So Many Years Ago,

as a kid staying with my Grandmother in the summer holidays, 

she would always use honey, on cuts, scrapes and burns, in those days it was seldom that I would come home from playing with at least one of the previous three in a week, all picked up from the bomb sites we used to play in as kids, so I was surprised to read that this sweet substance seems to be making a medical comeback,

… there’s one type of honey that researchers have paid the most attention to, because its bacteria-killing arsenal goes beyond hydrogen peroxide. Manuka honey comes from honeybees that feast on the nectar from manuka flowers in New Zealand. Carter says manuka honey’s antibacterial properties stem from a special chemical in manuka flowers called dihydroxyacetone, or DHA. In honey, DHA becomes methylglyoxal (MGO), which is a sugar that attacks undesirable bacteria. Humans and other organisms have a well-developed enzyme system that protects them from MGO, while bacteria don’t fare as well.

Just like the way ancient humans used honey, scientists have primarily focused on using honey to treat wounds. “There is a lot of scientific evidence that shows that honey allows complex wounds to heal,” says Edwar Fuentes Pérez, a biochemist at the University of Chile.

so, not only is honey good for the body when ingested, it’s also good for healing wounds! more details about this over at Discover Magazine, so Grandmother did know best!