Honey as a superfood: can it really heal wounds, fight superbugs and provide sweet relief for coughs? |
Humans have been consuming honey for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks used it as a sweetener, but also a treatment for burns. Hippocrates, often referred to as the “father of medicine”, championed the sticky stuff – mistakenly – for purposes as varied as contraception and baldness.
Today, honey is often described as a superfood with a laundry list of promised benefits: a treatment for coughs, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, a potential solution to combat drug-resistant superbugs. Antiviral has previously debunked claims about hay fever and honey, finding there is little evidence that raw honey can reduce symptoms of allergic rhinitis.
When it comes to the substance’s claimed benefits, what sticks, and what’s just unfounded buzz?
What are the benefits of honey?
Honey produced by the western honeybee, Apis mellifera, contains predominantly sugar – about 80%. That level of sugar does not leave enough water for bacteria to survive in, says Liz Harry, an emeritus professor at the University of Technology Sydney.
“It basically never goes off,” says Dr Kenya Fernandes of the University of Sydney. The high sugar concentration is partly why honey has been found intact in ancient pots dating back thousands of years.
But honey also contains components with antimicrobial properties, such as hydrogen peroxide – the same compound used as a disinfectant. A 2024 study Fernandes co-authored found that dozens of Australian honey samples........