When I was on my high school swim team I used to drink honey right out of a squeeze bottle a couple of minutes before I would swim in races, hoping to provide my body with a quick hit of sugar for an energy burst while swimming. I can still remember the sweet clover taste of the honey in my mouth.

Honey has traditionally been used in all kinds of foods from breakfast cereal to baklava. The latest use for honey has to do with its super powers to heal foot and leg wounds. Before antibiotics there was strong interest in honey for wound therapy. Now with antibiotic resistance, allergy problems, and the rising cost of pharmaceuticals, there is a growing desire by patients for natural medical remedies.

Honey has been used since the time of the Ancient Egyptians for wound healing. The secret of how honey works is that it stimulates the body’s defense mechanism, our immune system, to start the healing process. Honey has been scientifically proven to reduce inflammation and pain as well. The honey from New Zealand’s Manuka plant has been shown to have antibiotic properties. One recent study reported that honey sterilizes a wound within 3 to 10 days of being applied.

There is evidence that using Manuka honey has effective healing properties on diabetic wounds and reduces the amputation rate. With the ever increasing problem of resistant bacteria and costs of pharmaceuticals, when it comes to healing wounds in diabetic patients; Honey-How Sweet It Is.

-drhinkes