Manuka Honey and its Benefits for Your Health
Manuka Honey is a rare Monofloral Honey
When you think about bees, you either remember getting stung by one or tasting the marvel of their hard efforts: their honey. These insects produce honey by processing the nectar they collect from flowers in trees, bushes and other plants adjacent to their hives. The process the nectar through glands in their bodies and secrete them into their hexagonal wax masterpieces. To us it seems that beekeepers can't possibly make the field of taking care of bees and collecting their product any more complicated.
We are misled though. The process of collecting and making this sweet substance can be tampered with by humans. The proof of the prior statement is the production of monofloral honey. This type is produced solely from the nectar of a certain plant. Manuka honey is one of the types of monofloral concoctions bees can produce.
Beekeepers will make it so that their workers have one place to collect their precious nectar. In New Zealand and certain regions of Australia that is the case with the manuka tree. Bees do their job the same way the only difference is the place where they get their prime matter. Usually they'll get it from various sources and that is still the case for monofloral honey. Manuka honey is considered so when a 70 percent of it, is made from the New Zealand tea tree's nectar.
What Really is Manuka Honey?
It is an exceptionally viscous form of honey with a dark creamy color to its name. It actually competes with the world's honeys with highest viscosity. This and the fact that it is a monofloral product produced for the most part in New Zealand and Australia, makes it so that it is an expensive one. Apart from being expensive this kind of sweetener is particularly known for its medicinal properties. It is actually sold as medicinal miracle.
Manuka Honey Benefits
Within the benefits it can offer we can mention: strength, wound healing, treatment for skin ailments such as psoriasis and eczema and even digestive ailments like ulcers. The honey can also be used in the production of cosmetics like soaps and shampoos and is even used to make face masks. While many may discredit it completely and others give far too much glory to it here are some of the facts about manuka honey that will entice you to keep it in your pantry.
If you haven't seen any movies or TV shows where they mention it you probably still had an encounter with it in your high school chemistry class. Hydrogen peroxide is what I am talking about. This little chemical agent is responsible for a lot of the disinfectant activities that go on in hospitals and other centers of health. The chemical composition for this peroxide is H2O2. Similar to anything you've seen before? Well yes, it does in fact look very similar to the composition of water. The only difference between the two is the single bond between "two" oxygen atoms.
Think about it this way; we use water to do a lot of things in our daily life. We use it to wash away the filth on our skin day after day; we use it to cleanse our food and to put it into our bodies as well. It is basically what humans have shaped their societies and lives around. Bear with me I'm getting there. While water is the best thing you can use to cleanse and maintain life it just doesn't work as well at killing and dealing with bacteria as hydrogen peroxide.
Now, before the scientific community kicks me in the comments section I must disclaim that hydrogen peroxide should be by no means treated the same way as water. In its undiluted form it can explode if boiled and can cause serious burns if touched by bare skin. The way it works in medicine is in its diluted form. People with bottles of peroxide in their homes will notice it will say it's diluted from a 3 to a 6 percent. It is usually diluted in water or other liquid mediums but none is sweeter than honey.
Yes! Honey all over the world presents levels of hydrogen peroxide which means you can take a natural disinfectant and antibacterial substance to your house and buy it just about anywhere. However, the concentrations of this chemical compound can be variable from one honey to the next and you can get different levels antibacterial activities depending on the bees and the nectar used to make it.
It has been proven that manuka honey has one of the highest levels of hydrogen peroxide content and the best news is that it is not in harmful levels. Other properties that can be attributed to it include: a great part of the B complex like thiamin, riboflavin and pantothenic acid, quite a few amino acids and minerals. In the way of minerals, it contains calcium, iron, phosphorus and potassium. So you can take for a fact that if all the other miracles you've read about aren't true you can at least consume this form of honey and expect healthy results from it.
One of the miraculous applications I mentioned earlier was its wound healing ones. Manuka honey can be used to dress wounds and has been used in hospitals to do so. It is particularly effective at keeping at bay any sort of infectious agents from the wound as it seals so it is not as mythical as you believe. In fact it is generally used topically to deal with skin problems. Bear in mind though, that like the peroxide the honey used to dress hospitalized people's wounds is specifically prepared to treat them.
What are Manuka Honey Side Effects?
Even as the levels of peroxide are safe in the honey that does not mean that it is completely safe, for that reason I will provide you with some of the side effects it may have on your health. Some studies have shown that some of the side effects are due to the consumption of Manuka honey, and these are related in turn to allergic reactions to bees. It is also unadvisable to use it with certain medication. High blood sugar patients should be cautious when using this honey.
Manuka Honey and Ulcers
While not all of the research validates it, a substantial amount of research has been done to prove that manuka honey is effective against ulcers. It isn't particularly effective; nonetheless, it has worked for certain patients. Other ailments manuka honey has been said to aid reducing are skin ailments. Some people even use it in soaps and in masks before and after they bathe several days a week to improve their results.
Even with an insufficient amount of medical evidence the antibacterial and cleansing properties of the honey on their own should be a definite sign of how well this it can work on your skin and on your insides. Finally on the list of healing attributes that can be given to this sweet product are those of reducing the symptoms of sinusitis and throat soreness. This is particularly true of most honeys.
Honeys are excellent to mix with a lemon produce and drink over several days to reduce the symptoms of sore throats and sinus issues. This is all thanks to their antibacterial properties and immunologic aid working together. Think about the fact that lemons have a particularly high dose of ascorbic acid and vitamin C and how this can seriously reduce the time your down with a cold coupled with the power of hydrogen peroxide and other antibacterial agents. The wonders this home remedy can work for you are many.
So next time your child, relative or friend are particularly ill with any of the aforementioned afflictions don't doubt using honey. It is the sweetest remedy you can give them. I hope this article has been of aid to you and your loved ones. Read on!
Article by: Alain Gutiérrez
