General Feedback
★★★★★
Tip: Make sure to use raw unfiltered honey. This honey has not been heated and the bees' enzymes and healing properties are untouched. Unfortunately, when you buy honey at the supermarket, it is likely that it has been filtered and heated to make it more attractive to the consumers, but many of the nutrients have been removed (B1, B2, C, B6, B5, B3, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, iron, phosphate, propolis, wax, pollen). In addition, using Manuka honey instead of regular honey will give you better results when dealing with internal/external infections, skin problems and even wrinkles. Manuka honey comes from the nectar of tea trees.
General Feedback
In the article about honey it has been mentioned multiple times that honey should not be given to infants since it can have a toxic reaction in them. I think that's untrue since in India, honey is the very first thing that we give kids after they are born. That is to enable them to excrete the first time without any problem. Also we feed the babies with honey quite often in their first year to soothe their upset tummies or to cure cough/cold. For very little infants (less than 4 months old), like everything else, honey is also given in very small portions...2 drops at a time and not more than 2 doses a day, and it really helps them. I think it's only a myth that honey affects infants. But I do agree that honey should not be heated or added to very hot liquids since it'll become toxic.
(Albuquerque, NM)
05/09/2007
★☆☆☆☆
WARNING!
Regarding giving honey to infants: RAW honey should not be given to infants as it may transmit INFANT BOTULISM. It is my understnding that after they are a year old, a child is no longer susceptible to problem. I doubt what is commonly given to infants in India is raw honey, but rather honey that has been properly heated or processed so that botulism is not a problem.
EC: We sent S's email to a dear friend of ours from India (who now lives in the USA) for another opinion. This was our friend's response:
"I remember that my mother was very surprised when I told her that infants should not be fed honey for the first year. In India, honey is given very routinely for the reasons that this person's email mentioned. On the other hand, in India, scientific research can be a little shady. Also, the value of life is less. One infant less due to an allergic reaction to honey counts for little, sadly. Also, infants here are different and are born with different immune systems. I don't think you should recommend honey for US infants.
I heard something really interesting from an Indian parent in the US the other day. She was saying that her child, with two biological Indian parents, had a host of allergies. This is apparently very common for children of Indian parents who are born in the US. It is surmised that these children inherit, through their birth, highly evolved immune systems that are used to battling a lot of germs. But in the US there are comparitively few diseases to combat with the result that these highly evolved immune systems have nothing to do. They then turn on themselves and create all sorts of allergies. Isn't that interesting?
But I don't think it would be wise for you to recommend honey. The consequences could be disastrous for that one infant who can't take it. "
(West Palm Beach, Florida)
07/19/2009
I'm sorry but I don't agree that the reason why Indians (or people from other ethnicities) may get allergies here in the U.S. is the one given, it may be the opposite. I believe there are many (and probably different...) types of environmental molds/fungi here in the U.S. and those are the real reasons for most allergies. A lot of fungi produce mycotoxins that have immuno-suppresive properties, that goes also for anti-biotics which ARE mycotoxins and they are prescribed much too liberally.
I am originally from the Dominican Republic and have had more problems in FL due to fungi, especially in recent years because of 3 hurricanes we had in this area, than I actually did where I grew up. My best friend, a Dominican also who moved to Delaware in 1991, recently told me that she began suffering from allergies, sinus (and other fungi-related) problems AFTER she moved there.
(Northern, Indiana)
01/10/2010
Botulism is a concern when feeding infants honey because of the spores that may be present in the honey. These spores are harmless to adults, as they are in a dormant state, but infect infants by another method of action.
Being spores, however, means that they can survive cooking temperatures, and so boiling honey will do nothing to reduce this risk.
I also somewhat disagree with the statement that second generation Indians develop allergies due to a bored immune system. Your immunity is developed by oneself, through exposure to disease, not inherited from the parent (although genetics may play a role in the functional ability, the actual functioning is environmental). Industrialized nations have much higher levels of allergies anyway, regardless of where your parents came from, so it's more likely that the environmental toxins are just something that NO immune system is built to easily handle.
(Davis, California Usa)
06/08/2011
★☆☆☆☆
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.
(Shelton, Wa)
05/30/2012
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
(Syracuse, Ny)
11/27/2012
If low stomach acid is cause to not eat honey, then people who take antacids like Prevacid should not eat honey either.
Hangover
★★★★★
I tried the honey for a hangover after discovering your website by chance last week. I am not a heavy drinker but last night had a little too much red-wine. I woke up this morning with a slight hangover so I took two tbsp. of local raw honey I keep in my pantry; at first I had heartburn and a burning sensation in my throat but then after about an hour I felt much better. I hope to use this site for more often for insight on natural cures than taking the usual Tylenol or asprins I usually take for just too much of a good thing. Thanks for our Global friends who want to share natures remedies.
Honey
★★★★★
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.
Honey and Hydrogen Peroxide
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".
Honey Comparisons
(Tn)
04/28/2017
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~
(Usa)
04/29/2017
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.
(America, New York)
04/29/2017
Honey Side Effects
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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.
