Manuka honey reduced breast cancer cell growth by 84 percent without harming healthy cells or causing major side effects, according to preliminary studies.
These remarkable findings - published in the journal Nutrients - open the door to developing a natural, non-toxic supplementary, or potentially stand-alone, anticancer treatment.
Manuka honey is referred to as a nutraceutical - a type of product that, apart from providing nutritional value, also have health-improving properties. Ginseng, green tea, Echinacea, ginger, and omega-3 are common examples. So is Manuka honey, produced from the nectar collected by honey bees when they pollinate the manuka, a species of tea tree indigenous to New Zealand and southeast Australia.
Manuka honey has been demonstrated to have antibacterial, antioxidant and healing properties that are thought to be due to its specific composition, which differs from other kinds of honey. Now, preliminary studies by researchers at UCLA have found that this nutraceutical might aid in breast cancer prevention and treatment.
“The findings provide hope for [the] development of a natural, less toxic alternative to traditional chemotherapy,” said Dr Diana Márquez-Garbán, associate professor of medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and the study’s lead author.