NEWSBRIEF - Honey outperforms antibiotics.
Researchers attending the First World Wound Healing Congress in Melbourne learned that honey has outperformed conventional antibiotics in treating burns and infected caesarean sections. Honey can eradicate E. coli, Salmonella, and Helicobacter pylori and even kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria including the hospital superbug MRSA. Not all types of honey work though. The most effective ones are manuka honey from New Zealand and jelly bush honey from Australia. It is believed that these varieties release hydrogen peroxide which is deadly to microbes. Dr. Peter Molan of the University of Waikato in NZ has found that swallowing half a teaspoon of manuka honey on an empty stomach will eradicate the bacteria Helicobacter pylori that cause most stomach ulcers.
New Scientist, October 7, 2000, pp. 32-35