★★★★★
Manuka Honey
In response to your recent post of yesterday, I was interested in reading what you experienced with honey and your sinus condition. In New Zealand we are always told that Manuka honey is by far the best (!! ) but it commands such huge prices when exported overseas, that many of we locals cannot afford it, so use other (NZ) types, as you suggest.
One is supposed to use locally-sourced honey to gain the most benefit anyway!!
I have just realized that we ran out of our preferred one about three weeks ago (we only go to town to stock up on supplies once every three or four weeks or so) and so have resorted to a very tiny amount of brown, coffee sugar in my morning coffee instead.
Since doing this, my sinuses have played up and I surmise that the sugar-loving bacteria or micro plasma etc are loving the unusual sugar in my diet?
Co-incidentally, it is pollen season over here at the moment and I strongly suspect my olive tree as being the culprit. It doesn't help that we all live upside down in NZ I suppose!
I have been giving that tree some dark looks lately but it does screen us from the neighbour next door!
I started with an anti-histamine but then changed to a homeopathic and a netti pot rinse, using a saline solution, which was very helpful. Also my nose breathing exercises are useful.
I suspect I am acquiring more ailments since often surfing this site - bit like Readers' Digest Syndrome. What to do?
Cheers from Down Under
Michael
Manuka Honey
Raw Honey Sources
Raw Honey Sources
Some additional info - here is the simple way to check the natural honey: you need to drop honey on paper and set it on fire. Natural product does not burn unlike honey "boosted" with sugar syrup.
Raw Honey Sources
★★★★★
You never know where you might find a quality product. It pays to just take notice.
I used the honey today. My 7 year old ripped his toenail off in a bike accident and had pain and a wound.
After an overnight plantain poultice, I am using a drop of iodine plus a smear of honey on a bandage to promote healing and prevent infection.
~Mama to Many~
I really enjoy your sharing of your wisdom and knowledge.
I was wrapped up in the honey info,
Then your post caught me by surprise, and I'm laughing out loud because intended or not
its so true.
HisJewel
Honey Comparisons
The honey I purchased is "Bubba's Sweet Nectar" and it comes from Waynesboro, VA. Interesting, the 16 oz. jar of the clover honey says "Raw" and "Pure" but the 32 oz. jar only says "Pure". The 32 oz. jar of the wildflower says both. Wonder why...labels are the same size.
You are wise in choosing glass over plastic because I learned from Samuels' that the chemicals in plastic leach into whatever liquid is contained.
Fearing sepsis is why I got the honey. My temp. has always been on the low side since my head traumas so I just thought the brain injuries altered my chemistry. It was 96.5 for several days then dropped to 96.2.
The winters we ran out of wood I got down to 94...kinda scary but stayed under electric blanket and was not aware of sepsis symptoms until Patty Duke died from septic shock and I looked it up.
Anyway, I tried the wildflower honey one evening then had a cough about two hours later. The next morning at 1 am I awoke with a racing heart (more than in the past) and short of breath so I got up and drank about 1/2 tsp. turmeric in some warm water then chopped up a garlic clove and washed it down with a cup of warm water and the clover honey. Heart calmed down. We don't have a lot of wildflowers around the neighborhood but have lots of clover.
Several years ago, when we still had dogs, I'd frequently wake up...always at 3 am with a racing heart and short of breath. I felt like I was going to die if I didn't get outside so I'd get up and walk the dogs (I was very constipated). I looked up when most deaths occur and it was 3 am.
When I reported the racing heart and shortness of breath to the radiologist before a CT, he did not record those symptoms. Hence, my lack of faith with the medical profession. When I was in litigation and all records were exposed I observed how wrongly MD's can document things, I believe to cover themselves.
Honey Comparisons
Regarding which is better, clover or wildflower honey....
For taste, I prefer clover. It is lighter. But some say that the wildflower honey is preferred, especially if you can get it local because it can help with allergies since the bees are using pollen that is from plants that may cause allergies. (Kind of like vaccine theory or homeopathy theory.)
