Health Benefits of Honey

My lips get so dry, they crack and bleed and swell and nothing topically helped until I tried the honey. It is a miracle and helped the dryness go away in two days they looked almost normal again. It's 100% stronger than regular raw honey, made from bees in New Zealand from the tea tree. Look online and see all the benefits. Find some at your local health food store.

Hello Reina,

In response to your recent post of yesterday, I was interested in reading what you experienced with honey and your sinus condition. In New Zealand we are always told that Manuka honey is by far the best (!! ) but it commands such huge prices when exported overseas, that many of we locals cannot afford it, so use other (NZ) types, as you suggest.

One is supposed to use locally-sourced honey to gain the most benefit anyway!!

I have just realized that we ran out of our preferred one about three weeks ago (we only go to town to stock up on supplies once every three or four weeks or so) and so have resorted to a very tiny amount of brown, coffee sugar in my morning coffee instead.

Since doing this, my sinuses have played up and I surmise that the sugar-loving bacteria or micro plasma etc are loving the unusual sugar in my diet?

Co-incidentally, it is pollen season over here at the moment and I strongly suspect my olive tree as being the culprit. It doesn't help that we all live upside down in NZ I suppose!

I have been giving that tree some dark looks lately but it does screen us from the neighbour next door!

I started with an anti-histamine but then changed to a homeopathic and a netti pot rinse, using a saline solution, which was very helpful. Also my nose breathing exercises are useful.

I suspect I am acquiring more ailments since often surfing this site - bit like Readers' Digest Syndrome. What to do?

Cheers from Down Under

Michael

A good alternative to Manuka honey seems to be heather honey. I have found a raw local heather honey which I use for colds and sinuses season. Also I eat bits of the honeycomb which I chew and swallow completely - not sure but I believe in Bee products and think it is good to profit from these goodies. Right now reading Simon Buxton's book called 'The Shamanic Way of the Bee', interesting read about a little known practise in the world of Bees.

I just tried this and the paper burned but the honey did not. It did blacken at the edges before I put the fire out. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks to Mama to Many posted here.

Some additional info - here is the simple way to check the natural honey: you need to drop honey on paper and set it on fire. Natural product does not burn unlike honey "boosted" with sugar syrup.

I was in a Ross clothing store yesterday. They usually have a section of random and assorted food products. Perhaps things that were overstocks or discontinued. I found some raw honey, in glass jars, from Germany. It was $7 for a 17 ounce jar.

You never know where you might find a quality product. It pays to just take notice.

I used the honey today. My 7 year old ripped his toenail off in a bike accident and had pain and a wound.

After an overnight plantain poultice, I am using a drop of iodine plus a smear of honey on a bandage to promote healing and prevent infection.

~Mama to Many~

Mama to Many

I really enjoy your sharing of your wisdom and knowledge.

I was wrapped up in the honey info,

Then your post caught me by surprise, and I'm laughing out loud because intended or not

its so true.

HisJewel

Thank you for this information Mtm,

The honey I purchased is "Bubba's Sweet Nectar" and it comes from Waynesboro, VA. Interesting, the 16 oz. jar of the clover honey says "Raw" and "Pure" but the 32 oz. jar only says "Pure". The 32 oz. jar of the wildflower says both. Wonder why...labels are the same size.

You are wise in choosing glass over plastic because I learned from Samuels' that the chemicals in plastic leach into whatever liquid is contained.

Fearing sepsis is why I got the honey. My temp. has always been on the low side since my head traumas so I just thought the brain injuries altered my chemistry. It was 96.5 for several days then dropped to 96.2.

The winters we ran out of wood I got down to 94...kinda scary but stayed under electric blanket and was not aware of sepsis symptoms until Patty Duke died from septic shock and I looked it up.

Anyway, I tried the wildflower honey one evening then had a cough about two hours later. The next morning at 1 am I awoke with a racing heart (more than in the past) and short of breath so I got up and drank about 1/2 tsp. turmeric in some warm water then chopped up a garlic clove and washed it down with a cup of warm water and the clover honey. Heart calmed down. We don't have a lot of wildflowers around the neighborhood but have lots of clover.

Several years ago, when we still had dogs, I'd frequently wake up...always at 3 am with a racing heart and short of breath. I felt like I was going to die if I didn't get outside so I'd get up and walk the dogs (I was very constipated). I looked up when most deaths occur and it was 3 am.

