No, Honey Won't Cure Your Allergies

Indulging in honey from a local beekeeper has much to recommend it—except for the misguided notion that it will cure your allergies, writes Rachel E. Gross at Slate. This widespread myth is rooted in the idea that because bees make honey out of pollen, consuming it in low doses will provide a natural immunity. That's "totally, utterly wrong" on two counts, writes Gross: First of all, bees make honey out of nectar—not pollen, which is just an "accidental guest" in the process that shows up in tiny amounts. But more importantly, it's "the wrong kind of pollen."

Generally speaking, the pollen making you sneeze isn't from pretty, flowering plants, it's from grass, trees, and weeds. So even if honey were full of flower pollen, it still wouldn't make a difference. Those people who say honey made their allergies vanish in a month? Well, they just made it to the end of the allergy season, so, of course, their sneezing went away. "As far as natural fixes go," honey is "one of the least dangerous and certainly the tastiest," writes Gross. So spread it on your toast if you wish, but don't expect an allergy miracle. Click for the full post. (More honey stories.)