Manuka honey

No I haven't tried it. But on the subject of colds, I was advised by my friend to use Vick's First Defence to stave off colds. You just put it around your nasal area. I use public transport a lot where people are always coughing and sneezing and I swear it works well. In the last few years I haven't suffered anywhere near as badly with colds as I used to. Well worth a try costing around £5 which lasts for ages.

Notanan re peroxide

I have bought it but rarely. Friend recommended Sainsbury 10 strength.

if you can't afford the real McCoy - try local unpasteurised honey with a bit of Tea tree oil in it. Tea tree is a close relative of manuka.
Excellent for healing wounds etc.
honey releases hydrogen peroxide in contact with wounds, the tea tree/manuka has been used for millenia for its antiseptic properties.

We use it in wounds on hedgehogs. It works a treat and heals would well. One in particular has bad acid burns from weedkiller.

In New Zealand bees which forage in areas where there is a high density of Manuka blossom produce a honey with a characteristic scent and different degrees of antiseptic qualities. Think of Heather Honey for example (though it has no antiseptic qualities). It is regular honey but with a slightly different flavour. Manuka honey is not used differently, you just spread it on your toast or take a spoonful for your sore throat.
The manuka honey with a high level of antiseptic properties is prohibitively expensive as little of it is produced. The type you buy here which is not too expensive is not going to be effective. Much of it is fake. Some of it is tested and the "Manuka factor" certified. Certification is often faked.
If you are receptive to the placebo effect and have loads of money to waste by all means go for it. Buy the highest rating you can find and hope it is genuine.
The only scientific evidence showing a benefit from Manuka honey is on wound dressings using the highest quality strain. The rest is marketing and hype.

Some doctors here will recommend it for stomach ulcers; UMF-5 or higher.

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322740.php

And on the peroxide subject:

www.tinroofteas.com/tea-blog/the-hydrogen-peroxide-producing-capacity-of-honey-prt-2

Sore throats can be treated with Manuka oil, 2 drops in 1/4 cup warm, boiled water and gargle 3 times a day.
Tea Tree oil works too; also effective against insects!

My OH was advised to use Manuka honey on the ulcers on his legs, post TKR operation. It did work quite well but it was prohibitively expensive to use long term.

I buy 15+ from M&S at I think £22.00. I take approximately a teaspoonful(OK possibly 2) in the morning on some wholemeal toast. I don't have the flu jab and I've gone through all winter and spring without a cold or flu. Maybe a placebo effect as I believe it's good for me, but I certainly haven't had so much as a sniffle.

I saw in a TV documentary that scientists are experimenting with honey as a replacement for anti-biotics. However, as honey is sticky they have reduced it to a powder form so it would be more practical to use.

My DIL, who is a Kiwi, tells me that honey bees hate the manuka plant and will only collect the pollen from them if it is the only plant available to them. I therefore would feel a bit bad buying the honey. (Yep, just another thing to feel guilty about - sorry!)

They have it in H n Barret very expensive

Yes I agree MOnica. Does anyone have recommendations how to take it ? On a spoon, mixed in a drink, on toast ?

In your case NanKate, I would have thought it worth trying. It may help, it may not, but at least it will do you no harm and, I presume, tastes nice.

You ask Notanan what I want to use it for. Firstly I am rather run down with Polymyalgia and an under active thyroid. All being monitored by the Doc.

I am on my second lot of antibiotics for a gum infection which won’t go away. I will be having a tooth removed next month to sort this out.

I have oral thrush which is a result of taking both the antibiotics and steroids. So all in all I need what my gran would have called a tonic and until the doc gets me sorted out I want some self medication. YOU DID ASK !

I have seen manuka honey+10 and +15 in Waitrose from NZ from £11.00 - £25.00 and am willing to shell out.

My MIL used it for a long time to help cure a leg ulcer, that had to be sent direct from New Zealand on line from the beekeeper.

Ive used high strength manuka honey for thinning skin wounds on the back of my leg when nothing else was helping.

I bought mine online from a reputable source.

I was speaking to my local beekeeper a few weeks ago and they have bought some manuka plants ( they're a species of flowering myrtle) to grow on and see if their bees make a good enough quality manuka honey from it . The plants themselves were very expensive as I understand it . So it will be interesting to see how that experiment goes.

Well, stripe me pink!
Well orange actually... as teens we used to put honey in our hair if we werent allowed hair dye or highlights: only slightly worked & left hair over hydrated and felted and bleugh

Well, stripe me pink!

Thats why some honeys are more antibacterial (and expensive) than others. Hydrogen peroxide.

Yeah. You can use it to lighten hair

Peroxide? In honey?? You're kidding me....

outside-us.dermasciences.com/medihoney

Nope dunno where I got french from..its a NZ honey

Anyway DO NOT use it in this way without medical prescription. It can break down skin if uses wrong

Caledonail honey is used extensively in wound healing today in the NHS (only for infected wounds, dont use it at home for wounds if you dont know what youre doing as it adds a lot of moisture so can make skin break down, best only use it on prescription or you can do more harm than good) but its not Manuka, I think its a french honey thats used on the NHS

It needs to be a high strength to work. Cheaper ones arent fake they just have less peroxide. We use it for sore throats. What were you thinking of using it for OP?

Manuka isnt the only high strength peroxide honey that works there are others but manuka is most available in uk.

I used it a number of years ago as part of a slimming plan,mixed with cider vinegar . It wasn't cheap !Gosh it was horrible and I didn't lose any more weight drinking it before meals than I would have anyway .When I buy honey its usually local honey as its said it helps with hay fever and we all have that .Not sure its working this year though as we all still have runny eyes and noses etc