Although widely regarded as a delicious natural sweetener, few people realize that honey is also one of humanity’s oldest medicines. Honey was used by the ancient Egyptians to treat skin infections and burns, while early Greek physicians prescribed honey to heal stomach problems, insomnia, sore throats, colds and other maladies. Honey remained a popular folk remedy until well into the twentieth century.
Yet when antibiotics were developed in the 1940s, interest in the therapeutic value of honey fell to the wayside. And even though hundreds of articles were written about the therapeutic value of honey in peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals, physicians have ignored the use of healing honey in favor of antibiotics.
However, since many infection-causing bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics, scientists have taken another look at honey, and have discovered that it is often more effective than antibiotics in fighting bacterial infections, including those caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Escherichia coli and MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) one of the most dangerous superbugs of our time. Still, big pharmaceutical companies have traditionally ignored honey because it is both cheap and non-patentable, although a few small companies in New Zealand and Australia have developed honey-based salves and creams; some are (or will soon become) available at your local pharmacy. Plus, some of the finest therapeutic honeys can be found in your neighborhood health food store or local farmer's market.
