Your Guide to Buying Manuka Honey

A guide to buying quality ACTIVE MANUKA HONEY

The name UMF is a guarantee that the honey being sold has the special UMF antibacterial property to the level indicated on the label.

This guarantee applies only to honey from a New Zealand company licensed to use the name UMF so long as the honey is packed and labelled in New Zealand.

Checklist to Identify Genuine UMF Manuka Honey:

Genuine UMF Manuka Honey complies with all five of the following criteria:

1. It has the name UMF clearly stated on the front label.
2. It is packed into jars and labelled in New Zealand. (250g and 500g jars)
3. It is from a New Zealand company licensed to use the name UMF.
4. It has the licencees  name on the front label.
5. It has a rating of UMF10 or more.

You should also check the following:

1. Honey should be in brown coloured jars many of the properties of Manuka honey can be destroyed by sunlight

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK BELOW:

MANUKA UMF

Manuka Honey
What is 'Active' Manuka Honey?
What is UMF?

There is quite a lot of Manuka honey produced in New Zealand, but only a small percentage of this is found to be 'Active Manuka Honey'. This term is not a brand name, but a laboratory testing to establish the presence and level of the non-peroxide anti-bacterial agent, the UMF.

UMF stands for 'Unique Manuka Factor' the special antibacterial property found in Active Manuka Honey. When honey is diluted, a special enzyme the bees have added produces hydrogen peroxide, a well-known antibiotic. Active Manuka has been found to have an antibacterial activity in addition to hydrogen peroxide, making it twice as potent. There is evidence that the two antibacterial components together may have a synergist action, i.e. the combined effect is greater than the sum of its parts.

The UMF number comes from a standard laboratory test for antibacterial activity, with the honey being compared with a standard reference antiseptic (phenol) for potency. So, for example, a honey with a UMF rating of 4 would be equivalent in antiseptic potency to a 4% solution of phenol.

Manuka Honey with a UMF factor is particularly effective against some types of bacteria. Against Staphylococcus aureus, the most common cause of infected wounds, Active Manuka Honey is twice as effective as other honeys. Against Helicobacter pylori, the cause of peptic ulcers, Active Manuka Honey is more than eight times as effective as other honeys.

'Active Manuka Honey' should never be heated as part of its processing as this destroys its antibacterial activity.

MANUKACARE 18

FACT SHEET
Fast, effective first aid for burns, bites and cuts Comvita ManukaCare 18+ delivers the healing power of Manuka Honey in a convenient tube for fast topical application. ManukaCare 18+ is valued for its use in hospitals where it is increasingly used for treating persistent wounds, such as leg ulcers. It's also great to keep at home as a quick, effective natural soother for minor burns, bites and cuts. Manuka Honey from New Zealand is scientifically recognised as a valuable wound treatment. 
It has a special clinically proven non-peroxide antibacterial activity, not found in other honeys. The antibacterial activity of ManukaCare is four times greater than standard antiseptics. ManukaCare is now being used successfully in British hospitals, including the Royal Free in London. An approved clinical trial involving 176 patients is now underway at Sligo General Hospital. 
ManukaCare has many properties, which make it ideal for treating burns and wounds. For first aid, its ability to reduce inflammation and provide a sterile environment for healing is particularly valuable. Manuka Honey also increases blood circulation to the affected area stimulating re-growth and healthy tissue. ManukaCare is gamma irradiated to sterilise it for medicinal use and is fine filtered to remove particles that could contaminate a wound. It is registered as a medical product with the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). 
ManukaCare can be used as an effective first aid treatment for minor burns and cuts. For more serious wounds it should be used in consultation with a healthcare professionals.

ADVANTAGES OF USING MANUKA HONEY ON A WOUND

Keeps the area moist

-    reduced pain,

-    reduced trauma on dressing changes as dressings won't adhere to the wounds,

-    autolytic debridement (the removal of foreign material or devitalized tissue by its own serum from or adjacent to a traumatic or infected lesion     until surrounding healthy tissue is exposed) will occur.

Reduced Infection

-    promotes a hydrated healing environment

-    rapidly clears bacteria from colonized and infected wounds

-    has been observed to be effective against antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria

-    creates a protective barrier to prevent cross infection of wounds.

Reduction of Inflammation

-    It has anti-inflammatory action resulting in reduced oedema.

Reduced scarring (resulting in pleasing cosmetic results).

-    As a result of improved blood flow

Reduced Pain

-    Honey does not stick to wound tissue, preventing tearing of newly formed tissue in the wound site when dressings are changed.