When I reported the racing heart and shortness of breath to the radiologist before a CT, he did not record those symptoms. Hence, my lack of faith with the medical profession. When I was in litigation and all records were exposed I observed how wrongly MD's can document things, I believe to cover themselves.

Dear Kt,

Regarding which is better, clover or wildflower honey....

For taste, I prefer clover. It is lighter. But some say that the wildflower honey is preferred, especially if you can get it local because it can help with allergies since the bees are using pollen that is from plants that may cause allergies. (Kind of like vaccine theory or homeopathy theory.)

But the truth is, no beekeeper has complete control over where his bees get the nectar they use for making honey.

A 3rd generation honey guy brought his extractor from his home to ours to extract honey from our hives a few months ago. Truly fascinating. Some areas of the large combs were dark and others light. Because things flower at different times, so that changes the honey results and color. We just mixed it all together and it would be called "wildflower" though a good bit would be from tree flowers as well.

So here is my order of preference of important things to consider with honey.

Glass over plastic - at least one poster here at EC found that she had results when using honey in glass containers over plastic. For many reasons I prefer glass storage for things, though don't always do it.

Local versus not local - the closer your honey has been produced to you, the better it is supposed to be, especially if you are using it for allergies.

Raw versus not - you do want raw honey over pasteurized/filtered etc.

All that said, when my mother had bedsores the nurses were using cheap honey from a dollar type store and it was working better than anything else they did for the sores.

I think the best place to get honey is from a local farmer or farmer's market. These often come in glass jars. Some health food stores carry local honey.

I recently got some "local honey" at Costco. It came in a plastic container. It was produced in another state. Not exactly local. Not in glass. But I am using it to sweeten hot tea. (I like to save my home grown for medical needs since we don't have a ton of it yet. Raising bees is harder than I thought it would be. - no pun intended.)

So that is my 2 cents on honey. :)

~Mama to Many~

Re: Clover versus Wildflower Honey

Which is better and why?

This piece from the Guardian (UK) underlines just how competitive the market for Manuka honey has become - to the point of theft and sabotage: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/04/manuka-honey-wars-new-zealand-crime-booming-industry-poisoning-beatings

I quite like manuka honey as a treat but for me it's not crucial, so I took the decision to stop buying it. I find it difficult to believe that this one kind of honey in the whole world has exceptional qualities, and I'm now on a bit of a quest to see what else is out there. There are some lovely small businesses, selling stuff from the top of Greek mountains, from oak forests (very dark and comparatively less sugary tasting) not to mention Tasmania. With so much pressure on the manuka market, it would be great if Earth Clinic readers came up with other options.

My attention was piqued recently by an Australian who claimed to be using Manuka Honey. Excellent stuff, helps the exports along nicely I thought, except for the fact that this person claimed that it was "Australian" Manuka Honey! Well, I thought, have those Aussie Jokers been doing a spot of under-arm bowling I wondered? Now our local news over here is normally intensely preoccupied with such weighty matters of National Import as a boy falling off a bicycle in the main street of a small town OR an itemized account of what the All Blacks ate for their breakfast! Gripping stuff, you will agree.

But wait a minute, low and behold, what should crop up in to-day's MID-DAY HEADLINE news on our National Radio but that the Aussies have stolen our Honey!! Shock horror! How can this be? Seems they fancy that "Manuka" as a label would sell more honey than, say "Tea Tree Honey, Kangaroo Honey, Boomerang or Dodgery-Doo Honey".

Well, do I have news for them! "Manuka" is a Maori name for a New Zealand shrub and Manuka Honey ought to be sourced from Kiwi Land. No doubt our respective Prime Ministers will be scheduling talks as we speak, in order to formulate a non-aggression treaty? The Tasman Sea isn't wide enough for both of us.

About manuka honey - apparently more so-called manuka honey is sold in the UK each year than is produced annually in the whole of New Zealand. I can't now find the reference, but I also read that you can tell the real thing by a little label on the jar saying UMF - i.e. Unique Manuka Factor.

