The Power of the Bee E-Book

Thomas Dr. Gloger

• Herausgeber: Api-Zentrum Ruhr
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 236

Beschreibung

The Power of the Bee by Dr Thomas Gloger. If you believed that the principal benefits to humankind bestowed by bees are a delicious golden spread for your breakfast toast and a high sheen when your grandmother polishes her dining room table, then a couple of hours spent reading Dr Thomas Gloger’s The Power of the Bee will come as a surprise. This comprehensive and meticulously researched work lays out the enormous array of products and by-products of the humble bee, well beyond honey and wax, and the equally astonishing breadth of application they have in virtually every human condition, ranging from headaches to cancer. Some of these are not for the faint-hearted. Bee Venom Therapy, the act of deliberately causing a bee to sting the patient, might sound like torture but Gloger provides helpful guidance on how many stings and where on the body to administer them to maximise the pain/benefit trade-off. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, hive air (breathing in the air blown from a beehive) or a honey massage may be more soothing. The author talks you through those in detail too. The long history of apitherapy is woven throughout the book extending back as far as ancient Egypt (Egyptians used propolis in the mummification process) and ancient Greece, when it was mentioned by Aristotle. It is not a modern fad. Gloger’s training as a chemist and his career in the chemical industry are evident in the extensive chemical and bio-chemical disclosures which make the book of value both to the interested lay reader and those motivated by scientific research. But it is his decade-long fascination with bees and their potential to treat or ease more or less every conceivable malady which shines through the pages.

Leseprobe

© 2020 by Dr. Thomas Gloger

All rights of use of this issue by Dr. Thomas Gloger

Text and stylistic editing, layout and typesetting: JUHRmade

Translation: John Dernie

Proofreading: Thomas Gloger, John Dernie

E-Book: Zeilenwert GmbH

English edition, 1st edition 2021. The work is fully protected.

Any use, such as distribution, reprinting of excerpts, photomechanical processing and processing and storage in electronic systems, requires the prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-3-949087-03-5

Disclaimer

The contents of this book are intended purely for general information and education. They do not constitute a recommendation or application of diagnostic methods or of any treatment methods described or mentioned. The text in this book is in no way a substitute for professional advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other professional medical practitioner, and may not be used as a basis for independent diagnosis or the initiation, modification or treatment of disease. If you have any health questions or complaints, consult a doctor or alternative practitioner of your choice. The author and publisher assume no liability for inconvenience or damage resulting from the use of the information presented here. The assertion of claims of any kind is excluded.

About the author

Dr. Thomas Gloger is a frequent expert contributor at international conferences in the field of apitherapy. His knowledge and experience of bee products has been gained over more than a decade, including his own trials and research. He was educated at the prestigious Technical University of Munich and spent 25 years in the chemical industry in various management positions. His fascination and love for bees arose out of his fascination with chemistry. Now his beehives are his pharmacy.

Bee bread (Perga, left below) is one of the most valuable bee products.

CONTENT

Cover

Impressum

FOREWORD:

THE BEES AND ME

INTRODUCTION:

CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE MEETS ALTERNATIVES

HONEY:

VARIETIES AND APPLICATION

THE HONEY MASSAGE:

ACTIVATING AND DETOXIFYING

POLLEN AND PERGA:

BEE BREAD AS AN ENERGY SNACK

ROYAL JELLY:

ROYALLY VALUABLE

APILARNIL:

MORE APITHERAPY DOES NOT WORK

PROPOLIS:

THE BEST OF PLANT AND ANIMAL

THE FIELDS OF APPLICATIONS OF PROPOLIS

BEE VENOM:

A BRIEF HISTORY OF BEE VENOM

AN EXCURSION INTO THE BIOCHEMISTRY

THE BEE VENOM THERAPY (BVT)

THE APPLICATION AS A BEE STING

HOMEOPATHIC BEE VENOM PREPARATIONS

BEESWAX:

MUCH MORE THAN JUST CANDLES

HIVE AIR:

BENEFICIAL AND HEALTHY

WAX MOTHS:

ROOMMATES WHO CLEAN UP

SPECIAL CASES AND APPLICATION HINTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

THE BEES AND ME

Bees and honey - a gift of God for mankind? Yes, practically all cultures see it that way. There are numerous references in Indian culture on the subject of honey and bees. Anyone who visits the Vatican will discover a number of bee symbols on the buildings, thereby demonstrating the elevated status of the beehive and, with it, creation in general. The Koran formulates it most vividly and recommends using bee products in the treatment of human beings.

