Honey and Allergies
Some laboratory studies suggest honey has the potential to clear up stuffy noses and ease allergies triggered by pollen. But it's a bit of a stretch to apply that to patients, says New Jersey allergist Corinna Bowser, MD.
Bowser says she doesn't consider the studies on honey and congestion to be adequate, for a few reasons: most allergy sufferers are sensitive to wind-carried pollens like grass and ragweed -- the kind not carried by bees and transformed into honey.
"If you want to treat someone for common allergies, it's not commonly found in bee honey," Bowser says.
"Even if there are allergens in the honey, it wouldn't make a difference, because it gets broken down by stomach acids and doesn't trigger an immunological response," Bowser says. In contrast, "The pills we take for allergies are coated so they don't get broken down," she says.