This story was prepared by Mānuka Health New Zealand and is being published by the New Zealand Herald as advertorial.
Mānuka honey may assist in the management of uncomfortable reflux
A recent study suggests mānuka honey could assist in the management of an uncomfortable condition which affects up to 20 per cent of New Zealanders – reflux.
Reflux is a common but uncomfortable condition in which the lower oesophageal sphincter allows stomach acid to flow back up the tube which connects the mouth to the stomach. Symptoms include a burning sensation in the chest (heartburn), feeling liquid or undigested food ‘backwash’ into the throat, and pain in the upper belly or chest.
Kannan Subramanian, Head of Research and Development for Mānuka Health New Zealand, says a recently published study using Mānuka Health MGO400 mānuka honey showed promising results regarding the management of reflux, in combination with proper diet and drugs. He says this was the first time a clinical trial had shown positive benefits from ingesting mānuka honey. This builds on research over the past 40 years which has shown the anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties of mānuka honey in topical applications.
“This is a remarkable milestone for us in terms of understanding how mānuka honey could perform in an oral consumption, but it is just the tip of the iceberg,” Subramanian says. “There has been a lot of anecdotal evidence, but this is the first study that starts to shed some light on it.”
The results of the research, by a team of scientists led by Michał Gośliński from the Faculty of Health Sciences at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland, were recently published in the journal Food Science & Nutrition. The pilot study looked into the ingestion of mānuka honey in patients with acid reflux and concluded that “consumption of mānuka honey combined with proper diet and drugs (proton-pump inhibitors) could be a triple therapy regimen” for the treatment of acid reflux.
At the end of the study period, 73.3 per cent of patients in the control group (taking mānuka honey) showed a reduction in inflammation to the oesophagus, compared to 33.3 per cent of the placebo group. The same percentage of patients who had taken the honey also reported a “great improvement” in the unpleasant symptoms they experienced.
The scientists involved in the study said the result was potentially due to the presence of bioactive compounds in the mānuka honey which have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and bacteriostatic properties, in particular methylgloxal (MGO), hydrogen peroxide and polyphenols.
“The Polish study was a preliminary study on 30 subjects, and further studies are planned,” says Subramanian. “It’s a positive outcome so far and the next step is to trial it on a larger group of people in a controlled fashion, to understand more of what this study could reveal to us.”
Participants in the active study group ingested 5g of honey, three times a day. The honey used for the study came from Mānuka Health and was tested and certified to contain at least 400 mg/kg of methylglyoxal (MGO), believed to be one of the most significant active compounds in mānuka honey.
MGO was identified in 2006 by Professor Thomas Henle from the Technical University of Dresden, Germany, as being responsible for the honey’s natural bioactivity, although it also contains an array of other compounds including antioxidants, prebiotics, vitamins and trace minerals.
“MGO 400 is the starting point at which we believe the true mānuka honey effect begins and it starts to deliver the goodness it contains,” Subramanian says.
In recent years, gut health and its effect on other body systems has become the focus of considerable research; Subramanian says there is much to be investigated about the potential positive benefits of ingesting mānuka honey.
“Gut health is very important. There’s a reason we use the expressions ‘listen to your gut’ and ‘what does your gut say’,” he says. “Particularly over the past five years, there has been increasing evidence about the correlation between the gut and the brain.”
Other recent consumer perception trials have indicated that ingesting mānuka honey may also support the skin — via the gut. A study in the US where participants ate a teaspoonful of MGO400+ manuka honey every day showed that, after four weeks, 82 per cent of participants felt their skin was less irritated and 80 per cent reported their complexion looked clearer. Subramanian says these effects may be linked to the gut microbiome and how it affects signals to the brain and the skin’s own microbiome.
“It’s a holistic system, and there are strong connections within the body,” he says. “We are all host to trillions of microbes, and when they don’t work with us, they manifest in various conditions.”
Not all honey is created equal, however, Subramanian says, as Mānuka Health’s honey is harvested and processed over two years, using low heat treatment to preserve the natural goodness. Each jar carries a scannable ‘Trust Code’ which links to the honey’s origins, right back to the hives and quality test results.
Subramanian says the new research is exciting not only from a health perspective, but also because it showcases New Zealand’s unique mānuka honey.
“We have been waiting for this study for a long time on an oral consumption, and it’s a very proud moment to have this research done on Mānuka Health honey.”
More information on the clinical trial is available here.