This honey is on the money.
Manuka honey — a super-expensive version of the ancient sweetener that’s packed with 100 times more of an antibacterial compound than regular honey — has become the trendy treatment for strep throat, dry skin, infections, gum pain, burns and even zits.
Tennis champ Novak Djokovic wrote in his memoir that eating two spoonfuls a day give him a boost on the court. Gwyneth Paltrow singled it out on her lifestyle site, Goop. And Scarlett Johansson told Style.com that when she spreads a bit of manuka honey on her skin, she gets “an amazing glow.”
“It’s a natural cure for anything from acne to a cut on the leg,” says celeb facialist Joanna Vargas, who works with fresh-faced stars Julianne Moore, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Karlie Kloss and uses manuka in her face masks.
Vargas says a thin layer — about a teaspoon’s worth — atop the skin for 10 minutes is all you need.
But manuka honey’s restorative properties apparently go deeper than the surface thanks to high levels of methylglyoxal, the antimicrobial that acolytes swear gives the honey a variety of health benefits.
“Other honeys don’t have as much potency against infectious agents,” says Dr. Julia Tzu of Wall Street Dermatology, who notes that manuka has components that fight the antibiotic-resistant skin infection MRSA.
Some say it’s also great against colds and the flu.
“I use it in tea as a preventive measure and will sometimes use a teaspoon of it in my neti pot to wash the sinuses during an active infection,” says Sarah Ouano, a naturopathic doctor at Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, a Western chain.
But at 10 times the cost of normal honey, is $50-a-jar manuka just celebrity-whipped hype? After all, most honeys boost the body’s helpful bacteria, and all honey has trace amounts of B-complex vitamins and Vitamin C, potassium, calcium, copper, iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese, amino acids and enzymes.
“It’s definitely superior,” says Dr. Michael Aziz, an internist at Lenox Hill Hospital. “It has more antibacterial properties and antioxidants. Regular honey is a complete waste of money and is the same as pure sugar.”
Manuka honey comes only from bees feeding on the nectar of manuka trees in New Zealand and Australia. That makes it rare, which explains its price. And that price may be helping to spark wild claims about what manuka honey can do.
“I had a customer whose father developed a rash on his back, and they had been working for weeks with dermatologists,” said Thomas Vitale, who works at Life Thyme in the West Village. “She bought manuka honey and told me that within a week the rash had almost completely healed.”
Laura Butler, an actress from Astoria, uses Lanoline Manuka Honey Intensive Eye Serum for puffiness. She also eats the honey, which she calls “medicinal food.”
“It’s pretty expensive, (but) I’m happy to pay a little bit more,” she says. “This is what works for me. I try to be a healthy person, and this is just another way I’m taking care of my health.”
Its value — and cost — as a superfood also explains the price tag on such items as Honeydrop Beverages’ manuka-infused juices, which cost $6.99 at Whole Foods. The juice maker defended the price on the grounds that manuka honey is just that good.
“The methylglyoxal fights a variety of infections, from strep throat to the common cold, among others,” says David Luks, the beverage company’s CEO and founder.
But mostly, it sweetens your look.
“It really transforms skin that’s dull and congested into skin that’s smooth and radiant,” says Jess Arnaudin, senior esthetician at Savor Spa, which has locations in Woodstock and the West Village. “Everyone who tries it falls in love.”
Manuka facts
Name: Manuka honey
From: Manuka trees in New Zealand and Australia
Active ingredient: methylglyoxal
Calories per tablespoon: 60
Cost: $2-$4 per ounce (compared to 50 cents for regular honey)
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With Gianluca Cuestas
