The Unique Manuka factor
Honey has for a long time been know as a health food, most honey contains a naturally occurring agent but this can be easily destroyed when the honey is exposed to heat and light, so eating honey straight from the hive is best, another brilliant use it if you eat honey from your own region containing local pollen can help reduce the symptoms of hay fever
Manuka honey is different from other honey in that it contains an extra, naturally occurring active ingredient that doesn’t lose its goodness or its health giving properties this special quality is known as UMF Unique Manuka Factor and the higher the number the better the health benefits it gives, 10 or higher is reckoned to be the number to aim for.
The Anti-viral and anti-bacterial actions can be very useful with colds and sore throats. So make sure you have a jar of it along with your other medicines Manuka Honey is one of the monofloral types of honey; this is a type of honey from the nectar of mainly one plant species
No Guarantee it is from the Appalachian sourwood
There is no guarantee that the honey you eat is totally from one plant but some are purer than others because of the environment the bees are kept in. Orange blossom honey, Appalachian sourwood honey, and Manuka honey are unique because there may be little else in bloom at the time
Bee-keepers often plan where to keep their bees so as to reduce the risk of bees using other plants even removing blooms of other trees to reduce the choice for the bees The Manuka tree that the bees collect and pollinate from is indigenous to New Zealand and south-east Australia in an area where little or no other trees or plants are found.
A Waterless environment and glucose oxidase
But what does it do, exactly? What makes it distinct from other honey? Well apart from its very distinctive taste, In New Zealand, it has long been used in treating wounds, now, the NHS in Britain is doing the same, the high sugar content creates a waterless environment, it also contains an enzyme called glucose oxidase this acts as a natural preservative and an antimicrobial barrier, so along with its Anti-viral and Anti-bacterial properties bacteria’s on the wound are unable to survive
The native Maoris of New Zealand have been using Manuka as a medicinal plant making a drink from its leaves to reduce fevers and colds, they would also crush the leaves and use the oil extracted from it as an antiseptic, long before we cottoned to it
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