Manuka Honey

Manuka honey is produced by European honey bees Apis mellifera foraging on the manuka trees (Leptospermum scoparium species) growing uncultivated throughout New Zealand and south-eastern Australia. These species of flowering plants are the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to Australia and New Zealand and of conservation significance.

Manuka is a key plant in many New Zealand ecosystems and a remarkable species with an incredibly wide tolerance to a range of environmental conditions. Manuka flower is oily, herbaceous, florid, rich and complex with damp earth, heather, aromatic aroma and has a mineral, slightly bitter flavour. The leaves, bark and ‘gum’ from this plant were used by Maori for a variety of medicinal purposes, with leaf decoctions used to reduce fever and treat colds and bark preparations used as sedatives. Manuka oil was also used in traditional medicine for treating diarrhoea, colds and inflammation. Leptospermum scoparium oils also contain chemical compounds with antihelminthic, a drug that expel or destroy parasitic intestinal worms and insecticidal properties and were also shown to have antioxidant, antibacterial and antifungal properties. A pharmacological study suggested its use as a relaxant is also valid.

Honey has been used for medicinal purposes dating back thousands of years by Egyptian royals as well as in ancient Greece and in Biblical times. Other cultures around the globe have also praised honey for being an amazing healing treasure with its nature’s richest antimicrobial sources. Regular raw honey is well known for its tremendous nutritional and immune boosting abilities. Unfiltered raw honey is typically rich in: Amino acids, B vitamins (B6, thiamine, Niacin, Riboflavin, Pantothenic acid), Calcium, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium and Zinc.

A fantastic combinatination of the world’s best: Manuka honey.

Harvesting from bees pollinating manuka bush, manuka honey is one of the most unique and beneficial forms of honey in the world. Manuka honey uses are wide ranging from healing sore throats and digestive illnesses to curing Staph infections and gingivitis. The honey obtained from manuka is considered to be of high quality, having a relatively unique taste with a distinctive flavour, colour and consistency and until recently has been used solely for culinary purposes. Manuka honey is also highly sought after for its medicinal properties. 10 top benefits from Manuka honey are:

1. Helping with Acid reflux, Low stomach acid and SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth): With natural antibiotic qualities in treating bacteria related disorders, Manuka honey is beneficial in reducing reflux, balancing digestive system and healing stomach and intestinal imbalances.

2. Aiding with IBS (Irritable Bowel Symptoms) and IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease): Manuka honey not only relieves intestinal pain, repairs free radical damage but also heals intestinal and colonic inflammation and protects against further damage. When taking at different doses orally, Manuka honey can help to restore lipid peroxidation, improves antioxidant parameters and reduces colonic inflammation.

3. Combating Staph infections (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus): Researchers discovered that Manuka honey down-regulates the most potent genes of the MRSA bacteria on antibiotic resistant infections.

4. Helping Acne and Eczema treatment: Clinical trials on acne and eczema patients prove Manuka honey works wonderfully on these skin conditions due to its antimicrobial and healing properties.

5. Improving sore throat and Immunity: Manuka honey stops the growth of sore throat-causing Strep bacteria. It is almost an instantly relief after taking a spoonful of honey when having a sore throat. It has been recently approved by the National Cancer Institute to be used to treat inflammation in the throat from chemotherapy.

6. Preventing Tooth Decay and Gingivitis: Due to its superior antimicrobial activity, Manuka honey can help to treat and prevent gingivitis and periodontal disease. By sucking on Manuka honey, it can help to decrease dental plaque and reduce bleeding from gingivitis. Calcium, phosphorus and zinc are inherent nutrients in honey and are very important for healing teeth.

7. Treating Burns, Wounds and Ulcers: From research, because of its rich antioxidant, antibacterial and anti-inflammatory characteristics, Manuka honey helps to improve wound healing in acute cases, relieves pain in burn patients leading to decreased inflammatory response in such patients. Topical use of Manuka honey is also effective in wound dressing as it promotes rapid and improved healing.

8. Helping with seasonal allergies and sinusitis: Research done on the regular taking of honey shows it may help with seasonal allergies and lessens the need for antihistamines and medications.

9. Boosting health and aiding beauty treatment: Due to its elexir effect and nutrient-dense profile, Manuka honey can help to boost energy, vitality, youthful energy, to enhance quality of life and to improve skin tone and texture. Use Manuka honey as a face wash exfoliation to fight free radical in the skin, as a shampoo or a hair mask for lustrous hair. Use of Manuka honey as detox drink provides both inside and outside benefits.

10. Improving Sleep: Manuka Honey releases necessary glycogen promoting restful deep sleep and helping bodily functions during sleep. A serving of milk with honey at bedtime helps the body to release melatonin into the brain essential for deep sleep.

Not only up to 4 times richer in nutrients than other floral honeys, Manuka honey also has higher enzyme levels helpful in creating natural hydrogen peroxide working as its antibacterial level. Manuka honey is particularly rich in hydrogen peroxide, methylglyoxal and dihydroxyacetone which are indications of the nutritional content of Manuka honey as well as its medicinal quality. Manuka honey is unique as it has both natural hydrogen peroxide common in most types of honey and its own natural property which is a great deal in effectively enhancing its antibacterial property. This type of natural property is extremely stable and not easily destroyed by heat, light and enzymes in the body.

MGO (Methylglyoxal) and NPA (Non Peroxide) are global standards in identifying and measuring the antibacterial strength of Manuka honey. Manuka honey rating tests the antibacterial performance of a honey and makes comparisons to its phenol, a disinfectant. The rating has a one to one relationship to the phenol standard which is used in an array of scientific tests for detecting the presence of a special non-peroxide activity.

Minimum recognised but not considered beneficial NPA rate is NPA 5+. Rates ranging from NPA 10+ to NPA 15+ have antibacterial activity in honey and are considered having useful medicinal quality level. NPA 16+ and above contain superior quality. NPA 20+ is equivalent to 20 percent solution of phenol. An NPA activity level 12+ to 15+ is effective against a wide range of very resistant bacteria.

NPA (Non Peroxide) MGO (Methylglyoxal)
5+ ≥ 83mg/kg
10+ ≥ 263mg/kg
15+ ≥ 514mg/kg
16+ ≥ 573mg/kg
18+ ≥ 696mg/kg
20+ ≥ 829mg/kg

Crystalisation is a natural process. It is best to place a liquid honey jar in warm water not exceeding 35 degree Celsius to restore its runny form. Store at 20 degree Celsius or below.

Take a dose of about one to two tablespoons of Manuka honey daily to experience the most benefit. It is best to take honey on its own. If you don’t want to take it on its own, to lessen the sweet taste, honey can be added to herbal tea, yogurt or on sprouted grain toast.

To enhance and boost immune effect or heal a sore throat, add one teaspoon of cinnamon. Research shows a combination of Manuka honey and cinnamon can produce antimicrobial properties so powerful that they can help recover fast. Adding honey to lemon juice to make lemon honey drink or to ginger slices to make ginger honey drink also help soothe a sore throat. A combination of lemon ginger honey drink before noon is helpful when having of a cold or flu.

Manuka honey should be used with caution by people with bee allergies due to possible allergic side effects and immediately report any adverse reactions to your health care provider.