Honey is great for treating the symptoms and effects of colds, sore throats and the flu. But few of us know that there are tons of different types of honey out there and they all differ in how they work and how well they work.
Manuka honey, for instance, is the not the typical honey you might find in grocery stores and has some great medicinal properties. This honey is only cultivated in New Zealand and parts of Australia, where the tea tree plant grows (beware the ‘Manuka’ honey that doesn’t come from this region). It has an active chemical called Methylglyoxal or MGO. MGO can be measured in Manuka honey to determine how medicinal it is. MGO can range anywhere from 100 to 550 parts per million (ppm). But to be antiviral and antibacterial, it has to have 250 ppm or more MGO.