A sweet idea

Now that spring is here (supposedly ... it's been cold in the Northeast and we're supposed to get 4 - 8 inches of snow tonight), I'm reminded that allergy season is right around the corner.

I've always had seasonal allergies and as I've gotten older, they seem to be getting worse, especially in the spring when trees and grasses start blooming and growing and pollen coats everything with that fine, bright green dust.

I mentioned this to my brother-in-law, Jim, who lives in Anaheim, CA, a couple of years ago as he had really bad allergies, too. He told me about a home remedy that he got from some co-workers: a tablespoon of honey for about a month or two before pollen season starts. But not just any honey, it has to be honey made by bees in your area. The nutritional chart shows the facts for a tablespoon of honey (I was curious ... and now you know, too).

Here's how it works: Because bees use pollen to create honey, if you take honey made by local bees, it'll contain pollen from local trees. The more honey you eat, the more pollen gets built up in your system and you become immune to it.

While that seemed to make sense, I still thought it was ridiculous. But last spring I tried it and damn if it didn't work. I took 1 - 2 tablespoons a day for about 6 - 8 weeks and never sneezed once all spring. No itchy, watery eyes, no congestion ... nadda.