Eating pollen for allergy relief

This weekend I plan to head to the farmer's market to pick up some bee pollen. I was told by some bee keepers and honey makers at Wildflower Ridge Honey, LLC that this is a more effective way to ingest pollen for allergy relief than eating local, raw honey. I had been eating local honey that I bought at a grocery store chain, but it turns out that may not have even been the right kind of honey. To be sold in a store like the one that I made my purchase in, the honey has to be heated to a temperature that no longer qualifies it as a raw food. The enzymes and other properties in the raw honey is what helps hay fever sufferers. However, the pollen amounts in the raw honey are still small. This is why they suggested I eat pollen.

The pollen pellets come in a honey jar and it is a granular substance that has a consistency similar to granola. Since I like granola in my yogurt, it is thought that I wouldn't mind the taste and texture of the pollen. It is recommended that people who want to see allergy or asthma relief from the pollen ingest a half a teaspoon of pollen a day, which can be done through eating yogurt, smoothies, oatmeal, or anything else you might like to mix with it. Some people have stepped up that amount of pollen in order to attain greater relief.

The benefits of local honey to allergy sufferers are important because the local pollen contains properties that a person may be allergic to in a certain region. In another region, a person might be more or less affected by that same allergen based on its prevalence in nature. Initially, I decided I needed to seek help for my allergies about a year after moving from the Midwest to the Mid-south. My allergy doctor told me that it generally takes a body six months to start to become susceptible to allergens in a new environment. At that six-month mark my allergies had flared up like they'd never done in the past. The twelve month mark is when I could no longer take it. There were so many new pollens in the air that I wasn't used to and was highly allergic to. For example, hickory is one of my greatest allergies but I wasn't used to being inundated with the amount of hickory pollen that was thrown at me in Tennessee. Birch is another one of my big allergies, but I was used to birch. There was a birch tree planted in my backyard when I was growing up so I had gotten more used to its pollen and it didn't bother me as much.

In addition to helping with allergy relief, which there are doubters but there are also some amazing testimonials, there are a number of other touted benefits. It can help control weight by stabilizing metabolisms. It can improve skin quality through helping control acne, age spots, and wrinkles. It increases red blood cells which are oxygen-carrying cells that aid in circulation. It is said to increase sexual stamina through natural hormonal substances which stimulate and nourish reproductive systems of both men and women. It increases recovery power of athletes after stressed performances. Lastly, and this is something for Ray Lewis and other doping athletes, it has the power of steroids without the harmful chemical side effects.

If you're in a region that shares similar pollens with Indiana you can contact click here for the Wildflower Ridge Honey, LLC Facebook page to get your own raw honey or pollen.

The map used above to illustrate the growth of hickory trees is from Wikipedia.