I first heard of manuka honey from our pediatrician. When my kids were in grade school, they would have cough and colds a lot. They went to a school where classrooms were air-conditioned. If someone was sick with something, a lot of classmates ran the risk of catching it. Now our pediatrician wasn’t a fan of prescribing too much meds. She would always ask us to try natural remedies first before. So while my kids were growing up, we’d brew a lot of ginger tea, do salt water gargles, have lots of vitamin C in stock, and take spoonfuls of manuka honey to help them prevent/and or recover from the sniffles.
It used to be more difficult to source manuka honey and manuka honey-based products. I’m happy that these days, you can just step into any mall and there would most likely be a stall selling some. Our go-to brand since a couple of years ago has been Manuka Health from New Zealand. The brand was established in 2006, so it’s been around for almost 2 decades. They pioneered MGO (methylglyoxal) testing. Methylglyoxal is a naturally occuring compound responsible for many of manuka honey’s properties. For us to benefit from manuka honey, a minimum of MGO 100+ is recommended. The higher the MGO, the higher the UMF (Unique Manuka Factor), and so the more health benefits can be reaped. Manuka honey with MGO below 100 do not really translate to any measurable UMF. That said we always have a jar of Manuka Health MGO 115 (₱1,000+) at home.
I discovered the Manuka Health Manuka Honey Oral Spray MGO 400 (₱945) when it went on sale for almost half the price earlier this year. It’s MGO 400 and it’s really effective in soothing sore, itchy throat. It also prevented my would-be coughs into developing into a full blown coughing spree. It’s also handy to have if you spend all night screaming at a concert and need to soothe your throat afterwards.
I also finished a box of Manuka Honey Lozenges (₱365) when I recently had an itchy throat that was causing me to cough. Next time though I will take the Lemon and Ginger flavor for the added soothing properties of ginger. These are slightly chewy and taste good. It’s also MGO 400 though I think the Oral Spray is still more effective and economical.
Manuka Health also has Manuka Honey Lip Balm (₱365) which contains MGO 250+ Manuka Honey renowned for its beneficial properties for the skin. It soothes, softens, and nourishes dry chapped lips. It also protects the lips from further damage.
There are actually many other Manuka Health products available I’d like to try sometime — blemish gel, wound gel… they even have toothpaste!
You can find the best deals at the Manuka Health Flagship Store on Lazada. That’s where I always order because of free shipping and additional coins discount.
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