Manuka Honey Is on Sale! (And It's Good Stuff)

**I am not a doctor or any other kind of medical, health, or nutritional specialist. Before using anything for health purposes, make sure to check with your healthcare providers, do your own research, and use every bit of your own common sense before following suggestions by anyone like me!**

I've posted about Manuka honey and Manuka oil before. Well, Manuka honey is on sale over at Steens.

Manuka honey lives up to - and beyond - every bit of the hype. I can personally attest to that. I have stopped cold sores in their tracks by applying a dab of Manuka to my lip the minute I feel the first warning itch. I have put Manuka on burns and cuts. I have used it in warm tea for a sore throat. It works.

Here's the thing, you have to be careful about from whom and where you buy Manuka. There are a lot of scam sellers with products rated differently (to make you think the honey is more effective than it may actually be) or mislabeled. This is why there is an actual grading system for Manuka and all kinds of rules about how products have to be labeled. There are licenses issued to manufacturers and exporters. True Manuka sellers take this stuff seriously.  Check this link for in-detail information.

The brand I trust most of all is Steens. After looking at lots of different brands and trying some, I decided that Steens is the best. In my opinion. I actually am hesitant to use other brands now.

Here is the thing: it's not cheap. If you do find cheaply priced Manuka, make sure you check that it's legit because it is most likely an imposter.

Buying a good quality Manuka is not like buying "regular" honey. You can get the lower UMF varieties at really affordable prices. Some people use those for daily dietary needs. The higher UMF though is for stronger medicinal needs. I am fortunate enough that the jar I have ($24.00/12oz/$2.24 per ounce) has lasted me since April 2018 and I still have some left to use. Also, my jar is labeled as "good" until 2022. Some people have money enough to use their Manuka on their skin and in their hair for beauty purposes. I only use it for medicinal purposes - mainly fatigue - and for a variety of other healing uses (cold sores, throat, psoriasis, burns, etc.) and I have about... well, I'm bad at estimating so let's take a look:

There's a good
5 or 6 tablespoons left.

So you can understand why I got so excited when I got an email this morning showing this:

50% off? 50??? Of the 25+ UMF honey? 

Oh. My. Joy. I actually felt lottery-winner-giddy for a moment. In my head, I was rearranging my budget and scratching things like butter and paper towels off my grocery list. I mean, I can go for a while without butter and hand-drying paper, right?  But then, I saw this part of the email:

Rolls Royce on sale. Must go now!

I'm sure everyone in a 5-mile radius could hear my heart dropping and my smile hitting the floor.

Okay, so I still can in no way afford the higher UMF Manuka, but...  I normally use the 10+ variety and it was also in the sale. At a price I could afford without dropping 10 things from my grocery budget.

Even better, I could actually afford to go a little higher and get the 15+ UMF for the first time ever - without having to break into Ft. Knox.

Listen, for about 5 minutes, I considered calling my siblings to ask if they wanted to chip in on a jar of the 25+ UMF. That might sound crazy to some of you, but I really considered this in-family Go Fund Me route. That's how much I believe in the natural healing properties of this honey.

If you think I am being dramatic, just know that I have used this honey in a tea during some of my worst fatigue. I didn't jump up out of bed or off the couch like Grandpa in Willy Wonka, but I did start feeling better sooner than when I don't use the honey. 

The fatigue relief was a good indicator that the honey works, but I got actual visible no-fooling proof. The first time I got a visible indicator of the healing power of Manuka was when... Okay, this is embarrassing but... From the time I was about 19 or 20, I started to get the occasional cold sore on my lip. I don't know where the heck I picked that nastiness up from but there it is. For years, I suffered from a big old, festering sore spot on my lip that would last about a week before it began to heal. Even the healing was nasty. I tried everything but Abreva was the only thing that worked. I had to catch the sore right when I felt the first tingle of an itch. If I slept through or missed the itch right away, the Abreva would help the sore heal faster but didn't stop it from forming. I'd get a nasty blister that would go away in a couple of days instead of going full-blown, wishing-for-a-pandemic-so-I-could-wear-a-mask nasty.

When I use the Manuka, it stops anything developing past the itch. If I miss the itch, I can dab some Manuka on the first little blister, and not only does it not get any worse, but it starts to heal right away. I have not had a visible cold sore since I started treating the initial signs with Manuka. I have not had a cold sore since using Manuka. Not one. I've caught a blister in the morning when I wake up, applied Manuka, and by the time the day is out, no more itch, no more blister - nothing. I now keep a couple of Manuka in my purse. That way I can use it on my mouth or have some on hand for tea if I am out and start getting worn out or get a throat ache.

plain for tea & cold sores

with shea for daily lip balm

I can absolutely promise you that I have not bought a tube of Abreva ever since I started using Manuka for cold sores. 

