When it comes to buying manuka honey, one of the most frequently asked questions would be “How to choose manuka honey?”.
Which Manuka is Right for You?
In order to know which manuka honey is right for you, you simply need to determine what is your purpose or intent for the manuka honey. Manuka honey is traditionally used for these applications:
- Maintaining general health and well-being
- Improving digestive health
- Alleviating sore throat
- Treating skin infections such as acne
- Antiseptic rub for wounds and burns
- Replacing processed sugar for coffee, tea, baking
- Boosting energy
- Spreading on bread for the family
High-Grade Medicinal Manuka
For health and healing-related purposes, the manuka honey that you need would be higher UMF or MGO factors. The higher the UMF or MGO factors, the greater would be the honey’s antiseptic effects. High-grade manuka honey such as UMF 20+ and MGO 800+ are known as medicinal grade (see the UMF and MGO reference) and are used for treating skin acne, wounds and burns. As a general rule, high-grade manuka honeys are not meant for daily consumption by the masses. But for people with health conditions such as sore throat, bad coughs, wounds, they may consume the high-grade manuka honey daily in the initial few days and switch to a lower UMF or MGO manuka for maintenance.
Manuka for Daily Consumption
For general health maintenance, you may go for UMF 5+ or MGO 80+ manuka honeys. These are suitable for daily consumption by adults. For children between 5 to 12 years old, stick to a small dosage (teaspoon). As most children love sweet drinks, parents can offer their kids manuka honey drinks with a few drops of lemon (home-made honey lemonade) and reduce their intake of commercial juices and canned drinks. As a breakfast spread, it is fine to go for manuka blends, which are manuka honey without any UMF or MGO ratings.
So there you have it. There is no hard and fast rules for how to choose manuka honey. It depends on your purpose (medicinal or non-medicinal) and consumption pattern (daily or target).