WHY ARE HUMANS SO FASCINATED BY BEES? WHY DO THEY FASCINATE ME SO MUCH?

Bees are the only insects that can warm their nest themselves.

Their temperature and thus their living conditions as well as their enemies and opponents are similar to those of humans. The beehive as a human pharmacy? It can be seen in this way, because the bee's defence mechanisms are similarly constructed to that of the human immune system.

Also, because bees rely on the much longer evolution of plants, they use the evolutionary successes of the plants that surround them for their own defence.

I have always been fascinated by the highly ordered lives of bees and, of course, by their honey production. I wanted to make biology a living experience for my children. How? I proudly planted some fruit trees that were to be naturally pollinated by bees. Over time I have dealt more and more intensively with bees and discovered case studies and first-hand accounts about how effective bee products are. Then I met my good friend Miljen Bobic, a passionate beekeeper with Bosnian roots.

To this day, the fascination he aroused in me, has never left me and I have over the years become an expert myself, gained through first-hand experience. I am a natural scientist by nature; a chemist through and through. This was an advantage for my research because I quickly learned to separate the wheat from the chaff. I recognised early on that bee products have a very wide range of potential applications and that traditions and lore on this subject go back much further than most beekeepers are aware of. Unfortunately, all traditions have been lost in Germany but fortunately, not in other countries. In Eastern Europe and South America, I have discovered many references to it and I want to continue that in this book, by contributing to raising empirical medicine to a new, higher scientific level. This is currently happening in various Arab countries but also in Romania, South Korea and Indonesia. Recently, intensive research has also been carried out at universities in Turkey on bee and natural products in general.

In the end, empirical medicine can only discover the gold on the surface. With the help of science, deep drillings will be made at some point and the gold in the depths will also be brought to light. It will once again completely re-order our understanding of the effects of bee products. But we can already, now, use the knowledge we have. This knowledge grows, thrives, changes. An interactive cycle.

Is empirical medicine unscientific? Some people say so. But it is exactly what has made humanity progress for thousands of years and what distinguishes it: collecting experiences, checking them for correctness, passing on the results, incorporating new experiences. Unfortunately, science today is also used as a weapon. Public discourse is deliberately controlled, rules are postulated about what is and what is not scientific. Let everyone form their own opinion on this.

My friend Ed Unger from B-Y's (pronounced "bee-wise") Honey Farm at Niagara Falls advises everyone to have a beehive as a medicine cabinet behind the house. He himself comes from a family of beekeepers with long German and South American roots.

For beekeepers and non-beekeepers alike, I have compiled my experiences from the past years here. For this book you neither need a beehive behind your house, nor do you have to be a beekeeper. What you need is a certain openness for new findings and above all determination to be responsible for your life and to take care of your health yourself. Then you can learn a great deal about bee products and apitherapy on the following pages - in other words, how to keep yourself healthy or get healthy again. I wish you a lot of pleasure.

INTROUCTION

CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE MEETS ALTERNATIVES

So-called orthodox medicine likes to see itself as "evidence-based medicine" and a general saviour. In contrast to academic circles, where medical doctors are traditionally not counted among scientists such as physicists or engineers, it is precisely this conventional medicine that has a large share of empirical knowledge and wealth of experience. A doctor generally has a good reputation if he or she has "many years of experience".

Homeopathy is currently the subject of massive public debate. But if you ask me, they have missed the point. A scatter gun approach is not appropriate, but rather differentiation, because natural remedies are very diverse. Homeopathy is only a small part of this spectrum.

The different procedures include, for example, bloodletting, Ayurveda, acupuncture, acupressure, Bach flowers, bio-resonance, leech therapy, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine), foot reflexology, phytotherapy, aromatherapy, lymph drainage, singing bowl therapy, wraps and compresses as well as spinal therapy according to Dorn. What they all have in common? The appropriate treatment is individually tailored to each patient and is not applied according to the needs of an average person.

