All About Honey: Raw, Wild, Manuka…What Kind is Best for
Health?
to your diet.
Which is the best kind to use for good
health?
I grew up on a working organic farm in New England that
included a small orchard with apple, pear, peach, and cherry trees. By working
the land and following nature’s seasonal cycles, I learned the importance of
pollination early in life. After the cold, long winters, fruit trees blossomed
and honeybees went to work. From an early age, I developed a fondness for bees
and later, when living in California, kept my own backyard apiary.
Honeybees
are amazing. During the darkest hours of the new moon, I would get up in the
middle of the night and put my ear against the wooden sides of a bee box to hear
the symphony of thousands of bees humming together. I also learned the value of
propolis, pollen, and honey for health and healing.
- Propolis is a resin with powerful antibiotic properties that bees collect
from plants.
- Honey is the sweet, sticky fluid made by bees from the nectar of flowers.
- Pollen is made of proteins and is considered a super food for health
enthusiasts. However, since collecting pollen involves abusing the bees,
including the death of large numbers of honeybees, I am not an advocate of
consuming pollen except as a medicine to treat allergies.
closer look at the amazing honeybee and how honey heals.
Not Native
to the U.S.
We take pollinating bees, like the honeybee (Apis
mellifera), for granted. In the New World, stingless bees pollinated vast tracks
of forest and grasslands, and still do in the Amazonian rainforests of Peru and
Brazil.
But honeybees are not native to the Americas. Colonists brought the
first bees to Virginia in the early 1600s. The pristine native environment was
perfect for them. Two hundred years later, they had spread across the continent
and south to Latin America.
What can we learn from these amazing creatures?
Nutritional Value of Honey
Honey made from flower
nectar, the sweet liquid secreted by plant glands, is called blossom honey. The
flavor of honey varies depending on the type of nectar collected by honeybees.
Wild forest honey has the strongest flavor, and by some experts is considered
the most medicinal. Clover and fruit tree blossom honey is sweet and mild, and
the type most commonly sold in grocery and health food stores.
Regional
differences in types of pollinating plants make for specialty honeys. In
Florida, Tupelo honey is produced from the White Ogeechee Tupelo trees that grow
along rivers in northwest Florida and is the only place in the world where
Tupelo Honey is produced commercially. Pure Tupelo honey has a light amber
golden color with a slight greenish cast. Due to its high laevulose (44.3%) and
low dextrose (29.98%) ratio, diabetic patients can consume Tupelo
Honey.
However, honey is high is fructose, so don’t use it as a sugar
substitute. Honey also contains oligosaccharides, a type of complex sugar that
acts as a prebiotic to support friendly probiotic bacteria populations in the
gut. The nutrient content of honey is very low, but it has many easily assumable
trace minerals and other nutrients. Darker colored honey has more minerals.
Sugar Composition of Honey Per 100 Grams
- Fructose 38.5 grams
- Glucose 31 grams
- Maltose 7.2 grams
- Sucrose 1 gram
sugar or any food additive. Honey from other countries, however, including
China, is often blended with sugar syrups. Be sure to read labels and, when you
can, buy locally. Over-consuming fructose, even from health giving honey is bad
for your health. Moderate use is healthy for you.
What Makes Honey
Magic?
The antibacterial action of honey is thought to be from
hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). A powerful antimicrobial, H2O2 can kill nearly all
germs, as well as some cancer cells, on contact. When honey comes in contact
with a wound, an enzyme called glucose oxidase—a gift from the bees—activates
the release of H2O2. There are likely undiscovered interactions that occur when
honey is used to treat wounds, but from what we know, medicinal honey can even
kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA.
Honey is hydroscopic. It pulls
water away from an infected wound by osmosis. Dryer wounds heal faster. But
there’s more to it: honey also pulls lymph fluid to the wound, making for a
balanced healing environment.
It also has a low pH of between 3 and 4,
making it acidic. Bacteria thrive in neutral or slightly alkaline environments.
I know this may be contrary to the pro-alkaline theory, but scientifically true
and clinically proven understanding trumps trendy ideas. If you have a
non-healing wound, try honey. It’s a “good” acid.
In addition, honey
contains phytochemicals important for health. Carotenoids, phytosterols,
phenolics, peptides, and other plant chemicals are found in honey. All of these
are important for human health and many have healing properties. Many also
signal the body’s immune cells to release active immune regulating substances
called cytokines. Certain cytokines have anti-inflammatory activity.
Some
wild honeys have been tested for anti-tumor activity. Honey can also induce
detoxification enzymes that protect against cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Many honey phytochemicals exert a synergistic antioxidant effect.
Why Honey Heals
- Hydrogen peroxide activity
- Slightly acidic to restore tissue environment
- Hydroscopic helps remove toxic fluid
- Contains phytochemicals that support immunity
Properties of Honey
- Anti-allergic
- Anti-inflammatory
- Antibacterial
- Antioxidant
- Antiviral
- Arthritis
- Autoimmune protection
- Eye health
- Prebiotic effect promotes healthy gut
- Promotes calcium and selenium absorption
- Wound healing
Manuka honey is made
in New Zealand from the nectar of Manuka flowers (Leptospermum scoparium). It’s
the basis of Medihoney, which the FDA approved in 2007 for use in treating
wounds and skin ulcers. This kind of honey is famous because it stimulates
tissue healing and is sometimes used to treat chronic leg ulcers and pressure
sores.
