Let me guess…. It is cold outside, you are surrounded with coughing people, or people with a cold or flu who are trying their best to make it through with some NSAIDs or even antibiotics, for the xxth time of the year, like every year in December?....
What about getting a year through without getting sick? Or just without taking any sort of chemical medicine with negative side effects?
I have been talking about many natural solutions already, that can boost your Immune System, especially during this harder Winter time (well unless you live on the other hemisphere…;-) ): Oregano Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Coconut oil, Peppermint tea, Turmeric…
Today I am going to talk about a sweet natural treasure that can significantly help you go through those tough times in a nice, sweet, tasty way: RAW HONEY.
1. WHAT IS HONEY?
We know that bees make honey, but how many of you know that it takes about 60,000 bees, traveling overall about 55,000 miles, visiting more than 2 Million flowers, to make about 1 pound of honey? The bee stores the flowers extract in its extra-stomach to mix it with enzymes. Through regurgitation, it passes it through its mouth to another bee, and this process is repeated until the nectar becomes pre-digested and kept in a honeycomb. It dries up there thanks to the bees fanning the air with their wings. When the water evaporates from the initial nectar, it becomes a thick liquid that we call honey. The honeycomb gets then sealed with a liquid secreted by the abdomen of the bees, that turns into beeswax. Honey can actually be stored indefinitely when stored out of air and water.
The quality of the honey and its properties depends a lot on the source of the nectar. There is a wide variation in antimicrobial activity of natural honey, due to spatial and temporal variation of the nectar source.
Honey is a blend of sugar (53% fructose), trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins and amino acids.
Only raw, unfiltered, unprocessed, 100% pure honey is really beneficial for you. Unfortunately, the majority of commercial honey that you find in supermarkets is highly processed today, and much of it even with no trace of pollen. It is so altered that many healing compounds may not be left. So make sure you go to your local farmers market or that your honey is well sourced, or I wouldn’t even advise you to have any drop of it.
2. RAW HONEY HEALING PROPERTIES
Who doesn’t know today that warm water with a teaspoon of honey can relieve the worst sore throat? Who hasn’t tried it yet? Not many people I think. Honey has actually been used for its antibacterial, antifungal and antimicrobial properties for thousands of years. All kinds of burns, cuts or insect bites would be treated topically with some good raw honey. Before penicillin, raw honey was the go-to remedy for all kind of wounds, to decrease inflammation or help fight bacterial infection.
Anthropologists found evidence that ancient Egyptians used it 5000 years go. And today, it is still being used regularly in tribal areas in Africa.
Today, and as it is often the case, science is catching up and studies are being help, showing scientifically the powerful healing activity of Raw Honey.
Raw Honey can help heal ulcers, sunburns and even viruses like herpes.
Raw Honey can be a potent antibacterial agent. By keeping wounds moist, it helps accelerate the healing and repairing process. It also helps balance your gut flora by promoting healthy bacteria and fighting off the bad ones in your digestive tract.
The most common infections such as chronic sinusitis, sore throats/coughs, and even genital herpes can be overcome by a regular using of good quality Raw Honey.
Because it decreases your levels of homocysteine (when those are too high, you increase your risk of blood vessels inflammation), it helps support your heart health, and even helps relieve allergies:
The pollen spores in good quality Raw Honey contain a small amount of allergens that can activate your Immune System and build up your natural immunity against it. But this has to be experienced with local raw honey, sourced from the same plants you might be allergic to. This shows again why it is extremely important that you only choose local raw honey, as processed and refined ones usually don’t contain any of those pollen spores.
Lately, research has mainly been done on a special variety of honey: MANUKA HONEY. This one seems to be much more potent than many other types of honey, let’s see why.
3. MANUKA HONEY:
Manuka Honey is a darker honey that comes from bees feasting on Manuka trees in New Zealand.
Special interest has been given to Manuka Honey compared to other types of honey because its antibacterial properties have been experienced for thousands of years in Australia and New Zealand. Findings are quite promising.
Recent studies show that Manuka Honey kills until the worst bacteria known to man. This is highly important as we are living at a time when antibiotics start failing as they have been overused and bacteria start developing resistance to them. Also, Manuka Honey doesn’t have the harmful side effects of antibiotics, which is another good reason to take a closer look at it.
One of the first medical use of Manuka Honey has been to clean up catheters against bacterial biofilm growth. This is a big problem still today, and many people get infected with all different kinds of pathogens just by going through a catheter intervention.
Manuka Honey has been proven to be very effective, even at a very low level of concentration, to slow down bacteria development and clustering.
Manuka Honey has also a broad spectrum antimicrobial activity that is getting more and more interesting for regular clinical use. On top of that, it has an inhibitory effect on some fungi and viruses.
In overall, Manuka Honey’s antibacterial, antiseptic, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties are well known today and are often used to kill off some pathogens that are resistant to the more conventional treatments. Thanks to its wide range of active compounds (phenolics, peptides, organic acids, enzymes and antioxidants), Manuka Honey is very effective to help treat some gastrointestinal or even cardiovascular health issues.
Between 1960 and 1980, it has been effectively used to help kill of pathogens that were infecting some patients with burn wounds, cystic fibrosis, acute leukemia or organ transplants. The powerful property of Manuka Honey is that the pathogens that it is fighting against don’t develop any resistance to it.
CONCLUSION
Manuka Honey is the only approved honey for medical use. Its potent antibacterial, antimicrobial, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties make it an effective remedy to help stop / slow down / prevent any types of infections. Many strong and hard to kill superbugs have been weakened by Manuka Honey (MRSA, Streptococcus pyogenes, …). This shows that Manuka Honey is a powerful Immune Booster that can be used topically and internally.
As usual, the quality of the honey you are using is essential. This is a no-brainer: it has to be RAW, UNFILTERED, 100% pure.
Unfortunately today, there are some fake Manuka Honeys sold and you have to be careful with your selection. Choose the one with an UMF: Unique Manuka Factor. This is usually proof of real, well sourced Manuka Honey.
Because it is high in fructose, don’t binge on it just because it is healthy! Have some especially when you feel weak or you are fighting some kind of infection, and don’t hesitate to use it topically on any wounds.
I like to have 1-2 tsp of Manuka Honey with my Golden Latte, especially now during those Winter days! I have already tried it topically on some pimples on my face and honestly, it worked incredibly well! I just couldn’t go out of the house for a whole day but at least the next day, my skin was clean ;-)
Hope you enjoyed this sweet truth about Raw Honey. Again, Nature knows it better.
In Health and Happiness,
Stephanie