The invention of this average person and statistical averaging, as it is usually practised in orthodox medicine, is a very successful procedure, but regularly reaches its limits. For example, chemotherapy is used for the treatment of aggressive pancreatic cancer. This is paid for by the health insurance company on the basis of evidence. What is the benefit for the patient if you take a closer look at the statistics? A few more days of life, which he pays for with weeks of agonising chemotherapy. The problem with standard patients: individual deviations, which each of us shows, are neglected. Medical tests, which are regularly done mainly with young men between 19 and 29 years of age, are only transferable to older people to a limited extent - and for women in different phases of the cycle they are often not meaningful at all.

Of course, conventional medicine offers us excellent analysis and anamnesis techniques. It determines the blood count, uses X-rays or MRI images and, thanks to further laboratory tests, provides a fairly complete picture of the state of health. Of course, there are very good doctors or even veterinarians who, by the way, cannot speak to their patients. My special admiration goes to the TCM doctors who, just by analysing the tongue and pulse and closely observing their patient, can get a very complete picture of his or her state of health within a very short time and without much fuss.

Nevertheless, observe yourself regularly. Pay attention to your own well-being. Do not overrate medical analyses. People are different. A value that is too high for one person can be quite normal for another.

CROSS CONNECTIONS: THE FIVE ELEMENTS

What is striking about all the essential bee products we use in apitherapy? They occupy all the elements of the five-element theory of Chinese medicine.

In this world view honey corresponds to the element “earth”.

Propolis, hive air and beeswax correspond to the element “metal”.

Royal jelly and Apilarnil correspond to the element “water”.

Pollen, perga and beebread correspond to the element “wood”.

Bee venom corresponds to the element “fire”.

In this system we speak of transformation phases. The elements are partly opposites and transform into each other. This helps us in apitherapy. For example, people who are allergic to bee venom should eat honey and propolis and not avoid them because this will reduce their allergy to bee venom in the long term. And an acute bee sting can easily be dabbed with propolis tincture because propolis and alcohol from the tincture combat bee venom.

BEE STING MEETS ACUPUNCTURE

When treating with bee stings, it is very valuable to know the acupuncture points and also the corresponding pathways. Some sources claim that bee stings have added to the knowledge of acupuncture. What I do know is that when bees sting me unexpectedly, within fractions of a second, they choose a point that is much more painful than if I had stung myself somewhere nearby. Apparently, the bees have a sense for finding corresponding points of pain.

THE HONEY MASSAGE

We perform the honey massage on the largest area of the body, the back. The back area is divided into so-called Head zones. Each of these zones corresponds to internal organs and during the massage provides information about the state of health and possible current complaints of the patient. Knowing the acupuncture points or Head's zones help in apitherapy and the use of bee products. If several naturopathic treatments are combined, their effects can be mutually reinforcing. This significantly accelerates healing and recovery.

UNEXPECTEDLY EFFECTIVE: FROM MICROBIOME AND GLYPHOSATE

Microbiome are communities of bacteria. We carry them in our intestines, in our body cavities, on the skin, on the heart valves and their healing effect has recently been the subject of spectacular findings. For example, overweight people lost more than 30 kilograms after being given microbiome of a slim person.

Do we have only a limited view of what nature means? So it seems. Obviously, bacteria contribute more to our well-being than we are aware of. They have been living in our bodies for a very long time, and they certainly have a benefit. But we humans have fought these microbes with all our might. The results of this are masses of resistant germs, such as MRSA, which first emerged in hospitals.

What if bacteria like the microbiome are vital for our survival? Shouldn't we then treat them with reverence instead of simply eradicating this creation of nature, just because we have failed to understand how valuable they are? Pretty short-sighted, isn’t it? By the way, this also applies to viruses, of which we still carry ten times more than bacteria.

The view of glyphosate is similarly short-sighted. It is extremely effective in eliminating unwanted field herbs. They soon wilt away, and the field is weed-free. It is harmless to humans, but the discovery of the microbiome changed this assessment fundamentally. If humans take glyphosate via beer from appropriately contaminated wheat fields, a variety of bacteria in our microbiome are killed. Now it could be reciprocated; the exact same thing happens when we take antibiotics if we are ill. If this is because of a life-threatening pneumonia, then it can be justified. Glyphosate, however, has become an everyday threat, as has the standard use of antibiotics in intensive livestock farming. The diversity of our microbiome is permanently attacked by the virtually unconscious and permanent ingestion of glyphosate. So, it is no wonder that autoimmune diseases, for example, have increased dramatically since the mass use of glyphosate. What makes it even worse is that glyphosate is produced with an enhancer.

