Honey – Nature’s Antibiotic
You may have noticed that your honey never seems to develop mold or bacterial contamination, even when it isn’t refrigerated after opening. We now know why this is: honey has innate anti-microbial activity.
Honey is a natural antibiotic !! Who knew?
Well, it seems that ancient humans knew: For over 2 thousand years humans have used honey applied topically to treat a variety of ailments. Only recently have we found scientific evidence to help understand honey’s antibiotic activity.
It is now well established that honey helps inhibit the growth of a wide variety of bacteria. There are even honey-containing wound gels that help eliminate the dreaded MRSA (see ManukaMedical in resources, below). Cool.
And you may have heard about the role of biofilms in chronic infections (including rhinosinusitis)?
Well, honey has been shown to be effective in killing drug-resistant, biofilm-forming bacteria that are implicated in chronic rhinosinusitis, including MRSA and pseudomonas. Very cool !!
Why is honey such a great antibiotic?
4 Reasons:
- Osmotic effect – high concentration of 2 monosaccharides (sugars), with low water content – draws water out of bacteria (dehydrates them), making it extremely difficult for them to grow in the presence of honey
- Hydrogen peroxide – the glucose oxidase in honey slowly generates hydrogen peroxide from the sugars; as you know, hydrogen peroxide is an excellent antiseptic. Thus, honey is a natural slow-release antiseptic
- The acid – low pH (acidity) of honey naturally prevents growth of bacteria
- It’s got mojo: honey has variable amounts of methylglyoxal (MGO – let’s just call it “mojo”), which is another natural antibacterial agent
How to use this information:
What does this mean for you or your little one’s sinusitis? Well, adding honey to your sinus saline rinses can be hugely beneficial, especially for those with chronic and recurrent sinusitis.
In my clinical practice, I recommend this for children who never seem to completely recover from their sinusitis. The addition of honey (along with some other tricks) has proven to be beneficial for these kids.
Check out recent blog post, “Sinus Rinses: if once/day is good, is 4x/day even better?,” for making your own saline rinse recipe that includes Manuka honey.
Alternatively, simply add some honey (same proportions as recipe in blog post) to your store-bought saline solution. Either way, this may be just the ticket to eliminating the bacterial biofilm that is causing your (or your child’s) chronic sinusitis problem.
We’ll discuss biofilms and their role in chronic infections in a future article.
Not all honey is created equal:
In fact, the Manuka honey from New Zealand, and Sidr honey from Yemen, seem to have antimicrobial properties above and beyond your average honey. Medicinal-grade Manuka has more mojo, and is reported to have other (as yet unidentified) micronutrient agents that act to enhance its antibiotic activity.
Exotic:
Note that these specialty, medicinal honeys can get very pricey. They can be difficult to find locally. The explosion in alternative and natural remedies (like those reviewed on this blog) has increased demand for Manuka honey in the past year. Check the boogor doctor’s Amazon Store on the right column (disclaimer: Amazon affiliate) for quality Manuka honey at moderate price (still steep).
Local:
You might try your local farmer’s market for more reasonably-priced varieties collected close to home. It is also suggested, though not proven, that eating raw local honey can help build immune tolerance to local allergens. Though not as potent as Manuka, they will still have some antibiotic activity, like all honey does for the reasons outlined above. Also, you will be helping your local economy, and helping an apiarist (the term for a beekeeper; beekeeping = apiculture) to stay in business. We won’t go into the difficulties that honey bees are having right now, but support them in any way possible.
Summary:
This post does not even touch on the many, many other uses for Manuka honey that are being discovered, or re-discovered. Check some of the resources below for more.
Note that “pasteurizing” honey by heating it kills the hydrogen peroxide and any other active enzymes in it. Therefore, whether using Manuka or locally grown honey, use it raw.