-    Honey residue is easily rinsed from wound with water.

It removes malodor from wounds

Treatment cost is reduced

-    Due to the honey's affordability and speed of action - for example, the annual financial cost of leg ulcer management is between £400 million and £600 million in the UK  and continues to escalate.

It enables patients to handle their own on-going wound care>

BEE VENOM

Honey Products with Bee Venom

Our Nectarease range is a unique blend of Manuka honey and Bee Venom. Recent laboratory and medical evidence using Manuka honey supports the value of this natural resource in the dietary supplement and natural health areas. In addition to having properties, which are beneficial in terms of well being, Manuka honey has also been shown to have antibacterial properties and the ability to maintain the acid-alkaline balance in the stomach.

Bee Venom is a complex mixture of proteins. The three major proteins are Melittin, which is a very strong anti-inflammatory agent, Apamin, which enhances long-term synaptic transmission and shortening the duration of nerve action potentials and Peptide, which leads to the release of histamine. Bee Venom has been used as a treatment of joint pain for over 2000 years. Traditional therapy involves the application of bee stings to affected areas of the patient over a period of time. In 1996 Philip Cropp discovered a technique where the bees could be stimulated to release venom, which did not result in the death of his bees. This led to the development of Nectarease, the first such product available in the commercial market. This is a much more pleasant way of being able to benefit from the properties of bee venom than being stung!

Clinical trials in Hamilton, New Zealand, conducted by Dr Alan Dobe (Rheumatologist), showed statistically significant improvements in the level of pain for osteoarthritis patients and in mobility for both osteo and rheumatoid arthritis patients. In addition, the safety profile of the product was impressive with no major reactions being recorded.

Contraindications:
Due to the presence of allergic compounds in Bee Venom, an element of caution is recommended when taking Nectarease for the first time. Asthmatics and people who have allergies to bee products oR pollen should be careful at all times when taking bee products. Doses should start at the lowest quantity and be built up in steps over a period of time to ensure that no reactions occur or that any reaction is minimised.

Diabetics must exercise caution due to the sugar present in honey. It is recommended that diabetics consider the capsule form as these have a reduced sugar level.

People on high blood pressure medication (for the reasons outlined above), suffering from congenital heart disease or those pregnant should not take Nectarease.

BEE POLLEN

Bee Pollen

Bee pollen is a very beneficial natural food and promoter of good health, which has been used by man for many centuries.  No other natural product on earth could compete with bee pollen in the level of nutritional value.  It is rich with natural components crucially important for human's body metabolism and well being.

The main well known pharmacological properties of Bee Pollen are:                                                          

• Normalizes nervous and endocrine system activity

• Strengthens blood vessels, reduces cholesterol, has got anti-scleroses properties

• Has got protective effect at the level of the digestive tract

• Pollen strengthens immune system

• Removes fatigue and enhances lucidity of mind and physical activity

• Pollen can enhance one's digestion and improve appetite

• Provides anti-prostate activity

• Stimulates longevity

Furthermore, studies now show that taking Bee Pollen at regular intervals throughout the year diminishes effects of hay-fever as immunity to pollen is gradually built up.

PROPOLIS

Propolis
Propolis is a resin collected by the honey bee from trees and plants. It is taken back to the hive where it is worked on and wax is added.
Propolis is used in the hive for a variety of defensive and protective purposes. Propolis has antibacterial, anti inflammatory and antifungal properties. It has been used as a medicine by man for 3000 years. Modern researchers have confirmed some if its traditional uses.
1. History of Propolis
2. What is it?
3. Medical research
4. What can it be used for?
5. Recommended usage

BUY PROPOLIS PRODUCTS

HISTORY OF PROPOLIS
Propolis comes from the Greek and means Pro-before Polis-the city, which translates as Defences before the City or Defender of the City. The city here is the city or hive of bees where Propolis plays a vital role in protecting the colony from invasion from the outside as well as from the spread of infection within. Propolis provides the bee city with its immune system. This fact gives some indication of its potential importance today for man, at a time when his own immune system is increasingly unable to cope with so many of the diseases of our time.
The Greeks recognised the healing qualities of Propolis, using it for treating wounds as well as ‘incurable diseases’. Hippocrates himself, the father of modern medicine, prescribed Propolis for the healing of sores and ulcers, both internal and external.
For the Egyptians, the bee had a religious significance, and was a symbol of courage and valour. Propolis was used medically by the Egyptians for a variety of diseases. The Romans also revered the bee and Propolis extensively. The Roman God Jupiter, so the legend goes, even
transformed the beautiful Melissa into a bee so that she could produce the miraculous healer-Propolis. Pliny, the Roman historian, said of Propolis “Current physicians use Propolis as a medicine because it extracts stings and all substances embedded in the flesh, reduces swelling, softens indurations, soothes pain of sinews and heals sores when it appears hopeless for them to mend”.
European interest in Propolis appears in John Gerard’s famous Historie of Plants in 1579 where Propolis is referred to as a substance ‘which can provide swift and effective healing for many conditions’
Nicholas Culpeper in his Compleat Herbal tells us that “Propolis is singularly good for all heat and inflammation in many parts of the body and cools the heat of the wound”.
The development of modern medicine has seen Propolis and many other natural remedies neglected and forgotten. It is really only in the last 20 — 30 years that modern medicine, particularly in Eastern Europe, has again begun to use Propolis therapeutically, to study it and to appreciate its healing potential.