BEES ALSO HAVE A GUT MICROBIOME

At the end of 2019, researchers from the USA published field studies on this. Biologists Erick V. S. Motta, Kasie Raymanna and Nancy A. Morana from the University of Texas at Austin fed worker bees a glyphosate-containing sugar solution. The concentration corresponded to the usual amount to which bees are generally exposed during their excursions. The control group received a solution without pesticide. In a further test, worker bees from both groups were additionally infected with a pathogen. This allowed the researchers to study how the plant toxin works in the bees. They proved that the important intestinal bacteria that are necessary for immune defence were no longer present in the workers fed glyphosate. 90 percent of these bees did not survive because they were too weak and did not fight the infection.

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM THIS RESEARCH

Bee products have a positive effect on the microbiome. And this in several ways: Perga, for example, contains bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. These are probiotics that protect the gut, similar to sauerkraut or kimchi. Propolis also has no effect on the healthy microbiome. As we will see later, it can drive away protozoa, i.e. uninvited guests in the intestine. Turkish researchers showed that lactobacteria grow better in a batch of yoghurt with propolis than without propolis.

IS ASEPTIC ALWAYS BETTER?

This is a good question that is becoming increasingly explosive due to the latest findings on the microbiome. Does germ-free food production, as we have it today, make sense at all? With bacteria it is not a question of whether, but how. Harmless bacteria can make it much more difficult for pathogenic germs to spread. Some current EU laws severely restrict beekeepers and small farms.

LET'S TALK ABOUT URANIUM

Since the end of the Cold War, uranium has largely disappeared from public discussion - unless you look towards Iran or North Korea. Yet uranium is closer to us than we think. After all, phosphate is essential for the fertilisation of fields, but in nature, phosphate is often mixed with uranium. In the past, phosphate deposits which had low uranium content were exploited, but today it is extracted from deposits which have significantly higher uranium content. In the past, the uranium would have been separated from the phosphate. Today it ends up in the fields. And the corresponding limits? They were simply adjusted. Since uranium is not a stable element, but decays in about ten stages in a radioactive chain, this means that for every atom uranium there are ten radioactive decays in our immediate vicinity. It is also a very toxic heavy metal and it can cause cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Propolis, as we will see, is able to remove heavy metals and other toxins.

THE HONEY

The emergence of bees in nature is an essential break in evolution. From now on, bees carry pollen from plant to plant and only fly to flowers of the same species. This is a quantum leap! Up to now, plants themselves have distributed their pollen en masse and rather aimlessly with the wind until they hit another flower, which is now done by bees. And they do it purposefully. This means that plants pollinated by bees or other insects have a great evolutionary advantage. They can produce more targeted and at the same time more variable offspring.

THE HONEY HARVEST

We beekeepers harvest honey using various methods. Thanks to the movable frames available to us today, we can extract the honey from the combs in a centrifuge. The simplest harvesting method is to squeeze the honey out of the combs with our hands (pressed honey). For this purpose, there are presses that work similarly to wine presses. Of course, the honey can also be harvested as whole combs. This is the comb honey.

Pressed and comb honey is considered the best quality in apitherapy. This is because these two do not come into contact with air and oxygen as intensively during harvesting as centrifugal honey does. Certain particularly sensitive components are retained instead of oxidising.

Storage is even more important than the extraction of the honey. This is because honey easily absorbs foreign odours, is sensitive to light and draws water (i.e. behaves hygroscopically). It is therefore ideal to sell it in a dark glass, as recommended by the ÖGA (Austrian Society for Apitherapy).

WHAT'S INSIDE – THE INGREDIENTS

Honey equals sugar? That is only half true. Yes, many people see honey simply as sugar. That is true, because its two largest components are glucose and fructose, but it also contains twenty other types of sugar. This has a major advantage from a purely physiological point of view: the human body needs more time to metabolise honey than, for example, conventional household sugar or starchy foods such as pasta. Honey therefore puts much less strain on the liver and thus the pancreas - a blessing also for diabetics. Honey also contains important trace elements such as chromium and iron as well as vitamins C, B1, B2, B5 and B6. This facilitates the metabolism of sugar. Honey also contains essential amino acids such as proline or tryptophan.