Further to my previous posting on the potential pitfalls of purchasing Manuka honey of dubious authenticity and pedigree, it would NOW appear that at least some of the scoundrels may be lurking closer to home!! I would not like to think that Earth Clinic members are being ripped off whilst laboring under the misapprehension that what they have purchased, at considerable cost, is some sort of "wonder food" inherently superior to regular honey, when all along it is indeed regular honey, that in any event can also be quite healthy for you. Sorry about the long sentence there but I am a bit worked up about the injustice of it all.

Michael

I have suffered from dry skin and eczema and apply honey does work, as its an antiseptic. I now use a lotion with honey it in instead - it smells gorgeous and has aided the clearing of my eczema wonderfully. It is quickly absorbed and I found had a soothing, cooling effect on my hand.

Local honey is the very best in vitamins and minerals, I too also healed my sinusitis and breathing freely.

Honey pure and unheated, will never spoil and has been found in the pyramids of Egypt after thousands of years - intact.

Be weary of statements like "do not feed honey to newborns as there may be contamination of botulism, etc". That very source injects metallic poisons and unspeakable things into babies even before birth! Fact is, all bees would be dead as well as their queen, if they carried botulism, etc dirt with them. How ignorant! Spiritual scriptures record how thousands of years ago, babies were fed wild honey upon birth, and you know what? it is being done to this day in India. They are so informed with inherited wisdom so they know there are different honey bees with honey for specific needs and illnesses.

Honey in Ayurveda and Tibetan medicine is being used as a means to transport medicine deep into the body where it is needed. No, not for flavour but as a means to make herbs more effective. Furthermore honey , unheated, cures diabetes. The Samhitas which are collections of old medicals texts, say diabetics can have honey.

I set myself on research about this online a few years ago. What I found was hidden and only on a page two, about an engineer in the US, I believe, who upon retirement was rejected by the docs who diagnosed a very serious case of diabetes and proclaimed no hope. This engineer set himself to heal himself for an entire year, keeping a diary about his diet and food intake. Vegs were always followed by honey. After a year he was free of sugar imbalance and well. I would do the same regimen, and it is online, but as I am taking auto urine myself, which cures diabetes, have honey and cinnamon daily and no synthetic drugs, needles, etc. I am well. I hope this will clear doubts and disinformation that all of us have to encounter all the time these days.

Namaste, Om

Just as one added comment about Hydrogen Peroxide.

It is great at killing anaerobic bacteria (bacteria which needs to have no oxygen). However, it tends to increase inflammation. It is a bit too rugged. So, don't use it every day. It should just be a thing which is used if you think anaerobic bacteria might be the problem (as a quick mouth swish when things were caught deep in your teeth for days and you now have a slight toothache - didn't floss right or didn't water pic on time).

The right way of using hydrogen peroxide is with the use of honey. Honey has hydrogen peroxide at about 1000th the dose of 3% hydrogen peroxide.

I have stopped using ointments when I get a cut. I just use one drop of honey. When it's REALLY BAD, I use my really expensive jar of "Kiwi Kosher Pareve Manuka Honey - Bio Active 5+"

It reduces inflammation. Unfortunately, over time, old remedies for treating wounds proved not very good. Sometimes the old method is the good method, but sometimes it is the bad method:

Mercurochrome had mercury in it and was banned. Codeine used in everything until people found that it was highly addictive.

Turpentine used to be used in many things until people started getting chemical pneumonia from gasping it into their lungs.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14621050

Gentian violet was oftentimes used... which creates big open sores in many people. I tried it one time, and that exact thing happened. Also turns you purple. The purple bear:

If one thing we are dealing with on this site is what is termed 'Mucocutaneous Candidiasis'... which is what really is the underlying cause of 'diaper dermatitis'... Here it shows that gentian violet can, "lead to irritation and ulceration".

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819966/

And, a final mention about honey. Honey is a wonder. It is the only food which you can leave open on the table FOREVER without anything growing in it. Get any hints from that? No other food, including garlic, you can do that with. Garlic, even though they say it is antifungal, will grow fungus on it quite easily. Not so with honey.

In brief: "Honey has an antimicrobial activity that is effective against all types of bacteria and some fungi. It is fully effective against antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria (the so-called "superbugs") It is effective against bacteria in biofilms and prevents formation of biofilms. The antimicrobial activity is partly due to the high sugar content and the acidity of honey, but mostly to hydrogen peroxide formed by enzymic activity when honey is diluted.

