Manuka honey and allergic reactions

Natural bee honey has been suggested as an alternative treatment for hay fever and other allergies. However, all the honey is not the same, because the bees make honey by bringing together nectar common flowers in their vicinity. The composition and the medicinal properties of honey vary depending on the mixture of flowers that the bees visit. Manuka honey is specific to the plant supposed to have healing properties. Speak with your doctor before trying Manuka honey to treat or prevent your allergy symptoms.

Manuka honey is manufactured by bees that collect the nectar exclusively from the indigenous plant of leptospermum of New Zealand. An article from the University of Waikato reports that Manuka honey contains a unique antibacterial ingredient that is not found in other honeys which makes it an antibiotic healer and effective wounds. According to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Manuka Honey was used as food, to promote wound healing and relieve gastrointestinal problems. The other names of Manuka honey include tea honey, Australian tea honey, active manuka honey and antibacterial honey.

Allergic reactions

Manuka honey is a natural product, but it contains substances from the bees and flowers they visit which are foreign to your body and can cause an immune system or an allergic reaction. Normally, your immune system protects you by identifying foreign substances or organisms and then acting to destroy them, sequester them or inactivate them. Sometimes, however, your immune system overestime by overestimating the threat and reacting excessively. The immune system responds to an allergen by releasing histamine, whose side effects include itching, swelling, hives, rashes and flowing noses – symptoms of allergy.

Manuka honey and allergies

Honey allergies can be triggered by bee proteins or plants, according to a 1998 report published by Australia Therapeutic Goods Administration, although the authors of this study have concluded that honey allergies are rare.