Speaking of Manuka Honey (There Are Alternatives)

NOTE: Forgive any disjointedness in this post. I had to have help finding and piecing together the information. My brain is worn OUT!

Yes, I did post very recently about the wonders of Manuka honey. It's some amazing stuff. However, I realize I haven't talked as much about alternatives to Manuka. It's not the only honey with superb and varied benefits. When I realized that there were other types of honey that claim to help with various health and beauty goals, I thought I would start looking into some of them. I'll probably have to look into alternatives since Manuka is so far out of my budget.

Medical Grade Honey Is a Thing

To start off, I have to admit that I heard about some alternatives to Manuka a while back. The thing about Manuka is the grading system. The MGO or UMF numbers make it easy to tell what "strength" of Manuka you are getting - or even whether it's authentic. What I did not know about is the term "medical (or medicinal) grade honey". Huh. Who among you did know?

The online Free Dictionary defines "medicinal-grade honey" MGH using Manuka as a standard and actually redirects to "Manuka Honey" for the definition:

Meliponini bee

"A medicinal grade honey applied topically to treat decubitus ulcers or prepare wound beds for skin grafts

Application When compared to standard hydrogel therapy, venous leg ulcers dressed with manuka honey have less slough, better healing and a lower incidence of infection." 

Now, when I try to look around online for more information, I mostly see a lot of scholarly articles that a) I wouldn't understand, and b) I won't pay to read in their entirety. I'm not that nosy.

What I did find when looking for more information on MGH, is that it's also referred to as "Active Leptospermum honey" (ALH). Leptospermum is basically "any of various shrubs or trees of the genus Leptospermum, of the myrtle family, native to Australia and adjacent areas and often cultivated as ornamentals in milder climates." Well, there you go. Leptospermum = Manuka.

So... Manuka is the most referenced of medical-grade honey but it's not the only honey that has medical applications. Right? Right. I think.

Oh boy. Can you see me peeking down this rabbit hole here?

Because I am genuinely interested in being healthier without having to add more artificial concoctions and lab-created prescriptions to my medicine cabinet, I kept going. My brain hurt so bad that at one point, I had to have a neighbor come over and help me. She's a former teacher and loves digging into stuff like this, thank goodness. Also, she never makes me feel self-conscious about my limitations, bless her. She told me that she misses digging into information like this and that it helps "exercise her little gray cells". (Did I mention that we are both fans of Hercule Poirot stories?)

So.

The Healing Part - MGO

Manuka bush

According to what Teach and I read in a couple of places, the healing part of Manuka comes from hydrogen peroxide (that makes sense) and methylglyoxal - or MGO. Scottish Heather Honey has the peroxide but not the MGO. Unlike MGO, the peroxide properties are not as stable against heat, light, and bodily fluids. So Manuka wins the battle there. Remember that Manuka is often labeled by the amount of UMF or MGO present.

MGO is what gives Manuka its particular antibacterial properties. Before that being discovered by some guy (sorry, we took great notes but lost the source page), cocoa and coffee were the only foods shown to have MGO in any significant amounts - and they have nowhere near the amount or level of MGO as in Manuka. 

So...Alternatives to Manuka?

1. Scottish Heather Honey - we see why it's not as powerful as Manuka.

2. Irish Honey - This one seems to be highly antioxidant (because of the "high phenolic content", but I don't see any mention of it having the MGO. Teach did find a source comparing Irish honey to Manuka. This is another source talking up Irish honey.

4.  Meliponini Bee Honey (aka: Stingless Bee Honey) - This is the one I am most excited about because of claims that it can help with eye problems and tooth and gum issues. I am going to do a separate post on this honey at a later time.

And now for a honey that might hold a candle against Manuka:

4. Tualang Honey - We saw more than one article or medical journal citing Tualang as being in some ways more effective than Manuka. WHAT? Yes, ma'am.

Let's Talk About Tualang Honey

This NCBI article we found went into a lot of detail comparing Manuka and Tualang honey. I'm taking Teach's word for it (she really got into reading all the scientific details!) and just say that Tualang can give Manuka a hard run for its money. The information we found was interesting and persuasive enough that I will be pricing Tualang before I spend any more on Manuka. Teach got really excited when looking at the different effects Tualang and Manuka had on certain types of wounds, etc. She told me it's definitely worth at least trying the Tualang and I do trust her judgment here. (And I have to give this other link because I lost track of which NCBI article Teach read...)

Another Honey to Consider

I found another type of honey to check into when I have time. Teach was gone when I found these so I'm not going to deal with it right now. It's called Kelulut honey and I saw somewhere (don't ask where) that it's close to Manuka as far as being medicinal. I did find one page to check out and it lists some information and benefits of Kelulut.

For now, I have a serious headache, no joke, and will have to do the separate posts on Tualang, Meliponini, and Kelulut honey later. Teach has offered to come back and help me again. Sick puppy, she loved doing all this research! LOL

Peace

--Free