Oh no, it’s not what you think. This has to do with hacking in the sense of coughing…

But let me start off this post by stating the following: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. In other words, don’t do what I’m still doing. Okay, that said, now I can safely tell you what’s been going on…

At the beginning of this week I developed a cough, a nasty one. Uh-oh. Whenever that happens, it goes right into my chest, and then I have bronchitis for at least a week.

Under normal circumstances, as I have done countless times in the past, I would begin taking an antibiotic at the first hint of any YELLOW PHLEGM (sorry, but there’s really no polite way to put it, unless Paula has some suggestions, hehe…so I might as well shout it out in shiny capital letters! ;)).

However, recently I read some very bad things about antibiotics. On Facebook, Hanna posted this important link, important for those of us who do take antibiotics from time to time: http://goo.gl/qmgCU

Aaaah…not nice. Not at all. True, whenever I take antibiotics, I always take something that replenishes my supply of good gut bacteria…But even that, according to the article, may not be enough. See the bit about micro-ecology. Yikesss!

So, in view of this bit of negative press on antibiotics, and since Manuka honey cured an infected finger of mine back in 2009 (see my December 20 2009 post for details of this particular episode…), I got to thinking: WELL, WHY NOT? Let’s see if this honey works as well internally. If my cough gets even a smidgen worse, then I can always start on an antibiotic…

And so, for the past three days, I have been taking four spoonfuls (spaced out during the day) of “very active” Manuka honey. By “very active” I mean that it has more than an UMF 10 in it. An UMF is an abbreviation (=Unique Manuka Factor, hehe, love it!) indicating the strength of the antibacterial properties found in some types of Manuka honey. So please make sure, if you buy any, that your Manuka honey contains at least UMF 10. The stuff I have is UMF 15 or, even better!, UMF 20.

Now, I should note that I still have a cough. And we’re into Day Three.

However, on Day One I was already beginning to feel really crummy; whereas, on Day Two, = yesterday, I felt well enough to drive myself over to a girlfriend’s house to play cards (my team won, incidentally…!). And today I feel even better. Yes, I still have a cough, but that’s it. 

Ah, I can sense that you’re all just dying to know what the color of my phlegm is today. 😉 Well, it’s no longer yellow. It’s clear.

Now, one of the following things could be happening:

1. Possible Placebo Effect. I believe strongly in the powers of Manuka honey. With reason, too. So could it be that my mind alone, even the strongly suspicious and skeptical part of my mind, is getting the better of this blasted cough? Possible.
2. The Cough Would Have Gotten Better Anyway. Yeah, that’s possible, too. But I should note that it’s never happened before. Because of my almost non-existent immune system, my coughs always end up in my chest where they fester and develop into some really crummy stuff…
3. The Manuka Honey Works. Well, that’s the most plausible explanation, methinks.

However, since THE cough isn’t entirely gone yet, I’m still reserving judgment. But, as I said, I feel fine, so I’ve decided to hold off on the antibiotics and instead wait and see what happens…Unless my cough takes a turn for the worse, of course! If it does, you will be reading another post about it… 🙂

MORE READING. A study shows that this wondrous honey can reverse antibiotic resistance  (Science Daily article, April13 2011): http://goo.gl/iSMYG