WHAT IS PROPOLIS?
The largest single ingredient of Propolis (just over half) is resin collected from plants and trees (particularly the poplar tree). The other half is made up of wax (30%), essential oils (10%) and pollen (5%). You also find, in Propolis, a wide variety of additional elements including organic and amino acids, vitamins, minerals and most importantly bioflavonoids, now believed to be an active ingredient in the healing process. All of these ingredients are worked on and mixed with the bees’ own salivary secretions to produce what has been called Bee Glue, that is, Propolis. Propolis is a sticky filler substance, which the bees use to seal up the hive, protecting it from the outside environment. The bees also coat the entire inside surface of the hive with Propolis, polishing it to create one of the most sterile environments known to nature.
As well as producing a purely functional role in sealing and reinforcing the hive, Propolis also performs the role of immune system for the hive, acting as a combined antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal substance: Truly a defender of the city.

MEDICAL RESEARCH
Over the last 20 years much scientific and medical research has been undertaken into Propolis, both in this country and in America, as well as in Eastern Europe, where the medical use of Propolis is common. The research has shown Propolis to be effective in treating amongst other things:-
BLOOD DISORDERS
Chinese researchers found it effective in treating hypertension, arteriosclerosis and coronary disease.
European scientist  V. Balalykin tells us that Propolis helps the white blood cells to engulf and digest bacteria and other waste products in the blood.
GASTRO INTESTINAL PROBLEMS
Soviet scientists and doctors have shown that Propolis can prevent ulcer and abscess formation, as well as speeding up the healing process.
SKIN PROBLEMS
Research in America, Poland and Russia has shown that acne, allergies, herpes and other dermatological disorders have all responded to Propolis therapy.
THE WOMAN’S FRIEND
Propolis has become known as the ‘Woman’s Friend’. It has been shown to be helpful with painful periods as well as with vaginal infections and sores.
A Natural Antibiotic?
Propolis is being hailed as a natural antibiotic with no side effects. Recent research at the National Heart and Lung Institute, London has shown that the bioflavonoids in Propolis are even capable of destroying some bacteria that have now become resistant to modern synthetic antibiotics.

WHAT CAN YOU USE IT FOR?
As a Food Supplement: Propolis can be used as a safe non-toxic food supplement and has been found helpful in protection against colds, coughs, flu and other viruses.
It has also been found effective for:
Sore throats: Take a few drops of the tincture on wholewheat bread or use it as a gargle.

Respiratory Problems: coughs and colds, asthma, bronchitis, blocked sinuses. Take the tincture of 2.0 g per day.

Sore lips/gums/teeth and any other dental problems: Use the tincture as a gargle, or drink it with herb tea (add honey if you wish) or fruit juice.

Skin treatment: Swab the area directly with tincture or use cream. Good for acne. Can be helpful in treating eczema, psoriasis and herpes.

Burns and Bruises: The antiseptic and healing qualities of Propolis help wounds and burns to heal. Place a little cream on the affected area or use a few drops of the raw tincture

.
Arthritis and Rheumatic ailments: In recent years Propolis has been used very successfully to treat arthritic disorders. Take 2.0 g per day for a two week period to start with.

RECOMMENDED USAGE
Capsules/Tablets
Use as a food supplement for general health. Recommended dosage between 1.0 and 3.0 g per day

Tincture/Solutions
For external use:
apply directly to affected area using a cotton swab or lint.

Cream
Apply directly to the affected area.

BUY PROPOLIS PRODUCTS

Information from Materia Medica

www.materiamedica.org.uk

IMAGE LIBRARY

Information on Manuka Honey, bee venom, bee pollen and propolis

Information on Manuka Honey, bee venom, bee pollen and propolis