But the truth is, no beekeeper has complete control over where his bees get the nectar they use for making honey.
A 3rd generation honey guy brought his extractor from his home to ours to extract honey from our hives a few months ago. Truly fascinating. Some areas of the large combs were dark and others light. Because things flower at different times, so that changes the honey results and color. We just mixed it all together and it would be called "wildflower" though a good bit would be from tree flowers as well.
So here is my order of preference of important things to consider with honey.
Glass over plastic - at least one poster here at EC found that she had results when using honey in glass containers over plastic. For many reasons I prefer glass storage for things, though don't always do it.
Local versus not local - the closer your honey has been produced to you, the better it is supposed to be, especially if you are using it for allergies.
Raw versus not - you do want raw honey over pasteurized/filtered etc.
All that said, when my mother had bedsores the nurses were using cheap honey from a dollar type store and it was working better than anything else they did for the sores.
I think the best place to get honey is from a local farmer or farmer's market. These often come in glass jars. Some health food stores carry local honey.
I recently got some "local honey" at Costco. It came in a plastic container. It was produced in another state. Not exactly local. Not in glass. But I am using it to sweeten hot tea. (I like to save my home grown for medical needs since we don't have a ton of it yet. Raising bees is harder than I thought it would be. - no pun intended.)
So that is my 2 cents on honey. :)
~Mama to Many~
Honey Comparisons Manuka Honey
I quite like manuka honey as a treat but for me it's not crucial, so I took the decision to stop buying it. I find it difficult to believe that this one kind of honey in the whole world has exceptional qualities, and I'm now on a bit of a quest to see what else is out there. There are some lovely small businesses, selling stuff from the top of Greek mountains, from oak forests (very dark and comparatively less sugary tasting) not to mention Tasmania. With so much pressure on the manuka market, it would be great if Earth Clinic readers came up with other options.
Manuka Honey
But wait a minute, low and behold, what should crop up in to-day's MID-DAY HEADLINE news on our National Radio but that the Aussies have stolen our Honey!! Shock horror! How can this be? Seems they fancy that "Manuka" as a label would sell more honey than, say "Tea Tree Honey, Kangaroo Honey, Boomerang or Dodgery-Doo Honey".
Well, do I have news for them! "Manuka" is a Maori name for a New Zealand shrub and Manuka Honey ought to be sourced from Kiwi Land. No doubt our respective Prime Ministers will be scheduling talks as we speak, in order to formulate a non-aggression treaty? The Tasman Sea isn't wide enough for both of us.
Manuka Honey
Manuka Honey
Michael
★★★★★
Allergies
★★★★★
Honey's Health Benefits
Be weary of statements like "do not feed honey to newborns as there may be contamination of botulism, etc". That very source injects metallic poisons and unspeakable things into babies even before birth! Fact is, all bees would be dead as well as their queen, if they carried botulism, etc dirt with them. How ignorant! Spiritual scriptures record how thousands of years ago, babies were fed wild honey upon birth, and you know what? it is being done to this day in India. They are so informed with inherited wisdom so they know there are different honey bees with honey for specific needs and illnesses.
Honey in Ayurveda and Tibetan medicine is being used as a means to transport medicine deep into the body where it is needed. No, not for flavour but as a means to make herbs more effective. Furthermore honey , unheated, cures diabetes. The Samhitas which are collections of old medicals texts, say diabetics can have honey.
I set myself on research about this online a few years ago. What I found was hidden and only on a page two, about an engineer in the US, I believe, who upon retirement was rejected by the docs who diagnosed a very serious case of diabetes and proclaimed no hope. This engineer set himself to heal himself for an entire year, keeping a diary about his diet and food intake. Vegs were always followed by honey. After a year he was free of sugar imbalance and well. I would do the same regimen, and it is online, but as I am taking auto urine myself, which cures diabetes, have honey and cinnamon daily and no synthetic drugs, needles, etc. I am well. I hope this will clear doubts and disinformation that all of us have to encounter all the time these days.
