...Well, not quite. But recent research shows that honey does have infection-fighting properties surprisingly similar to the common antibiotic ampicillin. And even more importantly, honey worked just as well against bacteria that had developed a resistance to ampicillin, which is good news as the medical community raises awareness about antibiotic resistance.
The study, which was recently published in PLOS ONE, compared the effects of Canadian honey and ampicillin on E. coli bacteria. The most common kind of antibiotics - beta-lactams, which includes ampicillin - work by destroying the cell wall of a bacterium. This prohibits the bacterium from surviving, growing, and reproducing. In the experiment, the researchers used scanning electron microscopy to visualize the changes in the bacterial cultures' cell structures. They saw that honey and ampicillin had similar effects on the shapes of the E. coli, that they affected it to a similar degree, and that honey had equal effects on normal and antibiotic-resistant E. coli.
As reported on the PLOS blog:
While scientists have yet to confirm the exact compounds responsible, the results of the above study support the idea that honey and ampicillin may have similar antibacterial efficacies, with possibly different mechanisms of attack.
But before you start smothering your toast with gooey goodness each morning or adding heaping spoonfuls to your tea, keep in mind that more research is needed to better understand the potential for honey's medicinal use.
Previously: A look at our disappearing microbes
Photo by bionicgrrl
