The Miraculous UMF Manuka Honey

The Miraculous UMF Manuka Honey
What is UMF Manuka Honey?

Unique Manuka Factor or commonly known as UMF is the only
worldwide standard in identifying and measuring the
antibacterial strength or quality of some strains of
Manuka. It is a guarantee that the honey being sold has the
special UMF antibacterial property and a UMF rating of 10
is the minimum recognised. Ordinary manuka has only the
hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property which is common to
most types of honey, whereas UMF Manuka has both the
natural hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property and its
own natural UMF antibacterial property, giving it increased
antibacterial potency. The UMF property is very stable,
unlike the hydrogen peroxide antibacterial property common
in most honey which is easily destroyed by heat, light as
well as certain enzymes in body serum.

UMF Manuka, also known as "Medihoney" in some pharmacies,
is the preferred honey for wound dressing and other special
therapeutic uses and studies are showing Manuka with high
levels of UMF could be very effective in helping relieve
stomach ulcer symptoms and gastritis, and sore throats, and
when applied topically, in assisting the natural cure of
skin ulcers, wounds, burns, boils, cracked skin. That is
also why many skincare products also contain UMF manuka as
a special ingredient and promise positive benefits from
their regular application on the skin.

UMF is not in the nectar of all Manuka flowers, which are
known as Leptospermum scoparium and belong to the the Tea
Tree bushes found only in New Zealand's coastal areas. Some
Manuka bushes do not produce honey with the UMF property
every year, and the concentrations of UMF can vary from
batch to batch and year to year. The reason why only some
Manuka honeys have the unique UMF antibacterial property is
not yet known. It could be from a subspecies of Manuka or
due to some environmental factor such as soil type. In the
shop, you will find the varying UMF strengths - UMF 10, UMF
15, UMF 20, UMF 25, and the higher the UMF, the more
expensive is the honey. All genuine UMF manuka honeys from
New Zealand are packed into jars and labelled with a
registered trademark UMF® by licensed companies, and
have a rating of UMF 10 or more. These licensed users of
the UMF® label in New Zealand have to meet standards of
regular monitoring and auditing of their honey quality. So
if you come across an UMF honey which is packed in New
Zealand and is labelled UMF 8, you should know something is
amiss.

Another reason why Manuka honey, which is available in most
Kiwi homes, is favoured by so many honey fans is that it
has a higher than normal conductivity, which is an indirect
measurement of mineral content of a honey -- about 4 times
that of normal flower honeys. I particularly love the taste
of Manuka - it has a lot of depth and a unique unforgetable
foresty aroma stands out amongst the honey varieties. I
often find myself mixing a tablespoon of the honey with
warm water or hot tea whenever I experience sore throat,
cough, cold or flu symptoms, or when feel "heatiness" in my
body. Now, the honey shops here (in Singapore) also sell
New Zealand made Manuka honey lozenges for soothing the
throat. I paid about 9 Sing dollars (about 6 US dollars)
for a pack of 20 such honey drops with UMF 20+ and propolis
which contained very high level of bioflavonoids. Its
ant-inflammatory properties worked perfect in curing my
phelmy throat and it was delicious despite that it tasted a
bit bitter due to the propolis, and it gave me a slight
numbing effect on my tongue as I sucked it.

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Ruth Tan runs the popular website Benefits of Honey which
is an immensely rich, quality resource on honey and its
benefits, and a plethora of health-related issues. Discover
the amazing health benefits and all the positive spin-offs
super-food honey can bring to your life and the lives of
your loved ones at http://www.benefits-of-honey.com