> medicinal properties

Let's examine the medicinal properties of honey, as listed on the wikipedia page[1]:

> Claim 1: Manuka honey ... may be useful in treating MRSA infections

This only applies to Manuka honey, which is not the subject of this article, and we must be careful not to fall into the trap of saying "Manuka honey has medicinal properties therefore honey has medicinal properties".

> Claim 2: Honey appears to be effective in killing drug-resistant biofilms which are implicated in chronic rhinosinusitis

This was not generic 'honey' but again Manuka and Sidr honey. We can't take evidence that Sidr/Manuka have certain properties as evidence that other types of honey have those properties too. Indeed, the paper[2] even mentions that "two Canadian honeys had no cidal effects on the bacterial biofilms". The Canadian honeys in question are "Canadian Clover and Buckwheat honeys (Farmboy Inc., Ottawa, Can- ada)". So while this paper shows that Manuka and Sidr kill some bacterias, it also shows that two other types of honey do not.

> Claim 3: the antioxidant constituents in honey help clean up oxygen free radicals present

This claim cites an article[3] authored by P C Molan (same as Claim 1), which cites an MSc thesis of one of his students (ref 31 in [3]), unfortunately I can't find that thesis online, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if we again were talking about Manuka honey. Also of note is the fact that the 'free radicals' that the honey 'cleans up' are those produced by hydrogen peroxide present in the honey itself.

> Claim 4: honey has been used successfully in a comprehensive treatment of diabetic ulcers when the patient cannot use topical antibiotics

(sorry, I missed this one, have to go out, will research later)

Ok I'm back now, swam 16 lengths :) The 'reference' this links[4] to is an article with one anecdote and a mention that a study is in progress. The current Wisc website[4a] still only says the trial is in progress - no results published that I can find.

> Claim 5: relatively acidic pH level prevents the growth of many bacteria

This isn't really a medicinal property; it's simply a fact about honey. You could as well claim that coke has medicinal properties due to it's high pH level.

> Claim 6: The presence of the synergist in manuka honey more than doubles MGO antibacterial activity

Manuka.

> Claim 7: Antioxidants in honey have even been associated with reducing the damage done to the colon in colitis

This study[5] was done on rats, using honey enemas... I'm not sure how much we can take from that.

> Claim 8: according to recent research, may be an effective soothing agent for coughs

The cited article[6] has since published an update which states: "In the item below we said that a study compared buckwheat honey with dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in children's over-the-counter medicine in the US, and found that honey was more effective at relieving the severity, frequency and bothersome nature of the cough and that dextromethorphan was slightly more effective than a placebo. In fact the study, which was funded by the US National Honey Board, concluded that while honey was the most effective treatment for all outcomes related to cough, child sleep and parent sleep, direct comparison between honey and dextromethorphan did not yield statistically significant differences."

So not only is honey no different from other over-the-counter medicine, but the study is funded by the US National Honey Board, which really should raise some questions. Sadly I can't find the exact study in question so can't delve further than that.

----------

There are a few other claims made in the wikipedia article, but I hope I've gone some way to showing that the 'medicinal properties' of generic honey are at best elusive. Furthermore, I saw nothing which suggested that the removal of pollen might hinder any properties which are present.

What I did find was a lot of studies produced by researchers who I find it difficult to call independent (eg Dr Peter Molan lends his name to a "gold standard" Manuka honey certification scheme[7]), or funded by bodies such as the US National Honey Board. I also found that a lot of these studies are used to back up claims which their findings do not support - when a study which shows honey enemas in rats is effective against colitis is reported in a way which conveniently misses out the rat and enema parts and presents it as "Antioxidants in honey have even been associated with reducing the damage done to the colon in colitis" - I find this very misleading at best.

Finally, even if all of the medicinal claims above were 100% watertight and applied to generic off-the-shelf honey, it still means that ultra-filtered honey is A-OK unless I have colitis or diabetic ulcers and am planning to administer said honey in an enema / topical foot creme. None of these studies say "a spoonful of honey a day wards off cancer", they're all very specific medicinal applications of honey which mainly seem to revolve around the antibacterial properties.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey#In_medicine

[2] http://www.metroatlantaotolaryngology.org/journal/nov10/biof...

[3] http://www.worldwidewounds.com/2001/november/Molan/honey-as-...

[4] http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/13738

[4a] http://www.fammed.wisc.edu/research/external-funded/honey-ul...

[5] http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=Sho...

[6] http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/dec/04/health.medical...

[7] http://www.greenbayharvest.co.uk/shop/categories/Articles/A-...