Posted on 04/13/2011 8:45:05 AM PDT by decimon
There is a LOT of hype in this article. The New Zealanders have been very effective at marketing their manuka honey for its healthful properties. This article though, looks almost the same as articles written on the same topic in the “Evening Herald”, August 27, 2007, and in the Irish Medical News, 8/24/07. Nothing new or original in this latest article including the biased information.
It should be known that many of the US varietal honeys can do equally as well for many, if not all of the same medical conditions. There are lots of studies on these topics.
The US honey board, IMO, is remiss in not marketing the healthful benefits of US honies and have allowed the New Zealanders to become dominant in this aspect of honey use.
Using honey for medicinal purposes dates back 60 centuries. The oldest evidence for this is an approximate 15,000 yr old “painting” discovered in a cave near Valencia, Spain in 1919. Some believe this picture, painted in red, is the “oldest known work of art”. I cannot verify this or disagree with it.
Honeys have been used to preserve skin for skin grafts. Honey is known to possess anti-bacterial properties. It is hygroscopic which means it will pull bacteria, debris and fluids from a wound. It is great to treat diabetic foot ulcers for example. In 1700 BC, the EBERS papyrus mentions honey being used for internal diseases and as a surgical dressing. It was also used for burns, ulcers and eye inflammations. Archeological excavations in Israel in 2007 uncovered the first beehive colonies that date from the 10th to the early 9th century BC. These are the first (earliest) hives to be discovered in the ancient near East. According to Hippocrates, The ancient Egyptians (460-357 BC) used honeys medicinally. In short, the New Zealanders are Johnny-come-latelys to the medicinal use of honey and their manuka variety certainly has NO corner on the medicinal/health market.
If a person wants to use honey for its health benefits, make sure the honey comes from a beekeeper, health food store or farmer’s market. Absolutely ensure the label reads that the honey is “Raw and Unfiltered”. This means it has not been pasteurized, i.e., heated above 150 degrees for longer than 8 minutes (most all store bought honies have been pasteurized). This is a waste of money.
By the way, the “miele” in my FR name means “honey” (in Italian)
Meant to also say that for the past two weeks, I’ve been using local, Tupelo honey on a 3 inch surgical incision. I saw the surgeon yesterday who commented the wound had healed quite fast and looked great. I did not tell him I’d been putting honey on the wound. When I first applied it, the swelling went down almost overnight.
Regular honey is great for you.
Only sugar that won’t spike your insulin.
Further the only food that won’t rot. They found some stored in a egyptian gravesite that was about 2000 yrs old. Still good.
In a pinch regular honey could be used. It’s not as good as manuka honey. Packing wounds with sugar can help limit infection too. It’s just the wounds need to be cleaned and repacked and new bandages need to be used, several times a day.
A reputable local health food store is the best place.
Good thing to stock up on is Manuka honey. Also GSE (grape fruit seed extract ) by Nutri-Biotic. That stuff is amazing for external and internal. Brushing teeth to disenfecting a cutting board.
Manuka can be used on staph infections, wounds, and even acne.
It’s easier for me to just get some from “my girls”. :)
Hmmmmm?
Alright! Doesn’t get any better than that.
When purchasing, make sure the label says “Live” Manila haoney.
*PING*.
“Good thing to stock up on is Manuka honey.”
When we lived in NZ pre-Y2K my husband and I would buy Manuka honey in the grocery store at a reasonable price. We used it in coffee and tea. We thought the flavor was fine. Sometime around 2000 they discovered it was good for killing the bacteria that caused ulcers, and then that it was good for topical bacterial infections. The price skyrocketed and we could no longer get it in the grocery store. For close to a decade I’ve kept Manuka honey on hand for when we get sore throats, colds, etc. It’s also been several years ago that they started manufacturing bandages with it incorporated into them. The last time I bought Manuka honey the price was obscene compared to what we’d buy it for pre 2000. My husband has regular honey every day and has been sick only a couple times in our 16 year marriage.
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