The Top 5 Important Health Benefits of Manuka Honey You Need to Know About
Updated: 11 hours ago
By Tamar Rothenberg, MS, RDN
What is manuka honey, and why is it found in everything from skin care to throat lozenges and wound dressings? Manuka honey may indeed have unique benefits, from cancer care and coughs to bandages.
Manuka honey may seem to have suddenly appeared in consumer products, but New Zealand’s indigenous Māori population has been using it for over a millennium. The manuka tree's bark and foliage are used in their healing traditions, and its therapeutic effects have long been recognized.
Manuka honey is distinguished by its rich texture and caramel color. Its flavor is strong and unlike regular honey because of the unique nectar that bees use to produce the honey. The darker the honey pigment, the more beneficial plant chemicals it contains, and this is true for other types of honey as well.
In this post, I'll review the top 5 important health benefits of manuka honey, describe how to best use it, and decode the label so you can be sure about its authenticity.
Manuka honey compared to other types of honey
Manuka honey is derived solely from the flowers of the manuka tree. The manuka tree is native to New Zealand and regarded as 'sacred treasure’ by the Māori. They have long used the bark as a sedative and its ash for burns, while the leaves are boiled and their vapor used to relieve coughs and colds.
Is manuka honey worth the price? This unique honey has been studied and its comparison to other types of honey. For instance, manuka honey contains 2,300 natural components, while clover honey only contains 90. Its bioactive benefits range from antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties to immune health and oral health. Authentic manuka honey is produced from the manuka tree, which only blooms for 2–6 weeks a year.
However, if you're looking to save costs, regular honey is recognized as a sore throat soother and cough suppressant by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Honey also contains anti-inflammatory compounds, and a new study noted that eating clover honey with yogurt increases its probiotic potential.
Tip: Buy unsweetened Greek yogurt and add a dollup of clover honey.
Top 5 health benefits of manuka honey
Before we discuss the five top benefits uncovered in research on manuka honey, it's important to note the following warnings:
Honey should never be given to babies under a year old.
Honey should not be ingested if you are allergic to any of the ingredients.
Honey is digested as sugar! Go easy on the amount you use daily.
Most importantly, always check with your oncologist and oncology dietitian before changing your diet while in active treatment.
The following are the top five benefits of authentic manuka honey
Oral health
Manuka is as effective as other types of honey for sore throats and coughs caused by viral infections. It can be used in tea, lozenges, or directly from the jar.
When comparing manuka honey to other types of oral antiseptics for plaque reduction, manuka honey was just as effective as the antiseptic mouthwash chlorhexidine, and both manuka and chlorhexidine were superior to xylitol chewing gum in stopping the growth of dental plaque bacteria. The study noted that manuka honey does not irritate tissues as some other antiseptics do and helps to relieve pain and inflammation. Manuka even helps to repair gum tissues.
In the manuka honey group, honey was applied to gums twice (after waiting 5 minutes in between), twice a day after meals without rinsing.
Tip: Check with your dentist first for alternative solutions. This is an expensive way to reduce plaque formation and may not be ideal.
Bone health
Manuka honey was tested to see if it can be used to resist bacterial infection and promote bone growth in bone implants made from collagen. Soaking implants in manuka honey was more effective in resisting infection and even promoted bone growth rather than using large doses of antibiotics to resist infection.
Honey is currently being investigated as a possible supplement for the prevention and management of post-menopausal osteoporosis because of its anti-inflammatory qualities and high antioxidant content.
Tip: The flavonoids in manuka honey (quercetin, apigenin, luteolin, kaempferol, and naringin) are thought to enhance bone repair in animal studies. They're also found in many plant foods!
Wound healing
One of the strongest uses for manuka honey is for its antimicrobial properties. Manuka honey has large concentrations of antibacterial compounds. Clinically prepared manuka honey is used to infuse dressings and gels to heal wounds, pressure ulcers, burns, and prevent infections. Manuka honey is more bioactive than other types of honey, particularly due to an active antibacterial compound, methylglyoxal (MGO). Manuka contains close to 100 times more MGO than conventional honey.