THE BLOSSOM TYPE HONEYS

Blossom honeys, which mainly come from a nectar source, are often associated with the natural healing effects of the original plant

Varietal honeymedicinal effect Linden honey Soothing for respiratory diseases: cough   Bronchitis, asthma, COPD, tuberculosis   calming nerves, strengthening the heart Mustard honey Respiratory diseases Clover honey Gastro-intestinal diseases Acacia honey Cough suppressant, expectorant Antidiarrhoea Cornflower honey Buckwheat honey Wounds, ulcers Rhododendron honey Intoxicating, psychedelic (so be aware!) Heart strengthening Hawthorn honey Heart strengthening All varietal honeys Generally liver-relieving Chestnut honey Kidneys, bladder Horse chestnut honey Cardiovascular system Dandelion honey Liver, gall and kidney diseases Heather honey Anaemia

WHAT MAKES HONEY SO STRONG AND IMPORTANT

Honey channels pharmacologically active substances into the body. Mixing essential oils into honey is therefore just as good an idea as extracting natural substances with honey, which is done, for example, with cough syrups: honey, propolis and essential oils are mixed. The honey brings the essential oils into the body. It also has an antibacterial effect because it contains so-called flavonoids, which are sometimes visible in the dark colour. Their name comes from “flavus”, Latin for yellow.

WITH HONEY AGAINST POLLEN ALLERGY

Blossom honey obtained locally can slowly desensitise pollen allergy sufferers in the region concerned. Here it is important to find the right time window in which the allergy occurs. General recommendation: Eat two teaspoons a day of the honey that was ideally produced and harvested by the bees at the allergy sufferer's home. Taking propolis at the same time can support the therapy.

Why is it so effective? Answers are provided by the results of an American study on this topic. According to this study, allergens that we ingest orally, i.e. through food, have a different immune response than those that we inhale. American studies have shown that the sooner children eat peanut products, the less likely they are to be allergic to them, and the fewer allergies they develop. This completely contradicts earlier assumptions. At that time, the following was true: in typical American households, many peanut products are eaten. This causes allergies because peanut dust from many different products is spread throughout the house. This hypothesis must be revised. Allergies are more likely to occur if peanuts and their dust are present in the household - but not consumed. This is also the case with honey therapy with pollen. Eating instead of inhaling makes the difference.

What is needed to combat an anti-pollen allergy with honey is patience. Typically, it takes about three years, with the pollen allergy gradually abating over the years.

HOW DOES THE POLLEN GET INTO THE HONEY?

The bees fly through the air and are electrostatically charged. It is the same phenomenon as happens to your hair when you take off a cap. The hair is charged, and the strands repel each other. Through the electrostatic charge, the bees attract pollen from grasses or trees that are wind pollinators and this pollen ends up in honey. The pollen in honey is not highly concentrated, because bees do not collect it systematically, as they do from flowers, but the quantity seems to be sufficient for desensitising allergy sufferers.

HONEY INJECTIONS

A mixture of physiological saline solution and honey can be injected directly into the vein. In this way the active ingredients find their way more quickly into the bloodstream - and thus reach their destination faster. This method is used for both diagnosis and therapy. The most important area of application for honey injections is inflammatory vascular diseases, because these are difficult to treat. This includes acute pancreatitis, the inflammation of the pancreas. There are many other diseases that can be treated with injections. One of them is rheumatism during pregnancy. In Palestine and Egypt, doctors also use honey injections to diagnose diseases that are still developing or have not yet been revealed. The principle behind it is that the temporary honey peak in the blood, which is created by the injection, triggers specific body reactions. These are easily confused with signs of anaphylactic shock. In fact, these symptoms subside quickly after the honey injection. However, if, for example, chest pain occurs spontaneously, this may indicate coronary heart disease.

Honey injections can also be used to support general or apitherapeutic cancer treatment.

And please note that the body can withstand some honey concentration (4-50 %), as well as the infusion rate (0.25-1 ml/min).

A WORD ABOUT MAKING THE INJECTIONS

In Germany, non-medical practitioners can have their own honey injection solution produced by companies such as Homo Novus. They are ultrafiltered and therefore sterile. It is very important never to make the honey injections with forest honey or honey containing forest honey! Forest honey contains so-called pyrogens, i.e. animal foreign proteins, due to the production process via louses described later. These can lead to longer lasting fever attacks.

