Honeys that Heal

The ancient Egyptians used medicinal honey regularly, making ointments to treat skin and eye diseases. “Honey was used to cover a wound or a burn or a slash, or something like that, because nothing could grow on it – so it was a natural bandage,” Harris explains. _Smithsonian (Photo via Flickr user Flood G.)

There are hundreds of different types of honey around the world, claiming various healing properties. It is important to understand that honey acquires some of the properties of the specific flower that bees feed on, so each type is subtly different from the others.

One of the most intriguing honeys is the last one on the following list of healing honeys, derived from New Zealand’s manuka plant, which is related to the Australian tea tree. More on that specific honey following the list:

Strawberry Tree Honey – This honey comes from Europe and is less sweet than some other honeys. Strawberry Tree Honey is powerful with lots of antioxidants for helping to prevent cardiovascular disease, strokes, and cancer. It also contains polyphenols like green tea, and lowers LDL cholesterol and triglycerides at the same time.

Acacia Tree Honey – This great tasting honey calms coughs, enhances vitality, gets rid of fatigue, and soothes away stress… contains lots of wonderful nutrients such as B-Vitamins for vitality, flavonoids for getting rid of free radicals, phytohormones which protect your DNA, help prevent cancer, reproductive problems, and boost your immune system.

Linden Flower Honey – Linden Flower Honey is relaxing, soothing, calming and helps in cases of insomnia and anxiety problems. It helps you relax so you can sleep, and it also works well for bronchitis, coughs, and colds…

Dandelion Flower Honey – This honey is highly prized in China and has a stronger taste, but contains lots of Vitamin A which is a great antioxidant, calcium for strong bones, and Vitamin K for clotting. Also contains copper and iron for anemia, zinc for boosting immunity, manganese for arthritis, and magnesium for regulating blood sugar.

Buckwheat Flower Honey – Buckwheat Flower Honey tastes a lot like molasses and is full of lots of vitamins, minerals, and polyphenol compounds. Thus it helps with cardiovascular disease, strokes, and cancer by boosting your immune system… a powerful cough suppressant that works well for children.

Blueberry Flower Honey – Blueberry Flower Honey is a great antibacterial agent and may prove to be very useful in the treatment of urinary tract infections. It seems that Blueberry Flower Honey keeps bacteria from attaching to the lining of the bladder thus helping to prevent bladder infections similar to cranberries… full of antioxidants that help prevent cardiovascular disease, strokes and cancer, plus it works well for getting rid of facial scars and acne.

Avocado Tree Flower Honey – This wonderful honey contains agents that stops HbA1C and thus lowers cholesterol, boosts your metabolism, burns more fat… thus you lose weight. It also has polyphenols to boost your immune system.

Orange Blossom Honey – This honey is amazingly powerful – Full of 7 different antioxidants such as galangin, isorhamnetin, hesperitin, quercetin, kaempherol, naringenin, and luteolin which are great for boosting the immune system, lowering inflammation, supports your cardiovascular system, prevents strokes, and cancer. The University of Vienna has done extensive research on Orange Blossom Honey and found it great for preventing many diseases… kills E. Coli, Staph, and Salmonella bacteria… this is great when we have so many antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Neem Tree Flower Honey – This Bitter Tasting honey from India and other tropical regions works well for lowering blood sugar and blood pressure. It also helps with allergies, sore throats, gum disease, and skin rashes.

Manuka Honey – Manuka Honey is highly prized around the world. It’s a good antimicrobial honey that kill bacteria especially the bacteria that cause gastric ulcers. It also helps with acne, sore throats, indigestion, colds, and flues. _Paul Haider

Manuka honey appears to be at least a step above other honeys, in terms of antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing properties:

The antibacterial quality of honey depends on the type of honey as well as when and how it’s harvested. Some kinds of honey may be 100 times more potent than others.

… The major antibacterial component in manuka honey is methylglyoxal (MG). MG is a compound found in most types of honey, but usually only in small quantities.

In manuka honey, MG comes from the conversion of another compound — dihydroxyacetone — that is found in high concentration in the nectar of manuka flowers.

MG is thought to give manuka honey its antibacterial power. The higher the concentration of MG, the stronger the antibiotic effect.

Honey producers have developed a scale for rating the potency of manuka honey. The rating is called UMF, which stands for Unique Manuka Factor.

The UMF rating corresponds with the concentration of MG. Not all honey labeled as manuka honey contains significant levels of MG. To be considered potent enough to be therapeutic, manuka honey needs a minimum rating of 10 UMF. _WebMD

Manuka honey kills a wide range of bacteria, including H. Pylori and C. Difficile. It also displays anti-tumor activity:

Treatment with manuka honey alone resulted in about 33% inhibition of tumor growth, which correlated with histologically observable increase in tumor apoptosis. Although better control of tumor growth was observed in animals treated with paclitaxel alone or in combination with manuka honey (61% inhibition), a dramatic improvement in host survival was seen in the co-treatment group. This highlights a potentially novel role for manuka honey in alleviating chemotherapy-induced toxicity. _PLOS

More on the above research study

One way to prepare home remedies using honey is by making honey infusions. Depending upon the type of honey used, and the ingredients infused into the honey, one can prepare a wide range of simple but comforting remedies. Examples of possible infusion ingredients include lemon, cinnamon, ginger, clove, and apple cider vinegar.

So you can see that honeys can be used to treat a large number of maladies. Serious preppers should consider stocking up on particular honeys, depending upon their specific needs. Store well sealed in a cool, dry, dark location. Depending upon type of honey and storage method, shelf life can be up to 5 years or longer. Perhaps forever. Always rotate and use or trade items before expiration.