So, yeah, Manuka is not cheap but neither is a single tube of Abreva. Back when I started buying it - maybe 8 years ago, it was around $12-$15 a tube, depending on where I bought it. I just checked on Amazon for a price:

That $17.20 price is for a .07 ounce tube. Amazon calculates this out to be $286.51 per ounce. So, basically just about 300 dollars an ounce for something that can only be used in one way.

So, I wouldn't really mind asking my family for help getting a $140 jar of Manuka that would last me for a few years. I sure don't mind going without extra bread or butter for a couple of weeks so that I can buy the 25- or 30-dollar jar. After all, I used to buy Abreva that I could use only for one thing. 

Anyway, I really wanted to tell anyone interested in the sale and to yak once more about how amazing I think Manuka honey is. 

By the way, the oil is great for using on my psoriasis but I have to dilute it down a lot. It's very powerful - strong-scented and too much to use full-strength on the skin. It's also pricey and I paid around $15 for my last 10ml bottle. Of course, you only have to use the tiniest drop ever mixed with some carrier oil or grease to use on the skin - as a matter of fact, any more than the tiniest drop is too strong for my skin. But I have to choose between honey or oil and the honey is more versatile.

Peace

--Free

P.S.:

Because I rarely finish typing a post on the day I start one, I have already received the Manuka UMF 15+ so... Here it is.

7.9oz for $35 ($4.06 per ounce)

I want to point out that I noticed that the higher the UMF, the darker the honey. When I checked online, I learned that this is because there are more of certain compounds in the higher UMF-rated honey. Interesting, yes? 

Anyway. I ended up going to the Steens storefront on Amazon because the price was around $35 and no shipping with Prime. The sale is still on at the Steens site as of the time of this post, but I am not sure how long it will last. 

**FOLLOW UP** Honey as a Healing Agent

It's not often that I get to come back and give details of dramatic results about products I've reviewed. It's an awesome feeling.

Back in April, I was posting about the different types of honey. My main interest was in the great taste and the natural healing powers of the different varieties. I've been using honey for a long time - adding it to my beverages and cereals, and just taking a little bit by the spoonful when I'm not feeling well. Honey is a great throat soother and, because of the sarcoidosis, I tend to cough. Sometimes, I cough so much that I get hoarse, and all my life I've been prone to laryngitis. Honey has become a regular part of my natural medicine cabinet.

In the past several weeks, I've broken out with a rash. It started like a minor dry-skin problem but it was isolated to small sections on both ankles and in minute patches on my palms and fingers. My hands healed rapidly and the rash never even really developed past the minor stage. I suspected I was suffering from a lack of iodine and, since I have some J. Crowe's, I took a few drops every day. The dry spots on my hands healed up, but my ankles got worse. I stopped taking the iodine and contacted my doctor. It's possible that my meds (chemo and an infusion treatment) may be the cause, so I have an appointment coming up to check on that. In the meantime, I tried using a hydro-cortisone cream. Moisture is not my problem, though, and the cream wasn't helping much.

I know that doctors must hate patients who go all renegade with their own healthcare and, because I trust my specialist more than he will ever know, I usually don't do anything without checking with him first. That rash was driving my nuts though! It is dry and ugly and it was starting to itch. Of course, you know me...

I woke up last night because the rash was feeling itchy. I went straight to my natural medicine shelf. I still don't have any of the whole manuka honey, but I do have an antioxidant honey blend that has some manuka in it. ----->>>>>>>>>>

















This is what the rash looked like yesterday (and this doesn't even show how scaly and dry it was!)

This is how I dressed it after applying a good dollop of honey with a Q tip:

This is what the rash looked like once I washed off the honey with a warm wet towel:

To be fair, the lighting and color from the camera seems better, but the difference really is this startling.  Best of all, the itch is gone. I am probably never going to be able to afford a decent amount of Manuka honey, but that might be all right. I'm hearing more and more about Scottish heather honey. Because the price is affordable ($17/12-oz jar), I've ordered some from Amazon using my saved up reward points. Another bonus: a high iron content in the heather honey.

For now, I'm just excited about how the honey blend I used has helped with this rash. I can't wait to tell my doctor. Well, I can kind of wait because I know he'll probably give me one of those looks!

You have to admit that this is pretty impressive. It proves to me what I've heard for years - from my mother and all those old ladies from my youth. Honey can be a natural healing agent.

Like I said, it's not often that I can come follow up with such dramatic results, but honey really, truly did do the trick for me. I still need to see what caused this, but I'm hoping that, until I see the doc, the honey continues soothing the itch and moisturizing the dry patches.

I'm not recommending that anyone substitute honey for medical care - I'm certainly not doing so. I just wanted to share my personal experience in this one instance. By the way, I did double check some references once more before I actually applied the honey to the rash on my foot. I found some sources that back up what my mama taught me about honey and healing:

• This, from a wound care journal, about using honey in dressing wounds, and
• an overview of honey uses from Web MD (yeah, yeah, yeah...).
• Some background about the use of honey in healing.
• Here is more objective (and scholarly) info on the subject from the NIH Library of Medicine.

Peace
--Free