Visualize honey....are you picturing a bear shaped plastic bottle with a squirt top? Most people use honey as a spread or topping, but it's medicinal properties can, for some, be life saving.
Bacteria is evolving at a frightening pace making pharmaceutical antibiotics useless in some cases. Most of us would not turn to the kitchen cupboard for help, but after reading about the healing qualities of honey, it just might be the best course of action. Honey shows great promise when used topically for the treatment of infected skin wounds that are unresponsive to antibiotics.
Click Read More to see the complete post.
Why could honey cure an infection that a prescribed pharmaceutical could not? The most thorough explanation I have heard is in the book, Herbal Antibiotics, by Stephen Harrod Buhner.
But first, let's talk about honey. Research has shown that 75% of the honey in regular grocery stores has had the pollen removed and been adulterated with corn syrup. This honey will not help you - save your money and leave it on the shelf.
Shop at your local co-op or better yet buy directly from a bee keeper to ensure that your honey is the real deal and local. Chose wildflower honey as opposed to single flower honey, such as clover or alfalfa for the strongest medicinal effect.
Manuka honey from New Zealand has the reputation for being the most potent in terms of healing, but local wildflower honey is a good choice for those living in the US. Manuka honey is made from the pollen of the tea tree whose essential oil is known for its ability to disinfect and help wounds heal. Manuka honey is very expensive and local only if you live in New Zealand, although I have found it at Trader Joe's in St. Paul, MN Wild flower honey is a good choice because it is reasonably priced and can be easily sourced.
Why wildflower honey? Bees are strongly attracted to flowers and herbs that have medicinal qualities and the nectar from these flowers contain medicinal constituents. The greater the diversity of the flowers the bee visits the more potent the honey, as the value lies in the diversity of the pollen. There is also a enzymatic magic that occurs when the bee ingests the pollen and then regurgitates it as honey. (Now is not the time to be visualizing!) These enzymes enhance the medicinal properties of the pollen to create such a wildly complex substance that bacteria cannot evolve fast enough to become resistant.
You can read and research these topics, but the true test comes when you have the opportunity to put your new knowledge into action. A few weeks ago a colleague came to me with a question. He had scraped his ankle, disinfected it, applied antibacterial ointment and despite his best efforts, it had become infected. He asked, "Nancy, if this happened to you, what would you do?" I replied, "I would put honey on it." He purchase Manuka honey at Trader Joe's for $10.99 for a small jar. A week later he showed me his nicely healing wound which had no trace of infection. He was happy with the cure in large part due to financial considerations. A doctor's visit usually costs him about $120 in addition to the cost of antibiotics. In addition to the cost of medical care, he usually becomes sick shortly after his course of antibiotics is complete. So the honey was not only economically superior, but his overall health was not negatively impacted by the use of oral antibiotics.
Honey is not only great for wounds, allergy sufferers can also use local honey to alleviate pollen based allergies. The theory is that by eating local honey you are exposing yourself to the very pollen that your body reacts to with cold like symptoms. Eating honey provides an almost inoculation-like condition where your body learns to adapt to the pollen as you ingest it in small doses over a period of time. If you would like to give this theory a try, eat a bit of local honey regularly before allergy season and see if it makes a difference. This is a tasty and low risk way to experiment with the healing power of honey.
One important caution; children under 12 months of age should not be fed honey as their immature immune systems are unable to combat the bacteria spores inherent in honey. Ask a medical professional when you can introduce honey into your toddler's diet.
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| One of our hives surrounded by flowering weeds with medicinal qualities. |
Bacteria is evolving at a frightening pace making pharmaceutical antibiotics useless in some cases. Most of us would not turn to the kitchen cupboard for help, but after reading about the healing qualities of honey, it just might be the best course of action. Honey shows great promise when used topically for the treatment of infected skin wounds that are unresponsive to antibiotics.
Click Read More to see the complete post.
Why could honey cure an infection that a prescribed pharmaceutical could not? The most thorough explanation I have heard is in the book, Herbal Antibiotics, by Stephen Harrod Buhner.
But first, let's talk about honey. Research has shown that 75% of the honey in regular grocery stores has had the pollen removed and been adulterated with corn syrup. This honey will not help you - save your money and leave it on the shelf.
Shop at your local co-op or better yet buy directly from a bee keeper to ensure that your honey is the real deal and local. Chose wildflower honey as opposed to single flower honey, such as clover or alfalfa for the strongest medicinal effect.
Manuka honey from New Zealand has the reputation for being the most potent in terms of healing, but local wildflower honey is a good choice for those living in the US. Manuka honey is made from the pollen of the tea tree whose essential oil is known for its ability to disinfect and help wounds heal. Manuka honey is very expensive and local only if you live in New Zealand, although I have found it at Trader Joe's in St. Paul, MN Wild flower honey is a good choice because it is reasonably priced and can be easily sourced.
 |
| Manuka honey purchased at Trader Joe's in St. Paul, MN. |
Why wildflower honey? Bees are strongly attracted to flowers and herbs that have medicinal qualities and the nectar from these flowers contain medicinal constituents. The greater the diversity of the flowers the bee visits the more potent the honey, as the value lies in the diversity of the pollen. There is also a enzymatic magic that occurs when the bee ingests the pollen and then regurgitates it as honey. (Now is not the time to be visualizing!) These enzymes enhance the medicinal properties of the pollen to create such a wildly complex substance that bacteria cannot evolve fast enough to become resistant.
 |
| A honey bee collecting nectar and pollen. |
You can read and research these topics, but the true test comes when you have the opportunity to put your new knowledge into action. A few weeks ago a colleague came to me with a question. He had scraped his ankle, disinfected it, applied antibacterial ointment and despite his best efforts, it had become infected. He asked, "Nancy, if this happened to you, what would you do?" I replied, "I would put honey on it." He purchase Manuka honey at Trader Joe's for $10.99 for a small jar. A week later he showed me his nicely healing wound which had no trace of infection. He was happy with the cure in large part due to financial considerations. A doctor's visit usually costs him about $120 in addition to the cost of antibiotics. In addition to the cost of medical care, he usually becomes sick shortly after his course of antibiotics is complete. So the honey was not only economically superior, but his overall health was not negatively impacted by the use of oral antibiotics.
Honey is not only great for wounds, allergy sufferers can also use local honey to alleviate pollen based allergies. The theory is that by eating local honey you are exposing yourself to the very pollen that your body reacts to with cold like symptoms. Eating honey provides an almost inoculation-like condition where your body learns to adapt to the pollen as you ingest it in small doses over a period of time. If you would like to give this theory a try, eat a bit of local honey regularly before allergy season and see if it makes a difference. This is a tasty and low risk way to experiment with the healing power of honey.
One important caution; children under 12 months of age should not be fed honey as their immature immune systems are unable to combat the bacteria spores inherent in honey. Ask a medical professional when you can introduce honey into your toddler's diet.
Please note: The objective of this blog is to raise
awareness of alternative ways to achieve wellness and to empower you to take an
active role in your health decisions. To
accomplish this, you will need to explore these subjects in greater depth and
then determine what makes sense for your life.
My hope is that this information will inspire you to start your own search
into ways to make your life happier, healthier and more fulfilling.
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