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 Healing Honey for Skin Care
Author: Stephen Reed
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Honey has been used throughout
the ages as a medicinal treatment for wounds and other topical
skin conditions. We don’t know just when early man discovered
the healing properties of honey, but evidence has been found
to indicate that honey was used as an antibacterial agent by
ancient Egyptians thousands of years before bacteria were discovered
to be the cause of infections.
One of our first written accounts
of using honey as a healing agent comes from Aristotle, who wrote
that light honey was a good salve for sore eyes and wounds. A
Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist named Pedanius Dioscorides,
who practiced in Rome around the time of Nero, traveled extensively
throughout the Greek and Roman empires in search of medicinal
substances. He is famous for writing a five volume book, De Materia
Medica, which is a forerunner to all modern pharmacopeias and
continues to this day to be one of the most influential books
on herbal remedies in history. In his writings, Dioscorides described
honey as being "good for all rotten and hollow ulcers".
Honey was still being used to
treat wounds up through World War II, but with the arrival of
penicillin and other Twentieth Century antibiotic drugs, the
natural antibacterial properties of honey have largely been overlooked.
Until recently. |
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Today we are entering another
age of enlightenment. We are enjoying a rebirth of natural remedies
and ingredients in response to the risks presented by questionable
chemical ingredients in products that include the food we eat,
the containers we use to package our food, and most recently
the cosmetics and skin care we regularly slather on our bodies.
Coupled with evidence that our
super drugs and soaps are actually increasing the risks to ourselves
and our children by stimulating the natural development of super-bugs
– bacteria that are becoming resistant to even the strongest
of our antibacterials – the shift to effective natural remedies
is becoming a stampede.
Honey has been found to inhibit
some 60 species of bacteria. It also exhibits an antifungal response
on some yeasts and species of Aspergillus and Penicillium, two
of the most common. Dr. Andrew Weil says in his November, 2006
newsletter Self Healing “Honey’s antibacterial properties,
due in part to its hydrogen peroxide content, help to quickly
clear an infection and prevent new ones from developing. Honey
stimulates the growth of skin tissue, reduces inflammation, and
minimizes scarring, and it has the added benefit of creating
a smoother surface between the wound and dressing. Since the
wound is less likely to stick to the bandage, removing it is
easier and less painful, and damage to the newly grown skin tissue
is avoided.”
“One recent review of 22
clinical trials concluded that honey typically shortened healing
time on many types of wounds and provided people with better
pain relief than antifungal creams or antibiotics (International
Journal of Lower Extremity Wounds, March 2006). In Bonn, Germany,
researchers found that a product called Medihoney (which is waiting
for FDA approval in the United States) can heal some wounds faster
than most antibiotics (Supportive Care in Cancer, January 2006).
Medihoney is made of different types of honey native to New Zealand
and Australia, including manuka honey, which has a particularly
strong antibacterial effect. Honey can also be a useful treatment
for people who have built up a tolerance to certain antibiotics.
(I know of no evidence that honey helps to heal wound when consumed
as a sweetener.)”
The study Dr. Weil refers to
included 22 trials involving 2,062 patients treated with honey,
as well as an additional 16 trials that were performed on experimental
animals. Honey was found to be beneficial as a wound dressing
in the following ways:
• Honey's antibacterial quality not only rapidly clears
existing infection, it protects wounds from additional infection
• Honey debrides wounds and removes malodor
• Honey's anti-inflammatory activity reduces edema and minimizes
scarring
• Honey stimulates growth of granulation and epithelial
tissues to speed healing
The review article for the study
was written by Dr. Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research
Unit at New Zealand's University of Waikato. Dr. Molan says "All
honey is antibacterial, because the bees add an enzyme that makes
hydrogen peroxide, but we still haven't managed to identify the
active components. All we know is (the honey) works on an extremely
broad spectrum."
