Honey

May Help Gut, Others: One noted that honey in rat diets led to a 10-100 fold incr in lactobacillus in guts vs. sucrose. Two studies look at propolis and honey ingredient helping prevent colon cancer. Honey has flavonoids and anti-oxidant qualities although I did not find them quantified or compared. Used in alternative therapies for polyarthritis along with vinegar or bee stings.

Great for Burns and Wound Healing: Skin grafting was superior to honey dressings (99% vs 74%) in burn patients in randomized study. Burns 1999 Dec;25(8):729-31. Beekeepers can get a specific arthritis due to bee sitngs. Honey allergy, while rare, has been reported. Honey has anti-bacterial activity against staph aureus and pseudomonas for skin wounds. Am J Gastroenterol 1999 May;94(5):1200-2. Crude honey applied hourly in randomized study was clearly superior to povidone-iodine and alcohol on c-section or abd hyster wounds with much less wound dehiscence, shorter hosp stays, minimal scar formation, less antibiotics. Eur J Med Res 1999 Mar 26;4(3):126-30. Used for gangrene in Africa. Nine Israeli infants with large, open, infected wounds that failed to heal with 14 days of conventional treatment did well in 5 days with crude honey applied BID and wounds able to be closed after 21 days of honey. Acta Paediatr 1998 Apr;87(4):429-32. Honey did better in randomized study for burn patients than silver sulfadiazide. : Burns 1998 Mar;24(2):157-61. Used for leg ulcers. Boiled potato peel dressings definitely inferior to honey in randomized Indian study of 50 burn patients. Burns 1996 Sep;22(6):491-3. Honey dressings also much better than amniotic membrane. Burns 1994 Aug;20(4):331-3. Honey dressing much better than polyurethane film (OpStie) for burns in randomized study. Br J Plast Surg 1993 Jun;46(4):322-3. Honey superior topical Rx in patients getting oral antibiotics for scrotal gangrene in randomized study of 20 pt vs. group B underwent wound debridement, wound excision, secondary suturing, and in some cases scrotal plastic reconstruction. Surgery 1993 Feb;113(2):200-4. Honey dressings much better than silver sulfadiazine with faster healing, less pain, less scarring in study of 104 burn patients. Br J Surg 1991 Apr;78(4):497-8.

Honey & Yeast No Help to Runners: 16 long distance runners DB PC plasmolyzed yeast, malt, honey, & OJ vs placebo. No difference in immune system measures. Gmunder, Zurich, Br J Sports Med 6/90;24:103

Promoted for Heliobacter without Evidence: . Garlic and jalapeno peppers no effect in vivo on Heliobacter pylori tho bismuth marked inhib effect. Honey(Dig Dis Sci 1999 Mar;44(3):462-4), like the others, has been promoted with in vitro but no in vivo evidence.

Dark Honey Anti-Oxidants: UI researcher Nicki Engeseth, American Chem Society meeting 8/19/02, reports honey increases anti-oxidant levels in blood similar to fruits and vegetables in equal quantity, i.e., a mild protective effect. 25 men aged 18 - 68 over five weeks. They found drinking four tablespoons of honey mixed into a 16-ounce glass of water improved the antioxidant levels in their blood.

Honey for Colds: Honey with ginger favored in India for kids with colds. Honey debrides wounds.

Cases of Infant Botulism: Many cases of botulism in infants fed honey have been reported.

May Cause Caries: Dipping pacifiers in honey thought to cause dental caries. Adding honey to infant bottles incr caries as does breast feeding after 12 months. : Community Dent Health 1990 Dec;7(4):413-20. However, Anti-bacterial effect one hour after ingestion on salivary streptococcus mutans. Am J Dent 1996 Dec;9(6):236-9.

Honey Used for Senile Cataracts: Instillations of 25, 33, or 50% aqueous solutions of flower honey in combs administered for developing senile cortical cataracts. 1-2 three-month courses of honey into the conjunctival sac annually. The rest time the patients were administered three-month courses of vitamin drops or vicein. 108 patients (202 eyes) followed for 7 years on an average. Visual acuity of at least 0.1 was preserved in 95.5%, in 55.9% did not get worse, but only preserved 0.1 in 35.3 percent of the controls. Vestn Oftalmol 1990 Nov-Dec;106(6):59-62

Thomas E. Radecki, M.D., J.D.

modern-psychiatry.com