On the lists of the healthiest and most popular products recently, we find manuka honey. It comes from New Zealand, and its rather high fame is due to its antibacterial effect and at the same time strengthening the body’s immunity. It is not too cheap, so before we decide to buy it, it is worth knowing what is the reason for its particular popularity.
Honey is obtained from bushes with broad leaves and small flowers. It is these white flowers that are the source of the golden specialty – healthy manuka honey. Shrubs in their natural habitat can be found mainly in New Zealand and in some parts of Australia.
The action of the “golden drug”
The fame of manuka honey, considered to be actually the healthiest type of honey, is mainly due to its body-strengthening and antiseptic properties. Due to the wide range of its properties, it is more often considered a medicine than an ordinary food product. Studies have shown that manuka honey has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. It can therefore be used as an additional and natural aid in the treatment of many diseases.
This type of honey will be effective e.g. in the treatment of gastrointestinal ailments – stomach ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, hyperacidity, digestive disorders. It will also be a great way to:
- improving blood circulation,
- urinary tract diseases,
- Bedsores,
- hard-to-heal wounds,
- Increasing the production of bile,
- increasing immunity,
- lowering blood pressure,
- Reflux.
It will support the treatment of bacterial infections, and will also work probiotically, as it supports the growth of good bacteria in the body. It is even used to eliminate gingivitis. It inhibits the growth of such bacteria as: enteric bacilli, staphylococci, streptococci, helicobacter pylori, coli bacilli.
How to buy manuka honey?
The effectiveness of manuka honey is determined by the concentration of methylglyoxal, which should be on average a minimum of about 3mg per kilogram. Therefore, it is worth checking how much of this ingredient is in the honey you want to buy. In addition, due to its rather high price, numerous diluted counterfeits appear on the market, which are also relatively more expensive and do not have the same properties as real manuka honey. It is worth checking before buying whether the honey is MGO certified, because the higher the content of methylglyoxal, the greater the antibacterial effectiveness.