Its healing action is largely attributed to what is called “Unique
Manuka Factor,” or UMF. Official Manuka honey displays the trademark UMF on the
label. Ultraviolet light, rather than heat, is used for purification, so all
healing properties are preserved.
A UMF rating of 0 to 4 means undetectable.
Look for a rating of greater than 5, and over 10 is acceptable for clinical use.
Those with ratings of 15 and higher are considered superior grade. Medical grade
honey, like Medihoney, is Manuka honey processed into a gel for easy
application.
Manuka honey can be use to treat nearly all ulcers, fistulas,
post-surgical wounds, and abscesses. It is also used to treat non-healing wounds
in cancer patients, including those induced by radiation therapy. You can also
apply honey to herpes blisters.
Raw Honey
This is the
form of honey that’s closest to the way the bees make it. Raw honey is extracted
by spinning the honeycomb in a centrifuge. When taken directly from the hive,
the honey is still warm and flows easily. When I kept bees, I used an
old-fashioned honey extractor that required hand cranking. It was a lot of work,
but the results were well worth the effort.
Raw honey is amber colored and
has traces of pollen and wax. By consuming local raw honey, you get a
homeopathic dose of pollens from your area that helps immunize against
allergies.
Certified organic raw, unfiltered honey is the form I recommend
for health.
Wild Honey
In the Peruvian rainforest, a
thin liquid wild honey is prized for its healing abilities. It’s sold in the
open markets in Iquitos along the Amazon River, and fetches top price. Unlike
commercial honey made by honeybees, wild honey is not so sweet. It is dark amber
in color and because it is unfiltered, can contain particles from bees, wax, as
well as twigs and bark.
There are a 300-400 different species of bees in the
Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon. Most of these species are non-stinging. The local
shamans use it for a wide variety of conditions. Scientists have found it to
help stabilize irregular heart rate.
Common Cold and
Cough
Honey has been used as a cold and cough remedy for thousands
of years. It is considered a demulcent, a medicine that sooths inflamed mucous
membranes. Buckwheat honey is considered that best for treating cough. It is
especially good for children.
Drinking herbal tea or warm lemon water mixed
with honey is a time-honored way to soothe a sore throat. Honey may be an
effective cough suppressant, too.
In one study, children age 2 and older with
upper respiratory tract infections—common cold—were given up to 2 teaspoons of
honey at bedtime. The honey seemed to reduce nighttime coughing and improve
sleep. In fact, honey appeared to be as effective as a common cough suppressant
ingredient, dextromethorphan, used in typical over-the-counter doses.
The Honey and Sugar Connection
We all know that
consuming refined sugar is unhealthy. But, using honey as a sugar substitute is
not wise. In a previous blog, I wrote about the toxic effects of high fructose
corn syrup. But even too much natural fructose from fruits and natural
sweeteners is also not healthy. Since honey is mainly composed of fructose, it
may have unhealthy effects on blood sugar metabolism. Best to not sweeten your
morning cereal with commercial honey.
Commercial pasteurized ultra-filtered
honey—the kind that is a rich golden color and remains liquid when stored at
room temperature—has no medical value. It’s all sugar, mainly fructose. Even too
much natural sugar, like in honey or fruits, can be harmful to your health.
The glycemic index of different types of honey range widely. In general,
however, honey has a higher glycemic index than sugar. Those with diabetes
should avoid commercial honey.
There’s no advantage to substituting honey
for sugar in a diet plan for diabetes. Both honey and sugar make your blood
sugar level rise. Because of the complex nature of raw honey, however, in small
amounts it may help lower glucose levels. In one study, honey compared with
dextrose and sucrose lowered glucose in diabetics. It also reduced LDL
cholesterol, homocysteine, and C-reactive protein. Remember that it can raise
insulin and hemoglobin A1c. For diabetics, best to hold off on use of all
commercial honey and only use raw organic honey occasionally.
Best
Ways to Use Honey
Treat honey as a super food. Buy only the best
quality. Don’t buy commercial pasteurized honey. Raw organic honey turns opaque
and hardens at room temperature. Use it in small quantities. Treat it as a
medicine for sore throat and coughs. Use it along with probiotics for repairing
your gut. Consider it as a wound dressing. Try a little on a herpes lesion.
Honey Tips
- Buy organic or wild, non-pasteurized honey.
- Choose locally grown.
- Do not use it as a sugar substitute.
- Use in small amounts as a super food in water or herbal tea.
- Store away from sunlight at room temperature.
- Use is as a topical medicine for burns and wound healing.
the many years that I kept bees, I would visit them in the morning and around
sun down. Every night before I went to bed, I would walk the garden and stop by
the beehives, and wish my little beauties, nature’s flying pharmacy, a safe and
peaceful night.