WARNING: All honey, but especially raw honey, contains the spores of botulinus. While this is not a problem for adults, children under the age of one year may not have enough stomach acid to prevent these spores from developing into botulism, a deadly poison. For the same reason, I advise caution for children or adults who are on medications that suppress stomach acid using proton-pump inhibitor (although I have not seen it reported in the medical literature).
NOTE: when adding Manuka honey to saline sinus rinse, warm gently to dissolve – over-heating will kill useful enzymes and proteins.
Check the boogor doctor’s Amazon Store (right side of page) for a couple reasonably-priced (for Manuka) samples of Manuka honey and other resources for doing saline nasal rinses. The Sidr honey from Yemen is much more difficult to obtain, and there is much less scientific medical information available about Sidr honey than there is for Manuka honey.
To download this article as a free PDF file: http://wp.me/PR4iB-s7
Thanks for visiting, and see you here again. I appreciate your comments and questions. Keep ‘em coming. And please, “be excellent to one another.”
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Best of health and success to you and your families.
Until next time, remember … you can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your friend’s nose (unless you’re a boogor doctor :~D)
Resources:
http://bio.waikato.ac.nz/honey/special.shtml for what’s so special about Manuka honey.
Effectiveness of honey on Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms. Alandejani, et al. (2009). Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, vol. 141: 114-118.
Honey: nutritional and medicinal value. Khan, et al. (2007) International Journal of Clinical Practice, vol. 61(10): 1705-1707.
A Comparison Between Medical Grade Honey and Table Honeys in Relation to Antimicrobial Efficacy: http://bit.ly/bcv8lO (Online Journal, WOUNDS; publication date: Feb. 12, 2009)
Great review of honey’s history and medicinal uses: http://digg.com/u1QgOp
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/
http://manukahoneyproducts.com/
How bacteria build a “shield” against your immune system – BIOFILM: http://bit.ly/2mv2La
13 Responses to “Honey – Nature’s Antibiotic”
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16. Dec, 2011
[...] like Nasal Saline Rinses, Manuka honey, Probiotics and Xylitol, all proven to significantly reduce upper respiratory infections [...]
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Hello and thank you for stopping by "Ask the Boogor Doctor". This site is dedicated to helping you achieve optimal health for your children, following an integrative holistic approach to care of the Pediatric Airway: pediatric sinusitis, allergies, asthma, rhinitis, reflux, otitis, and all pediatric ENT.
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Lilla
10. Nov, 2010
My daughter was diagnosed with a sinus infection over two weeks ago. I have been doing the saline rinse with Manuka honey now since then, cut out dairy because of the mucus and I always give her veggies, fruits, raw food bars, etc. so she eats well. I guess she got it after a cold. I am also giving her herbal biotics and the zylitol spray in her nose. I had it cultured last wednesday and they said she has Moraxella Catrrhilis bacteria. I asked if I could continue with the rinses and probiotics (Bio-K), etc. to see if I can get rid of it myself. So I made another appt. for this coming Tuesday to get recultured. My question is why is it taking so long to go away and should I continue this and never take the antibiotics? What do you recommend?
Russell A. Faust, PhD, MD
14. Nov, 2010
Hi Lilla,
I am sorry to hear that your daughter is ill, but so glad to hear that you are doing all the right things. There will be times when we live well, do all the right things, but still become ill. She is fortunate to have a mother so attuned to striving for health, as opposed to treating “disease”. I hope that her pediatrician knows more about how her M.cat. was diagnosed, where the culture was taken, what her diet and other history are. Unless your little girl has symptoms – seems ill, has fevers, or any of the other symptoms of sinusitis in children – I would not re-culture her. Also: depending on where the culture was collected from, it may not be useful. For example, the bacteria in the nose are NOT the same as those that we find in the sinuses. That means that taking a culture from the nose is not reliable in treating sinusitis.
For symptoms of sinusitis in children, see my article on littlestomaks.com:
http://www.littlestomaks.com/2010/11/where-food-and-sinusitis-meetreflux/
My recommendation is to treat the patient, not the cultures, not their CT scans, or any other “abnormal” lab test.