Honey Side Effects
I have been having a strange response to honey as of late. I used to take about 1 TBSP of Trader Joes' Mesquite or Clover honey in tea about 3-4 times a day. However, a month ago, after 10-20 minutes of drinking or eating something with honey, I would get a popping sensation in my heart area, then a racing heart, then light headedness. After that passes, I feel a bit funky for the rest of the day. I stopped the honey for the last month, then today I had some Sweet and Spicy Mustard (also from Trader Joe's) and had the same reaction about 10 minutes after finishing eating. Didn't realize it had honey in it. It does. This is a weird question, but do you think the fungal infection killing off the honey bees had anything to do with this? I have eaten honey for years with no problem. Now it's a no-no. Regular sugar (well, organic brown sugar) is fine for me, no reaction. Any comments would be great, thanks. P.S. I haven't tested other brands of honey to see if the same thing happens
(Sandusky , Ohio)
10/08/2008
That is so weird. You know, Trader Joe's is a corporation. The ingredients in their products may not be as pure as they say it is. You might want to give Raw honey from VITACOST.com a shot. You know, don't go to Trader Joes anymore. I would say you are allergic to bees or something, but you never had that reaction before. That's weird. Get checked out by a doctor.
(St. George, UT)
02/20/2009
During the course of a persons life, allergies may come and go. I work in a hospital and saw a 50 year old doctor come in to the ER because he became allergic to shell fish that day. It was odd because he had eaten shell fish his entire life but that day was the day a new allergy manifested its self. Your symptoms don't sound like a typical allergic reaction. If your heart is misbehaving, I would look at eliminating caffeine before honey. Caffeine is a stimulant and has effects on the heart in lots of people.
(Boston, Ma)
11/11/2011
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."
(Sun City, Az)
01/22/2012
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.
Honey's Health Benefits
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
Immunity
★★★★★
...I have been eating raw organic honey and honeycomb which I swallow. I often swallow a couple of tablespoon fulls of organic molassas. Usually, I stay pretty healthy. When stressed or feel a cold coming on, I usually realize that I have forgotten one of the 3 above mentions items in my diet. I eat the honey straight from the jar or in Raspberry leaf tea or African Roobis.
The more raw food that I have in my diet the better. I am a pre-naturopathic med student and have learned non of this in school, just in books written by doctors. I look forward to helping others find nature's remedies that God has given us. Look in the Bible for honey, vinegar, pomegranate, almonds... When head fills with mucous, it often happens after eating non-whole grain breads and cheese, such as a non-health food pizza. I get sore throats a few times a year... I gargle with cider vinegar diluted with bottled spring water.
(Sudbury, Ontario)
02/04/2009
hi, how are you, just wondering exactly what one means by 'honeycomb" is it the ceral? Also how much honey and for long does one take for the flu like symptons which I have now and went out to buy some raw honey. Does it work on bad headaches also related to flu. As of now its not working. Thank you
Immunity
★★★★★
I am a single mother and full-time college student. I don't have time for my 2-year-old daughter to get sick so: first thing every morning, instead of juice, I give her honey water in her sippy cup. We use the good, unfiltered honey. Though kids have gotten sick at her daycare, my daughter has remained healthy. I don't have time to get sick either, so I drink Apple Cider Vinegar three times a day and sweeten it with the same type of honey.
(Eatontown, NJ)
10/29/2008
Immunity
★★★★★
I have been under treatment for years for Herpes Whitlow on my right hand, which occasionally manifests itself on my pallette and genitals. I have always tested negative for herpes 2, and assumed my outbreaks are weird manifestations. Doctors here have never seen this combination of symptoms. They were debilitating until I started self imumnizing my cat and pollen allergies with daily dose of different honeys, and cutting out practically all refined sugars in my diet. Whereas I would have an outbreak every twelve months on a maintenance dose of 500mg of Zelitrex daily (quadrupled during outbreaks) the last two outbreaks have been restricted to my finger and palette - a great improvement over previous ones. I feel the honey is helping my immune system suppress the virus, perhaps by keeping my immune system on alert all the time. I hvae upped my daily dosage of Zeleitrex to 15 mg, and would appreciate any comments from others who have found Honey a satisfactory paliative.
(Nashville, Tn)
02/15/2011
Try Watercress Tea and Olive oil for STD's Miracle Healing foods of the Bible--its a book with alot of helpful remedies that ppl tend to suffer with
Itchy Skin
★★★★★
I was being driven crazy at midnight last night by an itching foot which, I think, is a side effect from a prescribed medication. I have tried so many remedies including those suggested by my doctor. Well, last night I came across your site and in desperation smeared my poor old foot with Manuka honey and lo and behold it stopped almost instantly ! The relief is exquisite so thank you for the great information. I will be passing it on. Kia ora. Em, New Zealand.
(South, Fl)
01/13/2012
★★★★★
Manuka Honey
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
(London Uk)
08/22/2016
(New Zealand)
12/29/2016
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.
(England)
01/02/2017
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.
(Netherlands)
10/30/2020
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.
(New Zealand)
10/31/2020
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
MRSA
★★★★★
2 TBSPS/day of Manuka honey for 3 weeks on toast, in green tea, etc, cured a Community-associated MRSA-- (started as an infected spider bite) A friend's teen had CA-MRSA for 3.5 months and was on several serious antibiotics, which caused organ damage and still she tested positive for MRSA. After taking 2 TBSPs/day of Manuka honey for 3 weeks, she tested negative! Her life is no longer in danger!
