Therapeutic value of Manuka Honey v other wild honeys

[Guest guest]

Hi All, & Hi Richard,

 

I wrote:

> Do you know if OTHER honeys have these effects? I suspect that ALL

> natural honeys have some would-cleansing and wound-healing effects,

> if only because of their high sugar content, which should " draw "

> plasma/serum out of the wound. Is the MANUKA UMF factor just a

> blind to ensure sales of THAT particular honey?

 

Richard Henderson replied:

> Coming from the land of manuka honey... I think the UMF is a sales

> pitch but is *also* a scientific way of standardisng it...so it

> has credibililty with the WMS profession. Here the UMF honeys are

> about three times the price of a non-UMF honey. In my experience

> the UMF honey is definitely the best however any quality manuka

> honey is just as good. Poor quailty (ie mass-produced) are not

> quite as good...so far. In my experience there is definitely a

> difference between manuka honeys and other kinds. The theory is

> that it is due to the strong anti-septic qualities of the manuka

> tree (Leptospermum scoparium). The oil is one of my 'secret'

> herbs and fixes many skin conditions (esp fungal) that WMS has

> difficulty with. The leaves actually make a very nice (and

> healthy) tea.

 

It may be that Leptospermum scoparium provides specific

nurtrients/metabolites that the bees convert to agents with great

antibacterial/healing effects.

 

However, a Medline search (and the grapevine from colleagues in

other countries) suggests that most wild honeys have these

general effects. For example, I do not think that Leptospermum

scoparium exists in Ireland, but there is a long folk-tradition of

using honey for wounds/sepsis here and my own [limited]

experience in using Irish honey confirms this.

 

I agree that there may be a difference between " mass-produced "

and natural honeys. It is common practice for large commercial

apiaries to feed uge amounts of sugar to the bees. For example, it

is possible to have an apiary in thye middle of a concrete city with

few trees of flowers near it. Such honey, though maybe having a

normal sugar content, IMO could not have the same Qi or wide

range of bioproducts as wild honey

 

I suspect that many different species of trees/flowers/heathers

contain natural ingredients that favour antibacterial/healing action of

the resulting nectar/honey.

 

Consider the following plant species (at least some parts of these

plants are used to Drain Sepsis in TCM): Achyranthes, Amomum,

Andrographitis, Angelica Dahurica & Sinensis, Arctium, Arisaema,

Astragalus, Bambusa, Benincasa, Bletilla, Brucea, Chebula, Coix,

Dipsacus, Erigerontis, Forsythia, Garcinia, Glycyrrhiza, Gleditsia,

Houttuynia, Lithospermum, Lonicera, Patrinia, Pinellia, Phaseolus,

Phragmites, Phytolacca, Platycodon, Polygala, Rheum, Rhois

Sinensis Galla, Rorippa, Scutellaria, Sinapis, Taraxacum,

Trichosanthes, Viola.

 

There may be hundreds of such plants in natural habitats.

Indeed, wood (timber) itself has some antibacterial effect - there

was good reason for using the old butcher's wooden chopping

block in relation to meat hygiene, or the wooden bread-board

(instead of its plastic cousin) in the kitchen!

 

 

> Heating honey does destroy some of it's medicinal properties.

> *From vague memories of reading somewhere* I think it is the immune

> enhancing polysaccharides that are destroyed and perhaps some

> other 'living organisim'. I seem to remember UMF boasting that they

> never process their honey over 70 C but can't remember their

> justification. Perhaps mass-produced honey gets heated highly and

> thats why its not so good. Richard

 

Heating to 70 C suggests simple pasteurisation. That would not

denature proteins, or disrupt volatiles or unstable organics, to the

same degree as as might happen with boiling/cooking.

 

Many thanks for your reply.

 

Best regards,

 

 

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