Some honeys also have antibacterial activity due to non-peroxide components. Manuka honey can have a high level of this. Some honeys have as much as 100 times more antibacterial potency than others. There is much clinical evidence for honey clearing infection in wounds. Honey is effective only when in localised contact with bacteria, not after infection has penetrated into the blood-stream. The antimicrobial action of honey is also used for treating eye infections and has potential for treating nasal infections, gum disease, gastroenteritis, fungal infections of the skin, and mastitis in dairy cows and goats".

How does one "drip" raw honey into the eyes? I've never seen raw honey in any other form but solid.

If you research raw honey, it definitely improves your eyesight. You can drip it in your eyes...stings for a moment and then they feel great. Gets rid of conjunctivitis, too...or put a drop or two in the corner of your eye as a salve. It works.

honey might introduce diabetes to your pet. No sugar is good sugar

Has anyone tried using honey for pet allergies? I have a westie puppy that is on anti-histamines and anti-biotics for an extreme allergy reaction. I read up on using apple cider vinegar for allergies, I'm going to try that. Just wondering if anyone had success with it?

Instead of glycerin, you could try castor oil. You might have to add a little sweet almond oil or another type of oil to combat the sticky factor, as castor oil is also quite viscous.

Last summer I tripped and severely scraped my left knee, right down to the collagen in some places.

After drying and washing the rather large wound, I simply slathered it with Manuka Honey and covered it with 2 of the biggest bandaids I could buy. It would slightly sting for a minute, but that was okay because I knew it was working. After that, I would forget it was even there.

The scrape was so big that it took 3 weeks to finally re-grow all the skin, but due to the Manuka, I never had to de-bride, never had any infections or redness; it was healing cleanly and beautifully. thanks to the Manuka I hardly even had scars!

But after the bandaids were removed, I must've touched my knee after the dog licked my hand or something, because then I noticed that some small boils were there.

I came to this site and tried the trusted and true remedies for boils, which included Manuka Honey. I ended up making a paste of turmeric, ACV and manuka honey and put this on my carbuncle (for there were many small boils now) - and voila, they were all gone within 3 hours! Yeah, you read that right. Unbelievable.

Now all that is left are two very small scars on a knee that had to re-grow all of its skin, with no mottling or jagged edges, just a plain ole knee. It was all due to this fantastic site that I came thru that so well. Thanks Earth Clinic!

Honey is a wonderful mask. I get a hot bath ready with epsom salts. Then just before I get into the bath I rub about a tblsp of raw honey on my face and then soak in the bath for at least 30 min then I rinse my face witg the bath water do the rest of my body gets some benefit from the honey, too and its no longer sticky after that. I've just started oil pulling with coconut oil and might do that at the same time, too! Coconut on the skin as a nightime moisturizer is amazing as well.

Thank you Omar; I just had the thought tonight to try honey for some irritations and inflammation I have on several toes. First I soaked my feet in warm water a few minutes followed by cold water, then straight raw honey directly on the toes and upper feet and dressed in white all cotton socks. I'll report back in a few days, wish me well and prayers are coveted. I pray I have the success your father did.

Hi Ted, I am very curious as to why honey is so damaging to the health of some folks. Please explain or point me in the right direction. Thank you very much.

I get Sty's a couple of times a year. It's so annoying. I use [manuka honey] to get rid of them QUICK. It's good for soooo many things. I would never be without it. I'm sure any brand of 16 would do. As soon I feel a sty coming on (you know that pain you get when you blink), with a CLEAN finger or Q-tip, I just rub a bit into my lashes right where the pain is. I do this two to three times a day. The sty never comes full force and is gone completely within 3 days. Do your best to not get the honey into your eye because it really stings and your eye will water like crazy. Do yourself a favor and try this. If you catch the sty first thing, you will be so happy in a few days when you are sty-free!

If low stomach acid is cause to not eat honey, then people who take antacids like Prevacid should not eat honey either.

Got so excited by all that royal bee jelly can do! Lowers cholesterol, balances blood sugar, helps block toxins in the liver, protects against radiation, and on & on.

So I called around to local beekeepers, and am trying to buy some fresh. It can be mailed on ice-- expensively, online-- but I just know I can find it locally, because there are lots of bees and blossoms here. It should fun to look at the bee boxes too!