Namaste, Om
Honey and Hydrogen Peroxide
It is great at killing anaerobic bacteria (bacteria which needs to have no oxygen). However, it tends to increase inflammation. It is a bit too rugged. So, don't use it every day. It should just be a thing which is used if you think anaerobic bacteria might be the problem (as a quick mouth swish when things were caught deep in your teeth for days and you now have a slight toothache - didn't floss right or didn't water pic on time).
The right way of using hydrogen peroxide is with the use of honey. Honey has hydrogen peroxide at about 1000th the dose of 3% hydrogen peroxide.
I have stopped using ointments when I get a cut. I just use one drop of honey. When it's REALLY BAD, I use my really expensive jar of "Kiwi Kosher Pareve Manuka Honey - Bio Active 5+"
It reduces inflammation. Unfortunately, over time, old remedies for treating wounds proved not very good. Sometimes the old method is the good method, but sometimes it is the bad method:
Mercurochrome had mercury in it and was banned. Codeine used in everything until people found that it was highly addictive.
Turpentine used to be used in many things until people started getting chemical pneumonia from gasping it into their lungs.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14621050
Gentian violet was oftentimes used... which creates big open sores in many people. I tried it one time, and that exact thing happened. Also turns you purple. The purple bear:
If one thing we are dealing with on this site is what is termed 'Mucocutaneous Candidiasis'... which is what really is the underlying cause of 'diaper dermatitis'... Here it shows that gentian violet can, "lead to irritation and ulceration".
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2819966/
And, a final mention about honey. Honey is a wonder. It is the only food which you can leave open on the table FOREVER without anything growing in it. Get any hints from that? No other food, including garlic, you can do that with. Garlic, even though they say it is antifungal, will grow fungus on it quite easily. Not so with honey.
In brief: "Honey has an antimicrobial activity that is effective against all types of bacteria and some fungi. It is fully effective against antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria (the so-called "superbugs") It is effective against bacteria in biofilms and prevents formation of biofilms. The antimicrobial activity is partly due to the high sugar content and the acidity of honey, but mostly to hydrogen peroxide formed by enzymic activity when honey is diluted.
Some honeys also have antibacterial activity due to non-peroxide components. Manuka honey can have a high level of this. Some honeys have as much as 100 times more antibacterial potency than others. There is much clinical evidence for honey clearing infection in wounds. Honey is effective only when in localised contact with bacteria, not after infection has penetrated into the blood-stream. The antimicrobial action of honey is also used for treating eye infections and has potential for treating nasal infections, gum disease, gastroenteritis, fungal infections of the skin, and mastitis in dairy cows and goats".
Eyes
Eyes
★★★★★
Allergies
Cleansers and Moisturizers
Cuts, Boils
★★★★★
After drying and washing the rather large wound, I simply slathered it with Manuka Honey and covered it with 2 of the biggest bandaids I could buy. It would slightly sting for a minute, but that was okay because I knew it was working. After that, I would forget it was even there.
The scrape was so big that it took 3 weeks to finally re-grow all the skin, but due to the Manuka, I never had to de-bride, never had any infections or redness; it was healing cleanly and beautifully. thanks to the Manuka I hardly even had scars!
But after the bandaids were removed, I must've touched my knee after the dog licked my hand or something, because then I noticed that some small boils were there.
I came to this site and tried the trusted and true remedies for boils, which included Manuka Honey. I ended up making a paste of turmeric, ACV and manuka honey and put this on my carbuncle (for there were many small boils now) - and voila, they were all gone within 3 hours! Yeah, you read that right. Unbelievable.
Now all that is left are two very small scars on a knee that had to re-grow all of its skin, with no mottling or jagged edges, just a plain ole knee. It was all due to this fantastic site that I came thru that so well. Thanks Earth Clinic!
