Manuka Honey Boosts New Zealand Health Tonic

'Divine' Local Tonic Going Global
By Marianne Gillingham, The Gisborne Herald (New Zealand), 3/23/2009

One woman’s quest to give her family better health has resulted in a new tonic that is being exported from Gisborne to countries as far afield as Malta, the United States and England…

The inspiration for Lottie Ratapu’s health drink “Divine” was her own poor health five years ago, when she had a number of problems that could be traced back to poor nutrition and lifestyle.

Having lost two of her five children to cancer, Mrs Ratapu had long before turned her attention to traditional remedies that might have helped…

“But the taste was still not quite right,” said Mrs Ratapu.

It was about then that she found out about the power of manuka honey, which has been found to have natural antibiotic actions as well as being high in energy.

“I changed my recipe. I took out one ingredient and added the honey.”

The result was fantastic.

“The taste was awesome and the energy was awesome,” she said...

Mrs Ratapu plays her cards close to the chest about this marketing deal and the recipe of her potion.

Suffice to say it is already exported and it contains kawakawa, one of the most important healing herbs in Rongoa Maori (traditional Maori medicine).

Kawakawa is used as a healing herb or tonic and has been found to be good for the digestive system, as well as being used to help combat colds, flu and coughs.

Divine also includes ginger, which among other properties aids digestion, and aloe vera, known to have detoxifying and antibacterial effects.

The couple grow their own aloe vera and ginger, and harvest kawakawa from bush.

Thanks to the addition of manuka honey, the drink has the aroma of honeycomb and a fresh, thirst-quenching taste which has gone down well with a growing number of regular customers.

“The results have been awesome,” said Mrs Ratapu.

She has a swag of testimonials from people who say that drinking Divine has helped with all manner of conditions, including hard-to-treat ones like psoriasis.

“My own diabetic score has gone from 19 down to five since I started making it,” she said...