New Buzz on Honey
by Lisa Lombardi |
October 8th, 2008 |
Published in
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The next time you’ve got a sinus infection, that honey in your tea might do more than just soothe your cough, says a recent study done by the University of Ottawa. Researchers found that two types of honey are effective at killing bacteria that cause sinusitis and other infections.
Manuka honey and sidr honey were tested against two strains of staph bacteria and a third bacterium associated with sinusitis. Manuka honey comes from a tea tree bush in New Zealand, while sidr honey comes from the sidr tree in Yemen and is the most expensive honey in the world (an 8-ounce jar can go for $45!).
Both honeys were effective in killing the bacteria, especially the third type, Pseudomonas aeriginosa, which is the most common cause of external ear infections. When it came to Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, the researchers found that the honey was more effective than the antibiotics usually used to kill the bacteria.
But before you go sticking honey up your nose, testing so far has been limited to Petri dishes, not live humans. The researchers hope to transition to animal testing and human patients soon. Until then, we won’t know the real buzz about honey as a savior for sinus sufferers.
The study, presented at 2008 American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation Annual Meeting, received no outside funding.
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October 8th, 2008 at 9:32 pm (#)
Manuka honey is also being used by doctors in North America to heal wounds………………..