Honey
★★★★★
Diabetic Ulcers
Honey Side Effects
Sty
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General Feedback
Royal Bee Jelly
★★★★★
So I called around to local beekeepers, and am trying to buy some fresh. It can be mailed on ice-- expensively, online-- but I just know I can find it locally, because there are lots of bees and blossoms here. It should fun to look at the bee boxes too!
I'm gonna do the same thing with seeking local leche, too. --T.
Eyes
★★★★★
I had 3 lots of various surgery and was on eye drops, steroids and antibiotics but still told that it wasn't great. Anyway just before one of my surgeries the anaesthetist insisted that I ask someone to go to the shops and buy me as much honey with royal jelly that they could get their hands on and eat as much of it a day as I could (on toast, in water etc). I did as he said as I had nothing to lose and some days even just squirted the honey straight into my mouth! I continued with the routine for a good few months.
Now over 3 years later my eyeball looks normal and with a strong prescription contact lens (as my lens was removed) I can see almost exactly as I did before!!
I'm not saying it was all down to the honey but if I had to go through the whole thing again I would certainly do exactly the same!
General Feedback
General Feedback
Cleansers and Moisturizers
Honey Side Effects
Cleansers and Moisturizers
★★★★★
Cleanser: mix 1/8 cup honey, 1/4 cup glycerin, and 1. 5 tsp castile soap(I love Dr. Bronner's Almond). Pour into a container that has been sterilized (boiled, vinegared, or bleached) and is airtight and you've made enough cleanser for a month for under a buck. Massage into your skin and then rinse with warm water. Skin is smooth, radiant, supple, and clean.
Moisturizer: mix 3 Tbs. Food grade veggie glycerin and 1 tsp. Honey. Store in an airtight and sterilized container. Massage into skin VERY sparingly; a little goes a long way. Feels a little weird at first, but your skin will look and feel AMAZING! And again you've made enough for more than a month for well under $1.
I have fallen in love with honey for my face. So much in fact that I give these concoctions as gifts to friends and family.
★★★★★
Acid Reflux
Went to work... Reluctantly... I also have a major lower lumbar spine issue by the way.. So I really felt like... Well you can imagine... I had to leave work early...
I came home, and sat at the computer, where I'm most comfortable... Not moving at all... My Honey calls on the phone and suggests I take a tablespoon of honey... I took at least 2 tablespoons as I just shot that little bear into my mouth so I'm not sure about the exact amount.
In a short while... 15 minutes maybe... I was feeling better... Not a hundred percent... but definitely better.
I believe taking a couple shots of Honey is probably a good thing to do... I certainly don't think it can hurt... I'm impressed... As I took a lot of over the counter stuff that didn't do jack... Oh... I even had those accupressure wrist bands... no luck...
pop a few pepcids, or prilosecs... Or whatever meds you have... And chase them down with the Honey... I'm thinking that the Honey is a nice soothing remedy until the meds kick in.
I hate getting old...
Good Luck With Your Ailments!
John B.
General Feedback
General Feedback
I still do this whenever I get a sore throat or cough and have had my boyfriend do it several times with beautiful results. Being able to sleep through the night with a bad cough is tough, but this definitely gave relief. Knowing what I know now about honey's antibacterial benefits and everything I'm sure honey with out the pepper would be effective also. But I continue to use the black pepper with my honey when called for by my body. When my throat is sore or I have a cough I almost crave the honey/black pepper mixture.
Acid Reflux
Honey Side Effects
General Feedback
Chicken Pox Blisters
Where to Buy: Mumbai
Chicken Pox Blisters
Diaper Rash
★★★★★
General Feedback
★☆☆☆☆
WARNING!
Eyes
Also, my eyes are grey/green with brown staining causing them to appear hazel in all but direct bright light. This brown staining is slightly fainter, which was why I had resolved to try honey in the eyes in the first place. Coming days should hopefully show whether or not the lightening of my irises shall continue, as this was my initial purpose.