The Manuka Bush, aka New Zealand Tea Tree, blooms for only a few short weeks each year. The honeybees work furiosly to gather the rare sweet nectar that eventually becomes the world's supply of therapeutic grade Manuka Honey. It takes 2,000,000 flowers to make just one pound of this rare and magical honey.
Why should you care?
All honey has a natural antimicrobial activity that is attributed to the hydrogen peroxide that is released by enzymes in the honey. This effect varies depending on the source of the pollen and the processing it undergoes.
Manuka Honey has the added benefit of UMF or Unique Manuka Factor. This powerful "something" gives manuka honey an antibacterial effect almost 100 times more powerful than other honeys. This is what makes it capable of killing bacteria such as Staph and MRSA that are resistant to even the strongest antibiotics.
The heart of this blog will be the facts, new discoveries, and promising treatments attributed to this miraculous honey. Remember that 2 million blossoms/pound figure we were talking about earlier? Less than 2% of THAT honey is certified by rigorous testing to qualify as medically active!
Active Manuka Honey is certified as 10 UMF, 15 UMF, 20 UMF....... The number indicates the honey's antimicrobial activity when compared to that of a standard phenol antiseptic.
Coming Next.....Has UMF been identified?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment