Have any of you fed raw honey? If so, have you seen any allergy improvement or anything else in your dog due to the use of it? Just curious, there is an article about it in the Sept. issue of The Whole Dog Journal.
Reg: 07-13-2005
Posts: 31571
Loc: North-Central coast of California
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The article in WDJ also mentioned bee pollen for similar results. When I read it, that sounded more acceptable to me.
The idea (just as with human allergies) is to desensitize the system with one grain, then two grains, and so on, of the pollen (or honey) from the plant that causes the allergy.
In fact, thanks for the reminder. The farmers' market is tomorrow and I wanted to talk to the honey guy about this. :> I do have a dog with seasonal allergies.
I have heard of eating raw local honey to help allergies. It didn't help me, maybe your dog will have better luck.
There are some posts on the forum about yogurt/probiotic cultures helping allergies.
I know this is a self-serving statement from the National Honey Board (who knew there was such a group ), but I remember reading somewhere else, too, that honey is a prebiotic:
"Bifidobacteria are a group of bacteria considered important to the health of the gastrointestinal tract (i.e., “good bacteria&rdquo. Increasing the populations of these “good bacteria” (and suppressing potentially deleterious microorganisms) are thought to be important to maintaining optimal gastrointestinal health. There are generally two approaches for increasing the populations of bifidobacteria in the gut: (1) ingesting the live and active cultures or (2) enhancing the growth of the indigenous bifidobacteria. The first method has been referred to as a “probiotic” while the second is considered a “prebiotic”
Reg: 07-13-2005
Posts: 31571
Loc: North-Central coast of California
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Yup, just as Mike says, honey is a prebiotic (which stimulate the growth and activity of probiotics, the beneficial bacteria of the intestine), as well as a different route to possible allergy relief via desensitizing.
But I too prefer not to give my dogs much sugar, so I was very interested in the idea of bee pollen instead of honey..... especially in view of the tiny (gradually increasing) amounts used to desensitize the system and decrease the allergic response over time.
So I just got back from the farmers' market, and the honey guy didn't happen to have any product from his local hives. He did say he would bring pollen next time from his hives in my town (local is the idea). He does farmers' markets all over the state, and he had with him all his Sacramento-area products.
At least I trust him, since when I explained why I wanted honey from here, he said that what he had was from another area. I never would've known the difference.
I do NOT think it takes the place of any of the allergy steps often discussed here, such as Omega 3s from marine sources, Vitamin E, excellent diet including probiotics, and so on. JMO.
But I did think it seemed like an interesting and harmless idea.
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