What The Heck Is Medical-Grade Honey?

Refinery 29

The skin-care world has been buzzing (sorry, had to) with honey-infused goodies lately — everything from hand creams to toners to lip balms now has the bees' stamp of approval. The golden nectar is known for its antibacterial and moisturizing properties, and is especially great for those who suffer from acne, says dermatologist Jeannette Graf, MD.

But we're not just talking about the stuff from your local grocery store — there are different tiers when it comes to honey. Manuka has long been considered the crème de la crème of honey products — and just a few weeks ago, we discovered that you can get better, more potent results with medical-grade manuka.

"Manuka honey has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties," says dermatologist Julia Tzu, MD. "It's much harder to obtain because it's derived specifically from [bees harvesting nectar from] the manuka plant." The manuka plant is native to New Zealand and southeast Australia. Unlike regular, store-bought honey, which contains hydrogen peroxide as its main antimicrobial component, manuka honey contains methylglyoxal, which is much more stable and less likely to be broken down by outside factors, explains Dr. Tzu...