There’s nothing sweet about seasonal allergies.
Spend a few minutes online, and you’ll find a swarm of claims that eating local honey can ease, or even cure, your allergy symptoms.
But is it really nature’s cure for nature’s problem — or an allergy fallacy?
“It’s a common myth,” Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergist with the Allergy & Asthma Network, told The Post. The real solution, he said, is all natural — but it’s not the sweet fix you were probably hoping for.
Sniffles season
Seasonal allergies occur when your immune system overreacts to allergens like pollen and dust, triggering a nasty cycle of sneezing, itchy eyes, runny noses fatigue.
Across the country, nearly 1 in 3 adults and more than 1 in 4 children fall victim to seasonal allergies each year, according to the CDC.
While allergy season varies by location, it’s most infamous in the spring and fall when pollen levels soar. In New York City, the misery begins as early as late February or March and usually drags on until late October.
The buzz around local honey
Staying indoors, especially on dry, windy days when pollen counts are high, is one of the best ways to tackle seasonal allergies. But if you’re not ready to be a spring shut-in, there are a few things you can do to fight back.
First up: air purifiers, dust covers and washing your bedding regularly help keep pollen from infiltrating your home.
Over-the-counter meds like antihistamines, nasal sprays, eye drops and saline rinses can also clear out allergens and offer much-needed relief.
But for some, the natural route is more appealing. One of the most common tips circulating online? Eating honey produced by bees in your area.
“If you eat honey that’s local, it contains over 200 microbes and types of pollen,” Dr. Josh Axe, a chiropractor and doctor of natural medicine, told his 20,000 TikTok followers.
“When you’re eating that, your body is building up a natural immunity to high doses of pollen you could get in the spring and the fall during allergy season,” he explained.
The theory is that, over time, this would make your body more tolerant to allergens. But here’s where the logic falls apart.
“The pollen found in honey is not actually the pollen that you’re allergic to because it’s mostly made up of pollen grains from insect pollinated plants,” Dr. Zachary Rubin, a board-certified allergist, said in a recent TikTok.
“What you’re allergic to is pollen that comes from wind pollinated plants, like birch trees, timothy grass and ragweed,” he added.
While there is some evidence that honey might soothe a sore throat or cough, Parikh said it’s not a long-term fix.
“People may feel better temporarily, but it isn’t actually treating or reducing your allergies,” he explained.
To help alleviate allergy symptoms, Parikh recommended avoiding alcohol and processed foods that fuel inflammation in the body. Steam inhalation can also provide short term relief.
“There are many other non medicinal and natural therapies that have been tried but the data is too limited to know if they are actually effective or not,” he noted.
The real “natural” solution
If cough syrup and eye drops aren’t cutting it, don’t throw in the towel just yet.
“Interestingly, one of our most “natural” remedies is the most effective,” Parikh said.
Enter allergen immunotherapy: a treatment where doctors administer shots or drops containing tiny, diluted doses of the allergens that trigger your symptoms.
The approach actually works similarly to the local honey theory — but science backs it up. Over time, these shots or drops help train your immune system to become more tolerant of the triggers.
“As a result, your seasonal and year-round allergies improve, as do your symptoms and need for medications,” Parikh said.
But don’t expect a quick fix. When using shots, patients typically get injections every week for about six months, followed by monthly shots for three to five years.
Doctors say about 80% to 90% of patients will notice some improvement in their symptoms.
“It’s a significant investment in time and travel, and it’s not one to be taken lightly,” Dr. Shazia Lutfeali, an allergist and immunologist, told Cedars-Sinai.
“The potential benefits are significant, but if you can’t be consistent, we will probably stop your immunotherapy. It’s just not safe to continue in patients who come in sporadically,” she noted.
For those looking for a less time-consuming option, there are tablets or drops that can be taken at home daily. While more convenient, the FDA has only approved these for a few specific allergens, and research suggests the shots are still the more effective option.
And no, you shouldn’t start licking pollen off your car in an attempt to dose yourself, as one TikTok user suggested.
“If you were to consume large amounts of pollen, it theoretically could potentially help, but you could develop a lot of symptoms doing that and it is not as reliable as doing the immunotherapy process,” said Rubin, who also backs immunotherapy as the most effective solution for seasonal allergies.
