Honey Health Benefits

Since prehistoric times, traditional healers used honey for a wide variety of medicinal purposes. A growing body of modern research confirms their wisdom. Honey is even making inroads into mainstream clinical practice, especially for wound healing.

How Does Honey Heal?

Honey has strong bactericidal properties, doesn't stick to healing tissue like bandages, doesn't cause allergic reactions, helps prevent scarring, and removes debris from wounds. Bacteria have shown no resistance to its antibiotic properties. Researchers say it shows promise for treating MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant infections.

Although they’ve discovered many of honey’s healing properties and compounds, scientists and say they’ve only begun to understand the whats, hows, and whys of this complex natural substance.

For one thing, it would be better to characterize honey as “honeys.” Each honey has a distinct constituent profile, depending on its geography and the flowers the bees visited to collect nectar. Although all honeys tested have shown strong healing potential, some honeys are better than others for treating a given condition.

Most of the so-called “medical-grade” or “medicinal” honeys on the market are called "manuka" honeys. Manuka honeys contain unusually high levels of antibacterial activity for reasons only partly understood.

It was once thought that pasteurizing removed some of the nutrients from honey, but this is not true. Both pasteurized and unpasteurized ("raw") honey contain the same nutrients (assuming that they come from the same source).

How Honey Heals

Note: Before using honey, see a doctor first for puncture wounds (you may need your tetanus shot updated), deep wounds (may need stitches), badly infected wounds, and hard-to-heal wounds. During your visit, ask about using medicinal honey for treating these and other wounds.

1. For treating a cut or wound, including hard-to-heal or infected wounds, clean and pat dry the injured area, wash your hands well, and apply raw honey directly to the wound. You could also soak a strip of sterile gauze in honey or purchase bandages already impregnated with medicinal honey. Apply a sterile, waterproof tape to seal the wound. If the wound oozes, change the dressing periodically. Once it’s started to dry out, you can leave the dressing on for the whole day.
2. For a sore throat or sores in your mouth, swirl a teaspoon or so of raw honey around in your mouth several times a day.
3. For effective cough suppression, sip honey with lemon juice, or just sip a spoonful of raw honey as needed
4. For occasional mild heartburn or stomach upsets, sip a spoonful of raw honey from time to time!
5. For burns, use medical-grade honey as directed above for cuts and other wounds. The honey may sting; if the pain continues or becomes stronger, discontinue the honey treatment. Visit a doctor first if your burn covers a large area or has resulted in charred skin.
6. For diaper rash, combine warm olive oil, beeswax, and honey (1:1:1) and spread it over the area.

Caution: Don’t feed honey to infants less than a year old; some experts suggest withholding honey until four years old. Honey may contain botulinum spores the young child’s digestive system isn't mature enough to destroy. External honey applications, e.g. for diaper rash or wounds, don’t carry this risk.

Which Kind of Honey to Buy

Most honeys on supermarket shelves have likely been pasteurized, heated, and/or otherwise processed, which destroys some or most of their beneficial properties. Some “honeys” are also adulterated with other forms of sugar.

For healing purposes, look for “raw” (unheated, unpasteurized, unprocessed) honey, ideally one whose source you can vouch for such as a local beekeeper or a one of the several brands of commercial medical-grade honey.

Medical honey, usually a Manuka honey, is available online or in speciality stores in jars, or in honey-impregnated dressings, creams, gels, and  ointments. For local honeys, experts suggest the darker the better.

See MORE about honey natural remedies.

Interested in making your own honey? See what's involved in raising bees!