What is Manuka Honey?

Manuka Honey is a special type of honey originally found in New Zealand. It has recently become extremely famous and is being touted as a superfood because of its additional healing power. Unlike ordinary honey, Manuka honey is made from the nectar of only one type of flower – flowers of Manuka bush which is found in New Zealand. This is how Manuka Honey gets its name.

Manuka Honey became popular when there was an outbreak of MRSA infections which showed resistant to all conventional anti-biotics used to treat infections. MRSA infections which are life threatening in nature and can be extremely painful were successfully treated by UMF Manuka Honey.

Are all Manuka Honey considered superfoods?

There are two types of Manuka Honey:

Ordinary Manuka Honey: This is like any other table honey. It owes its antibacterial properties to the presence of Hydrogen Peroxide in it. Ordinary Manuka honey benefits are same as those of as those of other honey varieties. Read about health benefits of honey.

UMF Manuka Honey: Some varieties of Manuka Honey contain additional ingredients which are responsible for its high potency and extreme healing power. The presence of this special ingredient is known as ‘Unique Manuka Factor’ or simply ‘UMF’. The extent of presence of this special ingredient is denoted by the UMF label and a number which indicates the strength of its anti-bacterial property e.g. UMF 10, UMF 16, UMF 20, etc.

Which Manuka Honey should you buy?

If you are buying Manuka Honey for its unique therapeutic properties, make sure you buy the right product.   Only ten percent of all Manuka Honey available in the market is supposed to have the special healing power for which it is so famous. Only when the Manuka Honey contains a threshold level of anti-bacterial activity, will it be permitted to use the ‘UMF’ mark, which is now a registered trademark. So look for the UMF label on the jar before you end up buying ordinary Manuka honey at premium prices. Also, make sure the UMF rating mentioned on the label is more than 10, which would appear as ‘UMF 10’ on the label. Genuine UMF Manuka Honey would have been packaged in New Zealand and now where else. So beware of someone trying to sell you UMF Manuka Honey which is made in your local country.

What are additional health benefits of Manuka Honey over ordinary honey?

As such ordinary honey is a powerful food supplement and there are several health benefits of honey. (Read the articles on home remedies for weight loss using honey and home remedies for weight loss using honey and cinnamon.) The anti-bacterial property of honey which makes it an ingredient of many home remedies is due to the presence of hydrogen peroxide in it. In addition of hydrogen peroxide, Manuka honey contains additional anti-bacterial properties commonly known as the ‘Unique Manuka Factor (UMF)’. The factor raises the potency of honey to such an extent that no bacteria has been found to exhibit resistance to Manuka Honey, making it the most effective anti-bacterial ingredient known till date. Experts have said that Manuka Honey when applied to an infection creates a waterless micro-environment in the area due to the presence of high sugar content. This waterless environment does not allow bacteria to multiply or even survive.

Is there scientific evidence to prove health benefits of Manuka Honey?

Several research studies have been conducted by independent research agencies which prove the efficacy of UMF Manuka Honey. The first of such studies was conducted by the Dr. Peter Molan, Honey Research Unit, University of Waikato  who conducted extensive research on the special healing properties of UMF Manuka Honey.  Another piece of important research was done by German researcher Professor Thomas Henle, Head of the Institute of Food Chemistry at the Technical University of Dresden, who concluded that it is methylglyoxal or MGO which is responsible for anti-bacterial properties of UMF Manuka Honey.

Methylglyoxal or MGO can be found in ordinary honey as well, however the concentration is much lower, in the range 1-10 mg per Kg. UMF Manuka Honey on the other hand can contain MGO between 100 to 1000 mg per Kg. It is this higher concentration of methylglyoxal that raises its germ fighting abilities. When buying UMF Manuka Honey for its therapeutic properties, always buy a product with MGO level greater than 400 mg per Kg.