Summary:
Manuka honey is the new super food. Unique to New Zealand, manuka bush nectar produces honey with special antibacterial properties and a host of proven health benefits. This article outlines those health benefits and explains what makes UMF Manuka honey so unique.

Details or Sample:
Honey’s not just for toast anymore. Beyond merely satisfying the human sweet tooth, honey’s natural antiseptic action encourages the healing of wounds and sore throats, combats diarrhea, asthma, and respiratory infections like bronchitis. Honey can even calm nerves and promote sleep. Most of us know that honey, in moderation, is good for us. It’s been used as a folk remedy for countless generations, but now there’s scientific proof to back up the old wives’ tales. Recently, the research spotlight has focused on the health benefits offered by one variant in particular: Manuka honey.

Manuka honey is native to New Zealand. When Kiwi bees discover the flowers of the manuka bush, the result is exceptional honey with extraordinary healing properties. And because manuka is a pure, raw, un-pasteurized honey, it retains all of its natural goodness and potential healing power.

Raw honey is moist and sterile, so it is ideal for treating wounds and burns. Bees add an enzyme called glucose oxidase during honey production and it is this enzyme that’s responsible for the formation of hydrogen peroxide, which acts as an antiseptic and antibiotic. Manuka honey is unique because it has antibacterial qualities above and beyond the hydrogen peroxide action of regular honey.

Something special in the chemical makeup of manuka flower nectar (scientists still aren’t sure what it is or how it works) gives manuka honey extra antibacterial oomph. This extra something is referred to as the Unique Manuka Factor, or UMF.

However, not all manuka honeys have the Unique Manuka Factor. Only a small proportion of manuka bushes produce manuka nectar that has the Unique Manuka Factor, and those that do produce it, do so in varying strengths.

The UMF standard was developed to give consumers a benchmark when buying manuka honey. Only honey that’s been tested and proven to have demonstrable Unique Manuka Factor is allowed to be labeled as UMF Manuka honey. UMF Manuka honey is also rated by strength -- from UMF 5, which is equivalent to a 5% antiseptic solution, up to UMF 20, which is equivalent in strength to a 20% antiseptic solution.

UMF Manuka honey can be particularly effective when applied topically to skin eruptions. Cold sores, acne, eczema, burns (from the sun and from radiation treatment), ulcers, fever blisters, insect bites, and even diseased gums, have all been shown to benefit from an application of manuka honey. A few hospitals have started to use manuka honey in the treatment of wounds because it protects against drug-resistant infections like MRSA.

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Written by: Alison Braidwood
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