I'm gonna do the same thing with seeking local leche, too. --T.

I got glass in my eye whilst on holiday a few years ago and wasn't treated correctly by the doctors. By the time I got home around 36 hours later I couldn't see anything out of the affected eye, I had a major infection, high pressure in the eyeball and had developed a cataract... The doctors told me I was very unlikely to see out of the eye again and that it was very possible that I would lose the eyeball altogether.

I had 3 lots of various surgery and was on eye drops, steroids and antibiotics but still told that it wasn't great. Anyway just before one of my surgeries the anaesthetist insisted that I ask someone to go to the shops and buy me as much honey with royal jelly that they could get their hands on and eat as much of it a day as I could (on toast, in water etc). I did as he said as I had nothing to lose and some days even just squirted the honey straight into my mouth! I continued with the routine for a good few months.

Now over 3 years later my eyeball looks normal and with a strong prescription contact lens (as my lens was removed) I can see almost exactly as I did before!!

I'm not saying it was all down to the honey but if I had to go through the whole thing again I would certainly do exactly the same!

Darn, you mean I need to stop using honey (I'm 65 going on 70)? I've never heard that being older makes it dangerous to use honey. How long has this info been available? wow, I never realized aging could be so perilous!!!! Lol

Hi, you say heating honey produces toxins, and depletes good stuff from honey. I like honey in my tea, is this having a bad effect on the honey? thanks, this is a great site!!

I am allergic to glycerin. Several people have suggested mixing honey and other natural products with glycerin to make cleansers. I'm wondering if there is a substitute for glycerin that can be used in these recipes.

I don't believe the honeys you mention are raw. Only raw honey has benefits. Also, I recently read that GMOs (genetically modified organisms--go to mercola's site to read about the dangers GMOs pose to the environment and animal and human health) can show up in honey. Since I read that, I will only buy raw organic honey. I use it for cuts externally and eat a couple of Tbs a day for infections. It tastes good.

Here are easy, effective, and cheap facial cleansers and moisturizers using honey:

Cleanser: mix 1/8 cup honey, 1/4 cup glycerin, and 1. 5 tsp castile soap(I love Dr. Bronner's Almond). Pour into a container that has been sterilized (boiled, vinegared, or bleached) and is airtight and you've made enough cleanser for a month for under a buck. Massage into your skin and then rinse with warm water. Skin is smooth, radiant, supple, and clean.

Moisturizer: mix 3 Tbs. Food grade veggie glycerin and 1 tsp. Honey. Store in an airtight and sterilized container. Massage into skin VERY sparingly; a little goes a long way. Feels a little weird at first, but your skin will look and feel AMAZING! And again you've made enough for more than a month for well under $1.

I have fallen in love with honey for my face. So much in fact that I give these concoctions as gifts to friends and family.

Just tried this last night, was out in a field with prickers and such - and my ankles got torn up and started to itch like crazy. Came here saw this recommendation and tried it - fantastic! Itching gone and scrapes healing nicely. Thanks again EC

I had acid reflux... Very bad... Worst I ever experienced, for over 24 hours... I do not have chronic acid reflux... But boy... That acid was coming up, burning my throat and making me cough. I was taking Pepto Bismol, and Pepcid... haven't eaten anything because the acid was making me very nauseous...

Went to work... Reluctantly... I also have a major lower lumbar spine issue by the way.. So I really felt like... Well you can imagine... I had to leave work early...

I came home, and sat at the computer, where I'm most comfortable... Not moving at all... My Honey calls on the phone and suggests I take a tablespoon of honey... I took at least 2 tablespoons as I just shot that little bear into my mouth so I'm not sure about the exact amount.

In a short while... 15 minutes maybe... I was feeling better... Not a hundred percent... but definitely better.

I believe taking a couple shots of Honey is probably a good thing to do... I certainly don't think it can hurt... I'm impressed... As I took a lot of over the counter stuff that didn't do jack... Oh... I even had those accupressure wrist bands... no luck...

pop a few pepcids, or prilosecs... Or whatever meds you have... And chase them down with the Honey... I'm thinking that the Honey is a nice soothing remedy until the meds kick in.

I hate getting old...

Good Luck With Your Ailments!

John B.