Dr. Molan’s research has
shown that honey made from the flowers of the Manuka tree (Leptospermum
scoparium), a bushy tree native to New Zealand, has antibacterial
properties that are much higher than any other honeys’.
In fact, Dr. Molan estimates that active manuka honey could exhibit
healing properties up to 100 times more than other honeys.
Dr. Molan says "In all honeys,
there is, to different levels, hydrogen peroxide produced from
an enzyme that bees add to the nectar. In manuka honey, there's
something else besides the hydrogen peroxide. And there's nothing
like that ever been found anywhere else in the world. We know
it has a very broad spectrum of action. It works on bacteria,
fungi, protozoa. We haven't found anything it doesn't work on
among infectious organisms."
After nineteen years of research,
the “something else” Dr. Molan refers to remains unknown.
He has been unable to identify it, even while observing its presence
by comparing the healing properties of other honeys with manuka
honey. But he has given the unknown ingredient a name: unique
manuka factor, or UMF.
Dr. Molan says UMF manuka honey
can even handle antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. "Staphylococcus
aureas is the most common wound-infecting species of bacteria,
and that's the most sensitive to honey that we've found. And
that includes the antibiotic resistant strains - the MRSA - which
is just as sensitive to honey as any other staphylococcus aureas."
According to the University of
Waikato, there are four main components that explain the natural
antibacterial activity of honey.
1. Osmotic effect: The high sugar
content of honey means that there are very few water molecules
available making it difficult for micro-organisms to establish.
In fully ripened honey, no yeast species are able to grow and
the growth of many species of bacteria is completely inhibited.
2. Acidity: The pH of honey is characteristically quite low (3.2-4.5),
which is low enough to inhibit many animal pathogens and therefore
be a significant antibacterial factor.
3. Hydrogen Peroxide: When bees are turning nectar to honey they
secrete a glucose oxidase enzyme. One of the by products of the
resultant reaction is hydrogen peroxide. When honey is diluted
enzyme activity increases giving a 'slow release' antiseptic
at a level which is antibacterial but not tissue damaging.
4. Phytochemical Factors: The above factors cannot account for
all of the antibacterial activity observed. There have been several
chemicals with antibacterial activity isolated in honey (see
Waikato Honey Research Unit's website for additional information)
by various researchers. This may explain the high level of activity
seen in Manuka honey.
The University’s Honey Research
Unit adds “Honey has an antibacterial activity, due primarily
to hydrogen peroxide formed in a "slow-release" manner
by the enzyme glucose oxidase present in honey, which can vary
widely in potency. Some honeys are no more antibacterial than
sugar, while others can be diluted more than 100-fold and still
halt the growth of bacteria. The difference in potency of antibacterial
activity found among the different honeys is more than 100-fold.”
Active Manuka honey has the highest antibacterial activity ever
seen in a honey.
Apicare / Honey & Herbs Ltd
of Auckland, New Zealand, recognized the healing benefits of
applying manuka honey to the epidermis and created an entire
line of products that incorporate the antibacterial properties
to their best advantage. Apicare’s lines of lotions, balms,
creams, moisturizers, shampoos and conditioners all use Active
manuka honey as a base. Not surprisingly, the results are as
astonishing as the research would seem to predict.
2006 marks the first year that
Apicare’s Manuka honey personal care products are being
offered in the United States. Apicare.net is the exclusive distributor
for their entire line of products in the US – which comprises
eleven separate and distinct multi-product lines – all based
on Active manuka honey. Consumers can find Apicare products in
stores throughout the country and Apicare owner Pam Reade says,
“If your store doesn’t carry our products, just ask.
They will soon.”
Customers who are Internet savvy can purchase directly from the
one website in the US that sells at the retail level directly
to individuals – Vashon Organics. Senior Partner at Vashon
Organics, Desiree Nelson, says “The Apicare line is simply
incredible. We have never seen a product like this before –
a personal care line that can repair your skin while it soothes
and smoothes.”
Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com
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