Honey allergy: a wolf in sheep’s clothing

People have been practicing beekeeping for a very long time and bee products have been consumed for thousands of years. Perga, royal jelly, wax, propolis and, of course, honey – plant nectar processed by bees and some other substances. Before we learned how to produce sugar, honey was highly appreciated by culinary specialists who used it as a sweetener (it still exists). In addition, honey has healing properties, contains many vitamins and minerals, as well as easily digestible sugars, that is, it is very nutritious and is also used in cosmetology.

With all this, honey is considered an extremely allergenic product: it is not given to small children, and adults try it with caution. But is honey really as scary as it is painted? Are people often allergic to honey?

Foreign statistics show that it is honey itself, as processed nectar, that causes allergies in less than 0.001% of cases. In fact, the main culprits of a honey allergy are the pollen of plants and the waste products of the bees themselves (the secretions of their glands, perhaps some poison components that accidentally get into the sweet substance). It is thanks to them that honey has acquired such a reputation. This explains the fact that farm honey that has not undergone industrial processing causes allergies much more often. The reason for this is that “factory” honey is specially purified, and “natural” (let’s call it that, although there is no unnatural honey) does not undergo such purification, respectively, from tiny pollen particles can stay on it, causing an overly strong immune response. Another confirmation of this: early honey harvested in May is safer than honey harvested in summer. Many plants, because of which allergy sufferers are afraid to leave the house, bloom only in the summer – and their pollen gets into the product. And sometimes there is a strong allergy to honey harvested from certain flowers or certain trees, and a weak one to all other types of honey. In this case, the body most likely reacts precisely to the remnants of plant pollen, which, for example, is often found in buckwheat or meadow honey, but rarely in other varieties.

The symptoms of an allergy to honey (by this allergy we also mean an allergy to something that is not directly in its composition, such as pollen) do not differ from the signs of allergic reactions to other types of products:

In extremely rare cases, honey can cause angioedema, a life-threatening condition in which the airways are blocked due to edema, hypoxia occurs, and this can lead to death. So, to the question of whether a honey allergy can be dangerous, the answer is yes, it can, and if the reaction is strong, then at that time there is no difference as to what ‘it appeared exactly, even to honey itself, even to pollen or components of the vital activity of bees, the main thing is to save a person. By the way, allergies in children are usually more intense than in adults.

Sometimes honey allergies are confused with other medical conditions associated with this product. For example, the symptoms of excessive honey consumption may be similar to those described above. Another disease associated with honey is infant botulism. The fact is that honey can contain bacteria of the genus Clostridium botulinum. Adults and children over the age of one are usually not even aware of their activities, as the microflora copes with them without problems, but babies can have problems. Therefore, if a child under one year old accidentally ate honey, and after that looks weak, sucks badly, coughing, salivation and trouble breathing are observed, you need to call a doctor and go to the hospital, this bacterial infection is not treated at home. .

If you are allergic to honey and have accidentally eaten some of it (or, for example, you have not noticed that honey is used in a dish served to you at a party or coffee), take an antihistamine. Suprastin, claritin, kestin, tsetrin will help. Absorbents can help, which “won’t let” the allergen spread throughout the body. If honey gets on the skin, wash it off, smear it with an external antihistamine. In half an hour or an hour it should become easier, if the symptoms do not disappear during this time, but become more intense – you need to call a doctor.

There is also a long-term treatment of allergies – this is allergen-specific immunotherapy, during which the patient’s body is gradually “accustomed” to contact with the allergen. Before that, of course, the allergist conducts appropriate tests to determine which component of honey is allergic, whether it can be a reaction to pure honey or other components.

The first thing to do is to avoid contact with the allergen. Try not to eat honey, check the composition of food and dishes, do not use cosmetics containing honey. If you are allergic to bees, avoid honey as well. If you are allergic to a certain pollen, avoid honey, which bees make from the nectar of the respective plants.

If you are planning to try a new variety of honey, put some of the product in your mouth first and wait. Do not swallow. If nothing happens in a few minutes, there’s probably no reaction or it’s not strong. You can also do a skin test.

The least allergenic are the varieties of honey that bees make from the nectar of acacia, mustard, sunflower, apple tree, conifer. Honey after industrial processing is safer than farm honey, May honey is safer than summer honey, and standing and slightly hardened honey is fresh.

Honey allergy is not so terrible, if you follow some precautions. We hope this will not be too difficult for you.