Honey, I Shrunk My Hay Fever!

There is currently a buzz surrounding the medicinal benefits of local honey. However, bees and the medicinal properties of both honey and beeswax were copiously documented by the Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans. We seem to be a little late to the party.

Moving forward a few centuries, the royal bee keeper to King Charles II described the humble bee as ‘an exquisite chemist’, and our own King Charles III, reported never to travel without a selection of his own local honey, appears to concur. Many worldwide believe that honey has the potential to reduce the symptoms of a variety of ailments, including hay fever, and so I decided to turn detective and investigate.

In Search of Healing Nectar

John Kelso and Louise Kelso are beekeepers, passionate about the welfare of their bees and the bee population worldwide. They are based in Wrea Green, a beautiful village only a few miles from where I live, and they produce the honey most local to me.

They have two apiaries with a total of eighteen hives and they run Creation Honey. John and Louise collect raw honey direct from the hive and it is coarse-filtered, a process which allows the valuable natural pollen blend, together with nectar, to remain. And herein lies the key. It is the ingesting of local pollen that is believed to be such a valuable addition to our hay fever toolkit, and it is this that potentially helps the body to build up immunity to the triggers which cause hay fever.

‘The participants receiving a daily dose of local honey demonstrated a significant reduction in symptoms.’

The jury, however, seems to be out as to whether or not local honey warrants any scientifically backed accolades, primarily because there appear to have been so few studies attempted. Nevertheless, a recent small-scale trial of forty hay fever sufferers, all taking the leading brand of anti-histamine, presented twenty of the participants with a hefty daily dose of local honey, and the remaining twenty with the equivalent dose of a honey-flavoured syrup. Each participant was monitored daily over an 8-week period, assessing the symptoms of sneezing, eye, nose and palatal itching, nasal blockage, and rhinitis. Each of the twenty participants receiving the daily dose of local honey demonstrated a significant reduction in symptoms. By contrast, no member of the control group displayed any improvement.

The next stage of this ongoing trial is to monitor a new group of participants using a more practicable dosage of local honey in order to isolate the exact amount required to positively affect symptoms.

? ‘And I’m fe-ee-lin’ good!’ ?

Meanwhile my own investigations were also taking place; drizzling John and Louise's local honey on my porridge each morning and drinking fruit smoothies also blended with their honey each day. To ease my tickly throat, I drank a warming glass of an apple and local honey soother before settling down for the night. And the results are pretty conclusive. I am more alert, energised and focused, and yes, my hay fever symptoms have diminished.

Ingesting a tablespoon or so of local honey each day, and eating and drinking specific quality ingredients known for their beneficial properties in actively reducing the symptoms of hay fever, has worked. My diet, purposely full of immune boosting ingredients, has played a key role in the battle against this draining seasonal allergy. My symptoms are in retreat and local honey played its part.

‘Honey Bees often seek out grass pollen and collect it readily as an essential food source.’

There are those who say that bees only collect pollen from flowers and that, as it is predominantly tree and grass pollens that we hay fever sufferers have such a strong allergic reaction to, local honey is unlikely to prove to be of any short or long term positive benefit.

Well, I have been observing the various bee communities in my own garden, in the sea grasses on the sand dunes, and in the meadows of Wrea Green. The bees do indeed love to gather nectar from my garden flowers, shrubs and trees, the clover on my lawn, the sand-loving wild flowers of the dunes and from the various wild flowers growing in the farmer’s fields. However, as they do so, their tiny furry bodies are brushing against all sorts of other plants and grasses, gathering an assortment of debris, including other beneficial pollens that they also transfer to the hive. Honey bees often seek out grass pollen and collect it readily as an essential food source and, in a raw, coarse-filtered honey, these pollens are likely to remain.

‘Listen to the bees and let them guide you.’ Father Adam

As a scientist, I am never happier than seeing page after page of successful research documenting the reasoning and proof as to why a product should be considered efficacious. However, I am also aware that just because a product or idea has not yet achieved any kind of science-based seal of approval, it does not necessarily follow that it should be dismissed as having no benefit.

Millions worldwide swear by their daily tablespoon of local honey and actively supporting your immune system by doing so has to make a difference. It has done for me and I plan to continue to supplement my diet with a little local honey year round and monitor the difference to my symptoms when the next hay fever cycle begins. As Benedictine monk and groundbreaking master beekeeper, Brother Adam, so wisely advised, I’m going to listen to the bees and let them guide me. Perhaps they will guide you too.

Tim Gaunt

To learn more about John and Louise’s passion for beekeeping and their honey and beeswax products, please visit www.creationhoney.co.uk

About the Author

Tim Gaunt is a biochemist and nutritionist and an advocate for the promotion of better health and wellbeing. His expert opinion has been sought on a wide and diverse range of subjects over a period spanning four decades. Please read and share in his expertise as he freely debates health issues via his LinkedIn page.

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