The Use of Honey for Medical Purposes

One of the most unknown medical facts is that honey has tremendous healing powers. In the U.S., most people regard honey as a food item and not necessarily for medicinal use. What most people are unaware of is that, in most circumstances, honey actually has more healing properties than even antibiotics. Before you go digging through your cabinets, there's a specific type of honey that is being used for medicinal purposes and it's called, "Manuka Honey". Manuka Honey is a special type of honey that is only found in the New Zealand region. Manuka Honey has an antibacterial activity, due primarily to hydrogen peroxide formed in a "slow-release" manner by the enzyme glucose oxidase present. Some honeys are no more antibacterial than sugar, while others can be diluted more than 100-fold and still halt the growth of bacteria.

"Manuka Honey is the only honey available that is tested for its antibacterial activity," says Frank Buonanotte, CEO of Honeymark International, a manufacturer of honey-based health care products. "It contains an additional antibacterial component found only in honey produced from Leptospermum plants known as "Unique Manuka Factor" (UMF)." There is evidence that the two antibacterial components may have a synergistic action. UMF is not affected by the catalase enzyme present in body tissue and serum. This enzyme will break down, to some degree, the hydrogen peroxide which is the major antibacterial factor found in other types of honey. If a honey without UMF were used to treat an infection, the potency of the honey's antibacterial activity would most likely be reduced because of the action of catalase.

The UMF antibacterial activity diffuses deeper into skin tissues than does the hydrogen peroxide from other types of honey. Honey with UMF is more effective than that with hydrogen peroxide against some types of bacteria. For example, Active Manuka Honey with UMF is about twice as effective as other honey against Eschericihia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, the most common causes of infected wounds.

The establishment by research that there are bioactive components in Manuka Honey, and the wide dissemination of this knowledge, has led to a general acceptance that it is a respectable therapeutic agent, and to a rapidly increasing uptake of its usage by clinicians as well as by the general public. The finding that there are multiple bioactive components involved in the therapeutic action makes it a much more attractive option to use this natural product rather than to attempt to identify individual active components and use synthesised copies.

For more information or to purchase health care products containing Active Manuka Honey, go to www.HoneymarkProducts.com.