Health Benefits of Honey

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

Yes honey worked for me but--- I progressed through three sources of increasingly "raw" and minimally processed to totally unprocessed honey & honeycomb. Each time, I experienced allergic reactions and several days of mild vertigo, that could only be abated with large doses of pure powdered MSM. My third experience was with totally wildwood honey & comb that had never been heated, nor had the bees been fed any sugar water. In combination with organic apple cider vinegar (with the mother), I conquered and eliminated all of my allergies (yes I had allergy testing) and stopped taking all antihistamines.

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.

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

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.

What are you calling a dose?

Honey - Stomach Ulcer, cuts, hair rinse.

After spending 6 very stressful weeks in the Dominican Republic helping to care for my sick mother, a few weeks after being back home I began having a lot of indigestion and finally acute pain in my stomach. I didn't go to a doctor but did a "symptom search" and it pointed towards a stomach ulcer, I also asked two of my cousins who had had gastritis and one of them a diagnosed ulcer and their symptoms seemed to be the same as mine. Many years earlier I'd heard from my mother that honey had cured my godfather's ulcer so I did a search online and read about Manuka honey curing ulcers. Since I'd just brought some raw Dominican honey I figured it would be just as good and started eating about 1 oz. before each mail. The minute it started to go down I could feel my stomach relax and the pain begin to subside. At first I still had some pain after eating but much less than before; the next day I was even better and very soon (can't remember exactly how many days) I had NO more pain anymore.

When my son was born over 26 years ago there was no warning about honey so I gave it to him and, thankfully, he had no problems. I also dabbed it on his lip and later on my daughter's when they started walking (by then they were about 1 y.o.) but fell on a tiled floor and split their lip, it stopped the bleeding instantly and apparently the pain too because they stopped crying right away, the sweet taste was a bonus too! I myself, because of problems with blood clotting (before I started taking Vit. K) would bleed a lot from a tiny finger cut but honey would usually stop the bleeding fast.

One teaspoon diluted in a cup of warm water makes an excellent final hair rinse to give the hair a lot of shine; it can also be added to conditioners for extra moisture too.

HONEY & DIABETES & ARTHRITUS

THANK YOU FOR HAVING SUCH A GREAT WEBSITE..... I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT I WAS ON THE RIGHT TRACK TAKING HONEY FOR MY ARTHRITUS EVERY DAY... NOW YOU HAVE CONFIRMED IT FOR ME.... I TAKE A TEASPOON OF HONEY IN MY COFFEE TWO OR THREE TIME A DAY...ALSO READ AND FOUND HONEY IS GREAT FOR MINOR BURNS AND IT ALSO DISINFECTS THE AREA OF THE BURN. I HAVE TYPE TWO DIABETES AND THE HONEY HAS LITTLE OR NO EFFECT ON MY DIABETES, ALTHOUGH I HAVE READ IN DIABETES MAGAZINE THAT HONEY IS CONSIDERED TO BE JUST ANOTHER FORM OF SUGAR...THEY SHOULD TELL THAT TO THE BEES!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have been using honey on my skin and my skin is really glowing and looks tighter. I just have been putting a thin layer of honey on my skin, letting it sit for however long I have time and wash it off.

We have had remarkable healing with Manuka honey, It is effective for bites, boils, acid reflex ect It will draw the the infection right out. It is antibacterial and antiviral and will heal out wounds where nothing else will. Also effective on MRSA and other staph infections. Just put a light coat on a bandage and change every 24hrs. Also will dry up poison ivy. Plus it tastes great!

To add to my last comment about honey for winter eczema:

It started to get cold early last fall, so I used raw honey on the back of my hands for several nights. Then it got warm again, and when the cold returned, my hands had the roughness I'd experienced in the past. So I applied cheap grocery store honey on the backs of my hands during the daytime for several days. After that I had no problems with roughness or bleeding during the rest of the winter.

I don't know if this means cheap honey is better, but I am taking it to mean it isn't worse. (And maybe a humidifier wouldn't be as sticky.)

