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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2020 Jun 10.
Published in final edited form as: Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2018 Feb;8(2):108–352. doi: 10.1002/alr.22073

TABLE IX.B.11.b.

Evidence for the use of honey in the treatment of allergic rhinitis

Study Year LOE Study design Study groups Clinical endpoint Conclusion
Asha’ari et al.1508 2013 1b RDBPCT

  1. Honey;

  2. Placebo

 AR symptom scores Improvement in overall and individual AR symptoms with honey.
Rajan et al.1510 2002 1b RDBPCT

  1. Locally collected, unpasteurized, unfiltered honey;

  2. Nationally collected, pasteurized, filtered honey;

  3. Placebo

 Daily AR symptoms, rescue medication use No significant difference in AR symptoms or need for rescue medication.
Saarinen et al.1509 2011 2b RCT

  1. Birch pollen honey;

  2. Regular honey;

  3. No honey

 Daily AR symptoms, number of asymptomatic days, rescue medication use Birch pollen honey significantly lowered total symptom scores and decreased use of rescue medications. Honey groups had significantly more asymptomatic days.

AR = allergic rhinitis; LOE = level of evidence; RCT; randomized controlled trial; RDBPCT = randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial.