Health Effects of Honey

Scientists have revealed that honey has powerful anti-bacterial properties on at least sixty species of bacteria, and unlike antibiotics, which are often useless against certain types of bacteria, honey is non-toxic and has strong effects.^[6]

The composition of honey includes sugars such as glucose and fructose and also minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, iron and phosphate. Depending on the quality of the nectar and pollen, the vitamins contained in honey are B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3.^[12]

The pH of honey is commonly between 3.2 and 4.5.^[13] This relatively acidic pH level prevents the growth of many bacteria. The non-peroxide antibiotic activity is due to methylglyoxal (MGO) and an unidentified synergistic component. Most honeys contain very low levels of MGO, but manuka honey contains very high levels. The presence of the synergist in manuka honey more than doubles MGO antibacterial activity.^[14] Honey is primarily a saturated mixture of two monosaccharides. This mixture has a low water activity. Most of the water molecules are associated with the sugars and few remain available for microorganisms, so it is a poor environment for their growth. If water is mixed with honey, it loses its low water activity, and therefore, no longer possesses this antimicrobial property. Hydrogen peroxide is formed in a slow-release manner by the enzyme glucose oxidase present in honey. It becomes active only when honey is diluted, requires oxygen to be available for the reaction, thus it may not work under wound dressings, in wound cavities or in the gut. It is active only when the acidity of honey is neutralised by body fluids, it can be destroyed by the protein-digesting enzymes present in wound fluids, and is destroyed when honey is exposed to heat and light.^[14] Honey chelates and deactivates free iron, which would otherwise catalyse the formation of oxygen free radicals from hydrogen peroxide, leading to inflammation. Also, the antioxidant constituents in honey help clean up oxygen free radicals.^[15]

C₆H₁₂O₆ + H₂O + O₂ → C₆H₁₂O₇ + H₂O₂ (glucose oxidase reaction)

When honey is used topically, as, for example, a wound dressing, hydrogen peroxide is produced by dilution of the honey with body fluids. As a result, hydrogen peroxide is released slowly and acts as an antiseptic.

Benefits

The benefits of honey have been extolled since ancient times by many religious faiths and recorded in ancient scriptures. They can be categorised as nutritional or medicinal.^[2]

Nutritional

Honey contains invert sugar that has the quality of providing instant energy when consumed. It is also a heart stimulant and a useful food supplement. As a food beverage, it was widely used from the times of "the Bible (both the Old and New Testaments), the Talmud, the Quran, the sacred books of India, China, Persia and Egypt." In the Bible, Salomon advocates "My son, eat thou honey, for it is good." According to the Bible, Jonathan, the son of Saul, "had his eyes enlightened with the aid of honey, after which he had a better understanding of the people than his father had. While Jonathan was passing through the woods during the war against the Philistines, he found honey dripping on the ground; he plunged his spear into it, and ate enough to restore his lost strength. He was, however, sentenced to death because he ate honey on a day of abstinence".^[2]

Medicinal

Medicinal benefits are broadly categorised under the following headings.

Wounds

Topical honey has been used successfully in a treatment of diabetic ulcers when the patient cannot use topical antibiotics.^[16] A review in the Cochrane Library suggests that honey could reduce the time it takes for a burn to heal – up to four days sooner in some cases. The review included 19 studies with 2,554 participants. Although the honey treatment healed moderate burns faster than traditional dressings did, the author recommends viewing the findings with caution, since a single researcher performed all of the burn studies.^[17] One New Zealand researcher says a particular type of honey (Manuka honey) may be useful in treating MRSA infections.^[18] Antibacterial properties of honey are the result of the low water activity causing osmosis, hydrogen peroxide effect,^[19] high acidity,^[13] and the antibacterial activity of methylglyoxal.^[14] Some studies suggest that the topical use of honey may reduce odours, swelling, and scarring when used to treat wounds; it may also prevent the dressing from sticking to the healing wound.^[13] Wound gels that contain antibacterial raw honey and have regulatory approval for wound care are now available to help medicine in the battle against drug resistant strains of bacteria MRSA. As an antimicrobial agent honey may have the potential for treating a variety of ailments.^[11]

Allergies

It is also stated to cure some allergies, particularly localized honey to an area could help minimize seasonal allergies as bees feed on pollen from local plants which eventually finds its way to form honey.^[12] Its use for centuries is as a treatment for sore throats and coughs, and according to recent research, may in fact be as effective as many common cough medicines.^[20] Unfiltered, pasteurised honey is widely believed to alleviate allergies, though neither commercially filtered nor raw honey was shown to be more effective than placebo in a controlled study of 36 participants with ocular allergies.^[21] Nearly 1 in 3 of the volunteers dropped out of the study because they could not tolerate eating one tablespoon of honey every day due to the overly sweet taste.^[22] The official conclusion: "This study does not confirm the widely held belief that honey relieves the symptoms of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis." A more recent study has shown pollen collected by bees to exert an anti allergenic effect, mediated by an inhibition of IgE immunoglobulin binding to mast cells. This inhibited mast cell degranulation and thus reduced allergic reaction.^[23] The risk of experiencing anaphylaxis as an immune system reaction may outweigh any potential allergy relief.^[22]

Other ailments

Antioxidants in honey have even been implicated in reducing damage to the colon in colitis in a study involving administering honey enemas to rats.^[24] Honey appears to be effective in killing drug-resistant biofilms which are implicated in chronic rhinosinusitis.^[25] In 2005, researchers at Purdue University revealed that honey was a catalyst to calcium absorption in animals.^[26]

Conditioning

Honey is used for skin conditioning using a moisturizing mask and can reduce facial redness and acne. It is also used for conditioning of hair. It is often mixed with olive oil or castor oil for both purposes.^[12]

^{Source : http://en.wikipedia.org}