Thanks again for visiting, and please keep us all posted on how things are going so that we can ALL learn,
RF
Paul
04. Dec, 2010
Hi, I have had sinus infections all through my life and I had surgery on my sinuses to correct a badly deviated septum and correct a few other small areas to improve drainage. It did wonders for me. If I do get a bought of sinusitis how long would you recommend doing the rinse with the Manuka honey for? A couple days, week? Thanks.
Russell A. Faust, PhD, MD
04. Dec, 2010
Hi Paul,
I don’t give specific medical advice without knowing you and the details of your medical history, and without a thorough exam. In a generic sense, most folks achieve optimal effects from the nasal saline rinse (+/- Manuka honey) within 4-5 days. If you have recurrent sinusitis problems or chronic rhinitis, daily or every-other-day nasal saline rinses can help maintain optimal sinus health. Be sure to check our “Dr. Hana’s” website for some great resources on nasal saline rinses, including videos demonstrating best methods. I personally use her system – NO financial connection – and it’s great!
Thanks for tuning in and especially for your thoughtful comment. Do give nasal saline rinses with Manuka a try. You will be surprised by how fast that eliminates sinusitis. Stay tuned for more every week. Tell your friends with kids.
RF
Lilla
05. Dec, 2010
Hi Dr. B and Paul. I thought I would post that after doing the rinse for 2 and half weeks and giving her a spoon of manuka daily along with 3 teaspoons of Bio-K (probiotics) her infection disappeared! I feel more confident as a mother to trust my own instincts! Manuka honey and Bio-K are both very powerful healers! I wish you quick healing:)
Russell A. Faust, PhD, MD
05. Dec, 2010
Hi Lilla!!
Thank you for sharing that! I agree – trust your instincts.
Best of health to you and Naia, and Happy Holidays.
RF
Marcy
13. Dec, 2010
Dr. Faust,
Is it likely that using honey in a sinus rinse would cause a reaction in someone with ragweed allergies?
Thanks!
Russell A. Faust, PhD, MD
17. Dec, 2010
Hi Marcy,
That’s a great question. Of all the people doing these rinses, many of them have ragweed allergies and they are not worse from the honey. There are some experts who speculate the ingestion of local raw honey (not the exotic Manuka or others honeys) are made from local pollen-bearing flowers, and that ingestion may act like sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). I have searched the medical literature and do not find any support for that. Furthermore, most honey bees make their honey from nectar from fragrant and sweet flowers – clover, orange blossoms apple blossoms, things like that – not from ragweed. So idea of ingesting local honey as immunotherapy may just be wishful thinking.
Now, there may be people out there who are allergic to bees. If they are allergic to bee proteins that are transferred during the honey making process, they may react to the honey. Again, it is difficult to find any support for this by searching the medical literature.
Thank you so much for visiting, and for taking the time to leave a comment and question! Please stay with us and return for more.
RF
Ali
26. Jan, 2012
Hi Russel,
Does sinus rinse with manuka honey also help person with fungal sinusitis? Waiting for your reply..
Thanks
Russell A. Faust, PhD, MD
26. Jan, 2012
Hi Ali,
I have not seen any clinical trial results on the use of Manuka honey for fungal sinusitis. However, there are many reports in the peer-reviewed medical and scientific literature on how Manuka honey is anti-fungal for many types of fungus.
We can expect more studies using Manuka added to nasal rinses for sinusitis conditions – fungal and bacterial.
Thanks for the question.
RF
Lilla
26. Jan, 2012
Hi everyone, you know what is amazing for sinus, throat and chest is Bee Propolis. This is what the bees use to protect their own hives from bacteria and viruses! You can buy the tincture at a health food store:)
Russell A. Faust, PhD, MD
26. Jan, 2012
Hi Lilla,
Thank you for that. I have heard that, but have not used it myself, and have yet to review the medical and scientific literature for research results.
Thank you for visiting, and for sharing!
RF