Natural Society May 27 2013
In 1769, James Cook called the tea tree a medicinal wonder with an ‘agreeable bitter taste’, but New Zealanders call their Manuka trees life savers. Manuka oil is derived from the Manuka tree that grows primarily in New Zealand. Its active ingredients, Triketones and Sesquiterpenes, are anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-septic and anti-bacterial. The oil of the Manuka tree is even successfully fighting MRSA bacteria, also known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or staph.
A skin disease which can cause mild to a fatal infection, skin rashes, boils, redness, and itching, MRSA isn’t always deadly, but it can be. Thankfully, recent scientific studies show that manuka oil can not only prevent MRSA, but treat it as well. In fact, the oil has been shown to be more effective than many pharmaceutical antibiotics, prescribed by doctors to treat MRSA. The oil can also alleviate symptoms from everything from anxiety to eczema.
In addition to being a potent answer to drug resistant bacteria like MRSA, another study published in the journal Microbiology found that honey – particularly that derived from bees foraging on manuka flowers – halted one type of streptococcus pyogenes from inhibiting the healing of wounds.