Ella Lopez

Manuka honey is still honey, it contains sugar and carbohydrate, and a higher UMF or MGO grade does not make it a low-glycemic or diabetes-specific food. In a small study, Manuka honey samples had GI values of 54 to 59, but GI varies and does not replace portion-aware carbohydrate counting. People with diabetes who choose … Read more

Manuka honey is not, and cannot be, “FDA approved” the way a drug is. Manuka honey is generally sold in the US as a conventional food, and FDA does not generally approve finished food products or individual food labels before they’re marketed, so a jar of honey doesn’t receive an “FDA approved” designation the way … Read more

No honey of any kind, raw, pasteurized, baked, or in a pacifier, should be given to a child under 12 months old. This includes Manuka honey. The CDC advises that honey and honey-containing products, including pacifiers, should not be given to children younger than 12 months, due to the risk of infant botulism from Clostridium … Read more

Yes. Eating Manuka honey in normal food amounts is considered safe for most healthy pregnancies, and honey isn’t on the NHS foods-to-avoid list. The botulism warning applies to babies under 12 months, not to you. The real cautions are blood sugar, bee allergies and certain medications, so check with your OB or midwife. If you’ve … Read more

Topical Manuka honey has a small but real evidence base: one small randomized trial in adults for eczema, and a more recent randomized trial reporting results comparable to a standard prescription treatment for acne. Both are promising but limited in scale. No study has shown that a higher UMF or MGO grade works better for … Read more

Crystallization is a normal, harmless physical change driven by honey’s natural glucose content, not a sign anything’s wrong. Refrigeration actually speeds it up rather than preventing it. The safest fix is a warm water bath kept around 95 to 113°F, well below the temperature that affects MGO and other heat-sensitive compounds. Why It Happens: The … Read more

Store Manuka honey in a sealed jar at cool room temperature, in a dark cupboard away from the stove and oven. Heat, not time, is what primarily reduces MGO and raises HMF, so a sealed jar kept out of the heat will hold its potency for years without needing the fridge. At a glance: sealed … Read more

Sear the chicken, build a quick garlic and soy sauce base in the same pan, then take it off the heat and stir the Manuka in last. That’s the key difference from typical honey garlic chicken: adding the honey off the heat keeps its earthy flavor instead of turning it into generic caramelized sweetness. Most … Read more

Bake the salmon plain at 400°F until it hits 145°F, then spoon a cold Manuka honey, garlic, and lemon glaze over the top once it’s out of the oven. The honey keeps its flavor, nothing scorches, and dinner comes together on one sheet pan. Most honey glazed salmon bakes the honey right onto the fish, … Read more