at a daily dose of one teaspoon of honey.
A few more small tips for relieving symptoms:
- Put some Vaseline in your nose
- Wash your hair before going to bed
- Replace your pillowcase every day
Every spring people are being treated in my practice for hay fever. It’s especially effective if the treatments is started in time before the actual period in which the symptoms appear.
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