It's that time of year again in Melbourne. Your nose starts running, your eyes become itchy and your sinuses are frequently blocked. Yup, its hayfever season and it never seems to get easier.
Being a hayfever sufferer, I almost broke down in tears of joy when I heard on the radio that a spoonful of locally-sourced honey could get rid of the sniffles. The idea behind it is sound - exposure to tiny bits of what you're allergic to may help reduce the severity of your allergic response. So, eating honey made by nearby bees, is said to give you a tiny dose of the pollen that your immune system can get used to.
Unfortunately, as sweet as it sounds, this story about hayfever and local honey is a myth!
Not only is the amount of pollen in honey far too small to be significant, it's also the wrong type. Most people are allergic to pollen produced by trees, grasses and weeds, not pollen from sweet-smelling blooms. If you need some relief from hayfever but don't want to take antihistamines, speak to Lynne our naturopath for a more natural option.