Hello Everybody! I am just enquiring if anyone has taken Life Mel Honey for any health issue. I know it is very good for patients recovering from Chemotherapy. My issue is M. E. And I am wondering if it will help me?

When I was growing up I would get a really bad cough in the fall from allergies. I would be up all night from coughing. My dad was talking to his granny about it and she said before I go to bed take a tbsp of honey with black pepper mixed in it. Swallow slowly and do not drink any water. The idea is that the honey coats and soothes the throat and the black pepper would kill any bacteria in my throat.

I still do this whenever I get a sore throat or cough and have had my boyfriend do it several times with beautiful results. Being able to sleep through the night with a bad cough is tough, but this definitely gave relief. Knowing what I know now about honey's antibacterial benefits and everything I'm sure honey with out the pepper would be effective also. But I continue to use the black pepper with my honey when called for by my body. When my throat is sore or I have a cough I almost crave the honey/black pepper mixture.

I used to have acid reflux so bad I thought I'd die of it. I also had severe asthma, severe allergies, lethargy, and sometimes complexion issues. By accident (for a completely different reason) at one point I quit ingesting any gluten grains (this is not so easy as there are a few names for this and it's in tons of packages and processed foods. I happened to shift to a totally whole-foods grain-free diet for other reasons, so I just happened to exclude it). Within 2 weeks my allegedly incurable asthma, allergies, and acid reflux were GONE, my complexion was clear and my energy level was much higher. It wouldn't hurt anybody just to try it for 3 weeks -- you would be amazed how many people I know who had only minor or different issues, let alone powerful issues they were taking drugs for, who found that completely removing gluten from their diet wiped out all symptoms. Just a suggestion. PJ

Honey has many antifungal and antimicrobial properties, it may be that you are experiencing a herx reaction. That means the honey is killing off these bad organisms, and the dead toxins permeate your body and make these bad or worse symptoms. This happens with antibiotics too when one fights an infection, one gets worse (as the bacteria are killed) before one gets better. For more info, look up "herx reaction."

Hello! Where can I find Manuka honey? I love this site!

I have had eczema on my hands for at least a decade. Early on, I tried antibiotics and steroid cream. They would clear it up for a week or two, then the eczema would come back. Since then, I have tried everything from vasaline, olive oil, anti-itch creams, coconut oil, bananas, etc. None of them made much of a difference. Recently, I visited a NAET practitioner and went through seven treatments. As soon as she saw my hands, she told me to stay away from ALL GRAINS, for six weeks. I did not eat, wheat, barley, rice, corn, etc. Other than a couple cracks in my skin due to the cold weather, my hands are completely healed up. I have been adding grains back into my diet and have had no new flare-ups. I hope this helps your son.

Did you fine any Brand or Shop for Raw UnHeated Honey ?

I work in the Aged Care as Nurse and was told to bathe in a few cups of raw oats for the rash to disappear. An old remedy but it seems to work.

Whenever my son gets a bad diaper rash (usually because he's been eating some new foods that don't agree with him too well), I bathe him in an oatmeal bath, let his bottom dry out well, and apply a coat of raw honey to the rash. It drastically reduces or eliminates the rash by the next diaper change. Then I'll apply virgin coconut oil at each change until it's gone (it's less sticky). It's never taken more than a few hours or overnight to get rid of any rash, regardless of the severity. The honey as a first step is crucial, so don't skip to the coconut oil.

WARNING!

Hello to everyone... I am a Microbiologist. Honey is not given to infants or recommended for the aged (70 ) as they do not have sufficient stomach acid to prevent the botulism spores from breaking out of spore and developing into the bacteria that produce botulin toxin.

I just mixed local raw but filtered honey with water, about 2 teaspoons honey to about 2 ounces of warm filtered water. I rinsed out the eye dropper from a bottle of ginseng tincture very thoroughly. I dropped the solution of honey water in my eyes. There was very minor burning, similar to using visine for the first time. It went away in seconds. Upon relief from the initial irritation my eyes felt better than they have felt in years. I will continue to use this solution for eye irritation in future.

Also, my eyes are grey/green with brown staining causing them to appear hazel in all but direct bright light. This brown staining is slightly fainter, which was why I had resolved to try honey in the eyes in the first place. Coming days should hopefully show whether or not the lightening of my irises shall continue, as this was my initial purpose.