How does honey help wound healing? Honey deprives microbes of the water necessary for bacterial growth, protects the wound by using a barrier to seal the wound, and also helps to repair tissues. With the present concern for antibiotic resistance, this is welcome information.
Tip: For wound care, only medical-grade manuka honey packed in a sterile container may be used. Don't be tempted to use the honey in your pantry for wounds or burns.
Skin care
In a novel discovery, manuka honey was found to be potentially useful as an anti-inflammatory agent for the inflammation involved in the disease process of eczema. This helps to relieve symptoms. However, manuka has not been proven to be effective for acne.
Manuka honey may relieve skin dryness, but always test first before using it on sensitive skin.
Tip: Be cautious about skin creams that don't explicitly mention how much manuka honey they contain.
Cancer care
Mucositis is a painful side effect of head and neck cancer treatments. Patients may develop painful oral sores, infections, changes in appetite, and unintended weight loss. This side effect may also cause treatment delays.
Several studies have confirmed manuka honey demonstrates statistically significant improvements in healing in patients suffering from mucositis due to cancer treatments. Honey dissolved as a rinse or from the jar also showed significant pain reduction. There is minimal risk in using it.
Other studies don't confirm this positive result, but it is already recommended in many cancer clinics. Work with an oncology dietitian for ways to prevent and relieve this and many other side effects from cancer care.
Tip: For mucositis, try 1 tablespoon of honey by itself or dissolved into water as a rinse, once or twice daily.
Breast cancer
Are there any anti-tumor properties in manuka honey? Research is preliminary (but exciting!). In the lab, the antitumor activity of manuka honey was described as similar to the antiestrogen drug Tamoxifen, used to prevent breast cancer.
Manuka honey in particular was able to reduce breast cancer tumor volume, numbers, weight, and growth rate in rats. In mice, manuka honey was significant in slowing and inhibiting the growth of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) tumors by 84% and reducing the size of the breast tumor.
Tip: These are preliminary studies; no human studies have been conducted yet. More research is needed to confirm its effectiveness, and manuka does not replace conventional breast cancer treatments.
Decoding the label
What is authentic manuka honey? There are several factors to distinguish true manuka from other types of honey. The label must check off the following:
Produced, packed, and sealed in New Zealand.
Check if the brand is a registered UMFHA license holder on this website: https://www.umf.org.nz/. The label also contains a traceable batch number.
The brand must carry a UMF™ quality mark. This confirms it was tested for potency, authenticity, freshness, and purity.
Here's a graphic representation of what to look for:
How to store
Authentic manuka honey will last for a long time unrefrigerated, but its bioactive compounds only have a shelf life of about 3 years.
The sweet health benefits of manuka honey
Manuka has been used for thousands of years in traditional healing practices. New research has confirmed its uses for wound healing, skin care, oral health, for side effects from head and neck cancer treatments, and potentially for breast cancer prevention.
Want to know more about how you can get the nutrition your body needs to reduce breast cancer? As a registered dietitian nutritionist who works with people experiencing cancer, I’d love to help. I offer clients support to plan, shop, and prepare more nutritious and healthy meals for yourself or your family. Here is my link to book a chat about my nutrition package.
References
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/16/14/2369
https://www.umf.org.nz/nz-manuka-honey/the-history-of-manuka-honey/
https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/media/pdfs/RCx-Relief-Viral-Illness-lg-v8-508.pdf
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022316624003328?via%3Dihub
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10045300/
https://chbe.illinois.edu/news/stories/53643
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235218722400007X
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3941901/#:~:text=Honey%20has%20anti%2Doxidant%2C%20anti,content%20and%20hydrogen%20peroxide%20content
https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/medical-grade-honey-is-viable-tool-in-wound-care
https://academic.oup.com/bjd/article/191/Supplement_1/i95/7698608
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2019/2464507
https://dam.upmc.com/-/media/upmc/services/palliative-and-supportive-institute/documents/the-tablet-v4n6-honey-for-oral-mucositis.pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39064812/
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