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.

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.

Re: the lady who "thanked the bees" etc for the honey that helped her. I think that a true inner feeling and exercise is appreciation and thanks completes a circuit to wellness also. Often as I drink a simple glass of water, I think of the mountain and snow run-off it comes from; even one of the rivers it travels which I have visited many times. It really does make a difference to be cognitive of the cycle that things that bring healing go through on their way to us. Just as the healing is itself a cycle we desire. Even when I have to throw something away that is worn out (shoes or?) I take a moment and am thankful that these things came to me to help me in my life. Every bit of life is a process and I believe that if you cannot look at the beginnings of things than you will never be able to appreciate the becomings of things. As they are really the same thing.

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.

i had surgery in Nov.,2007 to remove damaged breast tissue caused from a car accident. a couple weeks after surgery, I had what looked to be a blood blister. It proceeded to open up, drain and cause considerable pain and redness accross almost the entire breast. The cream the Dr. gave me seemed to keep the area too moist and it kept oozing. After talking and research I decided to try honey. The area which had started to look like a diabetic ulcer or bedsore, looked better the next morning , I continued to use about 1/4 tsp of raw honey on a cotton pad, I just placed it so the honey would be sure to get completely into the wound. It has been a little over a week and my Dr. was amazed at how well it is now healing.

I was looking on your site a couple days ago and saw a remedy with honey to help lose weight. I tried it and found that i had more energy during the day, had less of an appetite, and fell asleep faster at night!! i love it! the remedy i found was every morning, a half hour before breakfast, as well as right before bed at night, drink a tablespoon of honey in one cup of boiling water with a teaspoon of cinnamon. It has only been four days, but man, what a difference!!!

I would just like to add that I am overweight by about 20 pounds. I have never been an exercise person, nor a dieting person as I was always very slim and tiny. I was getting married in the middle of July this year, bought my wedding dress the last week of June. I was very busy planning the wedding, so I was eating a peanut butter and honey sandwich twice a day and large suppers with different desserts at night. (sampling alot of different things for our wedding supper). I went to try my dress on three days before my wedding and found that I lost 1.5 - 2 inches....I had a lace up back on the dress and had to pull the laces closed tight, and the dress was still a little loser then it was 2 weeks prior. I joked around and told everyone just to eat peanut butter and honey sandwiches! Of course I went back to eating whatever and whenever I want, and I am now overweight again. I have just started reading these articles due to a chest cold. I put a good tablespoon of honey in my coffee about 20 minutes ago, and I can breathe normal again,....WOW! I will be eating my peanut butter and honey sandwiches today and every other day until Christmas!

Honey has hydrogen peroxide in it. Having suffered from bronchitis, boils, carbuncles, tonsilitis, sinusitis. Started taking honey 28 years ago, cut out the sugar totally. My drinks all have a spoon of honey-put a spoonful at back of the throat first thing morning last thing night total intake one and half pound a week takes 3 to 9 month to take effect -subdues the streptocci, no coughs, no colds, no infections

I had severe pain in lower abdomen, and inspite of several medical tests nothing was being detected from past 3 months i was just having pain killers and someone told me about honey cure and i searched net and luckily came across your article. It cured my pain completely , and now i feel quite energetic n healthy.. thanks for publishing such a rich natural treatment.

I was having painful burning cramps during my monthly cycle. Honey made the pain stop. I took a tablespoon of it. The honey I had on hand is Clover Honey. I am going to try natural raw honey to see howe I react to that. I may try it on my face too. I have dry skin and I am always looking for a better way to clean my face.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

While I realize your post is 15 years old, it should be noted that John W doesn't mention which type of honey he used. Manuka honey is absolutely 100% detrimental for diabetes or anything remotely related (pre-diabetes, blood sugar problems, etc). It forms HIGH amounts of advanced glycation end-products -- the things that cause every problem with circulation, neuropathy, etc., in diabetes.