THE MANUKA HONEY

Loved by some and critically viewed by others, especially local beekeepers, manuka honey plays an important role in apitherapy. Its effect has also been scientifically researched and not without controversy. The New Zealand professor Peter Nolan has brought to light what has been known for thousands of years: that honey is very well suited for wound treatment. He has investigated, documented and published his findings, which triggered violent backlashes. But since New Zealand has a big economic interest in this honey, he was able to continue his research, which has led to a positive dialogue about wound treatment with honey. And there are great therapeutic successes to report.

Manuka honey is a special honey compared to the other blossom honeys. The bees collect it from the flowers of the New Zealand tea tree bushes. Biologically, it is very similar to the Jelly Bush Honey, which is obtained in Australia. The nectar contains special ingredients, among them the substance dihydroxyacetone. During storage, dihydroxyacetone converts within one year to the well-known MGO (methyl glyoxal) and it is exactly this combination of honey and MGO that is ideally suited to dissolve biofilms and kill bacteria - especially in wounds infected with resistant pathogenic germs, such as MRSA. The mechanism behind this and the ingredients responsible for it were only later explained by Professor Henle and Professor Speer from the TU Dresden. Prof. Nolan, who is more focused on the application in wounds, described the following five main properties in 1999:

1.The removal of necrotic tissue

2.The anti-inflammatory function

3.The antibacterial activity

4.The reduction of unwanted wound odour

5.The stimulation of new tissue formation

Initially, the focus of the investigations was exclusively on poorly healing wounds, but later the entire process of wound healing was examined in more detail.

Biofilms are an important aspect of this. Everyone has probably seen these slimy deposits in a badly cleaned wash basin, where they form after time. This is where harmful bacteria can settle. They are then protected against attack by the other slime building bacteria, for example in the form of antibiotics. This is called biofilm. This is exactly what can happen in infected wounds and makes antibiotic treatment very difficult.

WHAT ELSE MANUKA HONEY CAN DO

Quite a lot! Because it can be used for numerous complaints, such as eczema or mycoses (fungal diseases). In the body, it can be used to treat inflammation of the throat, the mucous membranes of the mouth, the oesophagus and the stomach or intestines. Manuka honey even helps against the stomach germ Helicobacter pylori, which can lead to stomach ulcers. One to two teaspoons before a meal are recommended. Manuka honey is very useful for recurring kidney and bladder infections.

HONEY AND DENTISTRY: BRUSHING TEETH WITH HONEY? YES, EXACTLY!

The therapeutic effects of Manuka honey did not let researchers in Slovenia, the heartland of beekeeping, rest. They investigated the effect of many available Slovenian varietal honeys on different strains of bacteria. They showed that the bactericidal effect of the different honeys did not differ that much from each other for a number of oral bacteria.

Honey is therefore well suited for brushing your teeth. Anyone who sees honey as a cavity-causing sugar solution that causes disease does not do it justice. Of course, if I constantly give a child tea sweetened with honey, it is not good for his or her teeth. But if you brush your teeth with honey once or twice a day, the sugar is absorbed relatively quickly through the mucous membranes. You can taste this, because the sweetening effect of honey soon diminishes. However, the biologically active substances in honey, i.e. the flavonoids and polyphenols, then dissolve the biofilms on the teeth, and this is supported by the mechanics of the toothbrush. Bad breath or periodontitis can also be successfully combated with it. This does not mean that you should only use honey to brush your teeth, but it can make sense as a supplement to conventional toothpaste.

In general, honey can be used well in the following dental applications:

1.Mouth infections, including Candida (Sor)

2.Ulcers in the mouth

3.Gum disease

4.Inflammation of the oral mucosa

5.Bad breath

HONEY FOR WOUND CARE: GOOD OR BAD?

Honey has been used for wound care since ancient times. Ancient historians tell of the body of Alexander the Great, which was transported home preserved in honey. Then, as now, poor general conditions often prevented successful healing, especially of very large or infected wounds, such as those of diabetes patients. Honey is the first choice in wound care as it accelerates healing, counteracts wound infection and keeps scarring to a minimum.

Honey has a primary antimicrobial effect due to its high sugar content. Through osmosis, it deprives most bacteria of their basis of life: water. Furthermore, hydrogen peroxide is formed.

Comparison of different honeys with different harmful mouth germs. The bars represent different mouth germs. The higher the bar, the stronger the honey inhibits the bacteria in the mouth.

Picture: Franc Sivic