Monday, April 2, 2012

Beating the Pollen Season with Local Honey

Ahhhh, springtime.  I love the milder temps (although we had a mild winter to begin with here in Atlanta), the chirping birds building nests, and the budding flowers.  However, the pollen was outrageous this spring with counts as high as 9000 on some days.  Yes, that's right -- 9000 pollen count!  I'm not adding extra zeroes for the fun of it, believe me.  :) Any pollen count over 1500 is considered to be in the "extremely high" category, and we went waaaaay above that.  We are truly in the midst of Pollen-apocalypse here in the deep South!

 azalea blooms


Well, the 9K pollen count wore me down.  You name the symptom, and I had it.  Watery, itchy eyes. Sneezing.  Stuffy nose.  Runny nose.  Sore throat.  Headache.  Blech!  I needed help.  I started out with an OTC medication, but a friend of mine suggested local honey.  I know this blog is about taking "small steps daily," but I was looking for a huge step in getting relief from the evil pollen invading Atlanta.

Local honey from Moye's Pharmacy and Earl Grey tea from Teavana


The idea behind eating local honey is like gradually vaccinating the body against allergens in your area, a process called immunotherapy.  In other words, it's like getting allergy shots but a LOT more pleasant.  :) I did some cursory research (which is to say I briefly googled the topic) and found that a lot of people feel immunotherapy works for them.

So . . . off my husband went to purchase local honey at Moye's, a local pharmacy chain.  I must say that we both were suffering and we both feel better now.  I don't know if it's due to the meds I briefly took or the local honey, but I do feel better.  At any rate, I enjoyed sipping hot tea each night with a tablespoon of honey added to it.  Ahhhhh!
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4 comments:

  1. suzycApril 2, 2012 at 4:49 AM

    How interesting. It certainly makes sense logically, and I am so pleased you are getting relief, and with such a pleasant method too.

    Hope the sneezes and other horrid syptoms continue to abate, and that you can get out and about and enjoy the Spring sunshine.

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    1. StephApril 2, 2012 at 2:03 PM

      Yes, I have to say I feel better after having a tablespoon a day for about five or six days now. Plus, it's been an awesome addition to my Earl Grey in the evenings. :)

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  2. AnonymousApril 2, 2012 at 6:29 AM

    I mentioned this to Sloan a couple of weeks ago. he uses honey in his oatmeal almost every day so I sugegsted that we find some local raw honey to try instead of what we can pick up at the grocery store. I'm glad to know you can find it at Moye's since I can walk right across the street from work and pick some up. Thanks for the tip!

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    1. StephApril 2, 2012 at 2:05 PM

      Ooooh, honey in oatmeal -- thanks for the idea. I think you may have mentioned that to me once before with your steel cut oats you turned me on to a while back.

      I really do feel better whether it's from the honey or just the pollen starting to ebb. Either way, it's been a nice treat each day to have some with my hot tea.

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