Is Manuka Honey Good for Stomach Problems?

Think you’re alone with your stomach problems?

Apparently you’re not.

“According to a national survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults, 72 percent said they have experienced at least one of the following gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms a few times a month or more: diarrhea, gas, bloating, stomach pain, frequent bowel movements, unexplained weight-loss and non-specific GI discomfort.” - Abbvie

That’s almost three-quarters of Americans surveyed!

A common prescription for stomach problems is making changes to diet and lifestyle habits, and often after this, symptoms reduce.

There’s been significant research into whether manuka honey could be an effective remedy for such issues, with its antibacterial properties.

In this blog, we’re going to dissect the effect of manuka honey on the following stomach problems, and serve you the research on a tasty, honey platter.

In this guide:

H. pylori

Ulcerative colitis

Gastritis, gastric ulcers, and Gastroenteritis

GERD and acid reflux

Which UMF™ manuka honey is best for stomach problems?

Who should not take manuka honey?

We’ll start by exploring the bacteria underlying so many stomach problems: H. pylori.

H. pylori and Manuka Honey

Heliobacter Pylori (commonly known as H. pylori) is a bacteria in the stomach that some people have and some people don’t.

It turns out that 44% of humans are living with H. pylori bacteria in their body, most likely having been ‘infected’ with it during childhood.

Although it can lead to serious illness, it doesn’t cause issues in everybody. Many people don’t present symptoms and will not even know they have it.

Pylori is not, on its own, a stomach problem. It’s when it starts to damage the lining of the stomach (slowly, over a period of time) that it can cause a range of stomach problems like peptic ulcers or even gastritis.

Typical symptoms of when this happens are similar to that of stomach cancer (pain, bloating, weight loss, bloody vomit) but blood tests, stool tests and breath tests can be used to diagnose H. pylori as the cause.

So how might manuka honey help H. pylori?

“University of Auckland senior researcher Dr Fiona Radcliff undertook two laboratory studies using BEE+ Manuka Honey to investigate its effects on the growth of H. pylori. “The results were clear, the higher the UMF the more likely it was to inhibit growth and kill the bacteria in liquid cultures. The honey rated UMF® 25+ had four times the ability to inhibit H. pylori growth and kill the bacteria as the honey rated UMF® 5+” said Dr Radcliff. “There was also a significant difference between UMF®-rated manuka honey than supermarket brands.” - Women’s Health

According to Dr. Radcliff, manuka honey can kill H. pylori, and the higher the UMF™ grade, the more effective the manuka honey will be.

Another experiment tried to determine what concentrations of honey would inhibit H. Pylori growth, concluding that only manuka honey had the power to do so:

“They found that Manuka honey from New Zealand, at concentrations as low as 5% v/v, completely inhibits the growth of H. pylori, and that 2.5% v/v partially inhibits the growth of H. pylori. The authors also found that non-Manuka honey, and an artificially prepared solution mimicking the physical properties of honey, had no inhibitory effect on H. pylori.” - Medscape

Conclusion: Manuka honey may inhibit the growth of the H. pylori bacteria, reducing the risk of the following stomach problems in this article.

Our customer, June, shared this video of her use of our Manuka Honey for her H. Pylori.