Abstract:
Honey is a natural, nutrient-dense superfood containing over 180 beneficial substances, including carbohydrates, vitamins, enzymes, and antioxidants, thus, offering not only empty calories, but a substantial medicinal and nutritional value, making it a powerful functional food for sustained energy, gut health, and immune support. These properties of honey are due to its chemical compounds, like flavonoids and polyphenols. Honey is essentially a pure sugar, with no fat and only trace amounts of protein, vitamins, minerals. and fiber. There’s also evidence that daily honey intake may improve fasting blood sugar levels. Honey is, therefore, considered to be of tremendous nutritional and therapeutic importance, history goes back to the ancient era, when it was used as a food and as a treatment at the same time. Medical uses of Honey for curing various ailments have been endorsed by religious books including Noble Holy Quraan,Vedas and Bible.The Russians used it in World War I to prevent wound infections and to accelerate wound healing. Honey is effective against aerobic, anaerobic, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, also a variety of fungi.The Prophet, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, urged us to heal with honey. In view of the prevalence of alarming multiple-antibiotic - resistance in clinical bacteria at alarming rate all over the world, there is a rapidly increasing move towards using honey as an alternate- therapy on multi-resistant organisms including superbugs - MRSA, VRE and others to clear infection in wounds without any adverse effect. Consequently, antimicrobial properties of honeys around the world has revealed that it can reduce microbial pathogenicity as well as reverse dangerous antimicrobial resistance. To our surprise, a large number of workers including our laboratories in India and abroad have revealed the miracles of Honey in Dentistry, Ophthalmology, Surgery including Plastic Surgery, Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Dermatology, and Gastroenterology. Further, a long term in vitro and in vivo such studies on anti-bacterial and curative effects of Honey even on superbug–MRSA from eye patients provides potential prospects and miraculous scope of Honey as a possible antibacterial alternate Medicine in various fields of Modern Medicine in future to fight with the most difficult resistant - bacterial pathogens, non-healing ulcers and many more infections. Branded Manuka honey and many commercial products, flooding world market now a days for the treatment of many would infections, burns, eczema, sore throat, psoriasis, arthritis, gastrointestinal disorders, stomach aches, flu symptoms, corneal ulcers, dental carries and a number of bacterial & fungal infections are testimony to the natural use of honey in modern era of Medicine concluding honey to be a cheaper miracle alternate drug and best nutritional agent.
