The practice of using honey for wound healing and in bandaging was clearly evidenced far back in ancient Egyptian civilization, with the practice regaining popularity again in our ever changing world.  Recent clinical trials have showed burn healing to improve by about 75% as compared to standard hospital dressings with antibacterial coatings.  Periodic reports of using honey dressings to resolve long festering drug resistant infections come from many parts on the globe.   In 1999, the Australian TGA (their version of our FDA) classified honey as a medicine.  In late 2007 the U.S. FDA approved the marketing of Medihoney (Derma Sciences Inc.) for wound and burn care.  It is currently marketed as wound dressings as well as wound gel.

As a topical medicine, honey has several well known, and some still unknown sweetly secret qualities.  Medicinal benefits include antimicrobial action, being hydroscopic (absorbs toxins and fluids out of draining wounds), becomes a moist surface and nutrient coating to soothe damaged underlying tissues while they heal and repair, and acts as a mild anti-inflammatory.  Enzymes in honey also catalyze release of hydrogen peroxide, which helps to disinfect and clean injured tissue.  Trace phytonutrients in honey can help support immune function.  Honey is naturally sticky, but does not stick to a wound in a way that damages the wound to remove the dressing coated with it.  This makes wound care much less painful and dressing changes are needed less often which speeds up wound healing.

Honey has as many uses as there are kinds of folk.  Honey soothes a sore throat and some coughs, either taken by the warm spoonful or in a soothing tea.  It assists in diminishing localized infections when applied directly to the site of infection.  For this reason, it could possibly even be supportive in chronic gastric infections for the common bacteria H. Pylori which causes ulcers.  The enzymes in fresh honey can also soothe and support digestion.

While honey is most well known for improving the outcome of superficial infections and in burn healing, it has many other helpful qualities.  Honey is made of two simple sugars: glucose and fructose.  Fructose is immediately absorbed, giving the body energy faster than table sugar.  Some find this may aid in using less processed sugar in their diet, as it is immediately more satisfying to a sweet tooth.  Table sugar has no vitamins or minerals (empty calories), while honey is rich with natural minerals, B and C Vitamins, making it an obvious choice for sweeteners in a health conscious diet.

What makes honey medicinal?  All honey should offer some of the noted medicinal qualities.  Medihoney brand has been shown in clinical trials to be superior to the action of other common honeys, which the company claims is due specifically to the potent bees and flowers who collaborate to make it from manuka and jelly bush nectar in New Zealand.  While Medihoney markets their products as the most medicinal and may in fact be the best choice for serious burns and infected wounds, we do not yet have any reliable data comparing the effectiveness of so many local variations of honey versus others from around this globe, since natural honey can vary greatly in tangible qualities depending on so many environmental factors.  Meanwhile, the Big Island is quite blessed to have a healthy selection of fresh local honeys.  It is a good reminder to continue to explore local healthy resources.  The best advise is probably to find high quality fresh and local honey in the flavor you like best to keep on hand for dietary and medicinal purposes.  Fresh, non-pasteurized honey will have a higher vitamin content and enzyme activity.  Darker honey is richer in both flavor and nutrients.  Honey freshness, handling, processing and storage can include contamination, which is why purity testing and comparison testing for effectiveness would benefit users and makers of this lovely substance in the long run.

There are a few commonly known health concerns related to the use of honey which also bear mention.  It has long been known that honey can be a carrier of botulism spores, and therefore is not recommended for ingestion by very young children who are at highest risk of a catastrophic outcome with this illness. After 1 year old, children are naturally more immune to this potential pathogen, and can safely begin to enjoy the benefits of this healthy alternative for sweeteners.  It is considered safe at any age to use topically.  The other aspect of honey is that although it has health benefits, it is still a concentrated sugar. People with diabetes, blood sugar imbalances, Candida infections or intolerance to fructose should limit intake of honey.

by Jacqueline Hahn, N.D. Hilo, Hawaii