Therapeutic Honey

Jelly Bush Discovers Therapeutic Capacity in Manuka Honeys

Shona Blair, a PhD student at the University of Sydney, has been researching the virtues of such honeys for some years. In a radio interview on ABC (the Australian Broadcaster) on 31 October this year, she disclosed the findings of her latest work.

She has determined that honey kills bacteria by turning off genes that “allow the bacteria to reproduce and … the honey seemed to be activating huge numbers of the bacteria’s defence genes (over 100).” She believes that the honey was in effect overwhelming the bacteria by attacking it on many different levels at once.

Shona looked at many genes and concluded that “about 70% of the genes looked at were up-regulated, which meant that they were turned on more by the honey, and about 40% were down-regulated so that they were in effect made less effective by the honey.”

It has also been found that the UMF factor is not broken down in the same way as hydrogen peroxide and is thus more persistently antibacterial. In addition UMF factor is claimed to be able to penetrate skin easily, thus being capable of reaching deep-seated infection. Ms Blair’s research has also uncovered a variety of other likely mechanisms, which are involved.

She has found that honey stimulates white blood cells to produce cytokines, particularly interlukin-1, interlukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor. She believes that applications of honey speed up healing and reduce scarring.

Her research has included laboratory studies in which differing concentrations of honey were applied to E Coli bacteria in a culture medium. Preliminary results of her work, published in a news release by the University of Sydney in Australia, provide evidence that these special honeys may be vitally important in the fight against antibiotic resistant organisms.

She commented “I found honey diluted to one percent inhibits the growth of drug resistant staph aureus for approximately three hours, a two percent honey solution inhibits growth for five hours, three percent for 10 hours and there was no detectable growth in four percent solution over a 24-hour period.”

Honey should be applied to a wound and covered by a band aid for practical reasons. It should be replaced once a day, or more often in cases of serious or persistent injury.

Above Article published in International Health News December 2003/January 2004

Conclusion

It is clear that the humble bumble bee has developed a very elaborate defense system to protect their honey from bacteria and that fresh raw unpasteurized honey would be beneficial during a juice fast. Honey may be a better choice for therapy than maple syrup of the master cleanse. Honey and lemon fasting may be perfect for a Candida program. Medihoney would be the first choice due to this research but it may be expensive and hard to find.

Buckwheat Honey #2

University of Illinois scientists found that honey made from nectar collected from Illinois buckwheat flowers packs 20 times the antioxidant punch as that produced by bees that lap up California sage. Clover, perhaps the most common plant source tapped by honey bees, scored in the middle of the rankings.

Royal Jelly

Royal jelly is collected and sold as a dietary supplement, claiming various health benefits because of components like B-complex vitamins such as pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). The overall composition of royal jelly is 67% water, 12.5% crude protein (including small amounts of many different amino acids), and 11% simple sugars (monosaccharides), also including a relatively high amount (5%) of fatty acids. It also contains many trace minerals, some enzymes, antibacterial and antibiotic components.

Royal jelly has been reported as a possible immunomodulatory agent in Graves’ disease. It has also been reported to stimulate the growth of glial cells and neural stem cells in the brain. To date, there is preliminary evidence that it may have some cholesterol-lowering, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, and antibiotic effects, though the last three of these effects are unlikely to be realized if ingested (due to the destruction of the substances involved through digestion, or neutralization via changes in pH). Research also suggests that the 10-Hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) found in royal jelly may inhibit the vascularization of tumors. Research Finding