5 Reasons To Eat Manuka Honey For Better Health

Honey is a great natural way to sweeten foods if you get regular sugar cravings, and manuka honey is one of the most popular among health and fitness fanatics.

It’s native to New Zealand and is produced by bees that pollinate the manuka bush - a type of tea tree.

There are several reasons you might be tempted to try manuka honey as an athlete.

Its potential benefits are widely known, and anything that can improve your overall health to keep you training at the top of your game is worth considering.

Here, Built for Athletes looks at five reasons you should eat manuka honey.

Supports Good Gut Health

Gut health affects all sorts of things throughout the body, including your mental health.

Manuka honey acts as a prebiotic, and research has shown that it can help ease a number of gut-related symptoms.

It can help protect against gastric ulcers as well as abdominal pain and irregular bowel movements.

Has Antibacterial Properties

Loads of species of bacteria can be neutralised by manuka honey.

To athletes, this might mean less risk of illness, less training missed through feeling under the weather, and ultimately better long-term results.

Small adjustments to your diet that boost overall immunity can add up to improve your health and wellbeing.

Aids Wound Healing

Perhaps the most surprising benefit of manuka honey is that it can help heal wounds.

It’s been used in this way for hundreds of years, and now it’s even been approved as a method of treating wounds by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Studies have also shown it can assist the treatment of burns and post-surgery complications.

Soothes Sore Throats

As well as being antibacterial, manuka honey also has antiviral properties.

This makes it a useful way of soothing a sore throat. In fact, it’s so effective that it can even be better than some over-the-counter medications.

Public Health England recommend it as an initial way of treating a new, throaty cough.

Can Treat Skin Problems

Manufacturers of manuka honey claim it can fight acne, and it has also been known to help with skin conditions like eczema.

This is thought to be because of the antimicrobial activity in the honey, as well as its anti-inflammatory properties.

If you’re interested in testing it out for yourself, you can find manuka honey soap which is designed for this purpose.