Health benefits of honey

Health benefits of honey

Modern science is finding that many of the historical claims that honey can be used in medicine may indeed be true. In the Bible (Old Testament), King Solomon said "My son, eat thou honey, for it is good", and there are a number of reasons why it may be good.

Acid reflux

Professor Mahayanist V Math, from MGM Medical College, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai, India, explained in the BMJ (British Medical Journal) that, as it is 125.9 more viscous than distilled water at 37 celsius (body temperature), honey may be helpful in preventing GERD(Gastroesophageal reflux).³

Infantile gastroenteritis

E. Haffejee and A. Moosa reported in the BMJ on a clinical study in which they used honey in oral rehydration solution in children and infants with gastroenteritis. Their aim was twofold:

• Determine whether honey might affect the duration of acute diarrhea
• Evaluate honey as a glucose substitute in oral rehydration

They found that honey shortens the duration of bacterial diarrhea in infants and young children.⁴ They added that honey does not prolong non-bacterial diarrhea duration, and "may safely be used as a substitute for glucose in oral rehydration solution containing electrolytes."

Healing wounds and burns

There have been some cases in which people have reported positive effects of honey in treating wounds. Hurlburt, a borderline diabetic, with recurring cellulitis and staph infections tried taking antibiotics for months, however, they failed to alleviate the symptoms. Hulburt's physician, Jennifer Eddy of UW Health's Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic, suggested that she should try topically applying honey. Soon after applying the honey she began to feel better.

Hulburt said that she remembers thinking "holy mackerel-what a difference. It's a lot better than having to put oral antibiotics into your system."

A review published in The Cochran e Library indicated that honey may be able to help heal burns, the lead author of the study said that "topical honey is cheaper than other interventions, notably oral antibiotics, which are often used and may have other deleterious side effects."

However, it should be stressed that there is a lack of evidence to fully support this claim. In fact, a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases concluded that applying medical grade honey to wounds of patients has no advantage over normal antibiotic among patients undergoing dialysis.

Honey for treating allergies

There is some research to suggest that honey may be useful in minimizing seasonal allergies.The Guardian reported that honey even 'beats cough medicine' at alleviating and reducing the frequency of cough.

One placebo-controlled study which included 36 people with ocular allergies, found that participants responded better to treatment with honey compared to placebo. However, a third of them reported that eating a tablespoon of honey every day was hard to tolerate due to its overly sweet taste.