Manuka Doctor’s manuka honey is some of the cheapest manuka honey you’ll find on the market.
In our Manuka Doctor honey review, we’ll cover why it’s a great honey for sweetening your tea or for using as part of a beauty routine. However, if you’re looking for a high grade medicinal manuka honey, you may want to look elsewhere.
About Manuka Doctor
Manuka Doctor is a company based out of the UK that specializes in creating skin care products from manuka honey and purified bee venom.
Aside from their skin care products, they also offer several grades of manuka honey based on the ‘Bio Activity‘ of the honey, which is what we’ll be focusing on in this review.
Features
- Genuine New Zealand Manuka Honey
- BPA Free Honey Pots
- Honey Quality is Independently Tested
- Manuka Honey is Fully Traceable from Hive to Home
Pros
- Affordable Manuka Honey
- Measures the Peroxide Activity of the Honey
Cons
- Not Raw Honey
- Doesn’t Measure the Non-Peroxide Activity
Measuring Peroxide and Non-Peroxide Activity
If you’ve just started looking into getting some manuka honey, the points about peroxide and non-peroxide activity might be a little confusing.
What exactly is ‘peroxide activity‘ and ‘non-peroxide activity‘ and why should you care?
In the world of manuka honey, peroxide vs non-peroxide activity is arguably one of the most important things to consider. They both have to do with the antibacterial activity of the honey but are subtly different.
We’ll dedicate a good portion of this review explaining the difference between the two and what it means for you.
Affordable
Manuka Doctor manuka honey is consistently among the cheapest manuka honey you can find. If you’re looking for a cheap manuka honey, you’ll be hard pressed to find manuka honey cheaper than Manuka Doctor’s.
This is primarily a reflection of the fact that they don’t measure the non-peroxide activity of their honey, which we’ll talk about in the next section.
Not Raw Honey
Manuka Doctor’s manuka honey isn’t raw honey, which means their honey has been subjected to temperatures above 118F during extraction and processing.
Why does that matter? Well, the enzymes and antioxidants in honey start to degrade when exposed to temperatures above 118F.
This isn’t ideal as those enzymes and antioxidants can be beneficial for digestion and preventing cellular damage.
Peroxide vs Non-Peroxide Activity
Both peroxide and non-peroxide activity refer to the antibacterial activity of the honey.
The antibacterial activity in honey helps fight harmful bacteria like the acne-causing bacteria that live in your pores or bacteria that can infect cuts and wounds.
The higher the level of peroxide or non-peroxide activity, the higher the antibacterial strength of the honey and the more effective it is.
However, there is a difference between peroxide and non-peroxide activity and it’s important to know the difference when you’re shopping for manuka honey.
Peroxide Activity
All honey can have peroxide antibacterial activity due to hydrogen peroxide that occurs naturally in honey.
It’s not unique to manuka honey.
The problem with hydrogen peroxide is that it breaks down rapidly when it comes into contact with enzymes in our bodies. Hydrogen peroxide can also degrade over time or when exposed to heat or direct sunlight.
That’s not a problem if you plan to use the honey as part of a beauty routine as those enzymes that break down hydrogen peroxide are only present in our bodies, not on our skin.
All in all, the peroxide antibacterial activity in honey isn’t super stable. That’s where non-peroxide activity comes in.
Non-Peroxide Activity
Non-peroxide antibacterial activity is unique to manuka honey and is why manuka honey is so highly prized (and more expensive than other honey).
The non-peroxide activity in manuka honey is much more stable than the antibacterial activity from hydrogen peroxide and doesn’t break down like hydrogen peroxide does.
This makes manuka honey with non-peroxide activity much better for things like digestive health or as a salve for cuts and wounds.
About the Bio Active grading system
Here’s what Manuka Doctor has to say about their Bio Active grading system:
The number on the front of the Manuka Doctor Bio Active TA Manuka honey pot refers to the Total Activity Rating (TA).
TA Active is a commonly used rating system that predominantly measures the naturally occurring peroxide activity in honey.
In other words, they don’t measure the non-peroxide activity of their manuka honey.
If you’re interested in how the Bio Active grading system compares to other manuka honey grading systems, you can read our in depth article.
Wrapping Up
Manuka Doctor’s manuka honey is a great option if you plan to use it as as a nutritious sugar alternative or as part of a beauty routine.
However, you may want to look elsewhere though if you’re hoping to use the manuka honey medicinally.
If you’re looking for an alternative manuka honey option that is also affordable but still has a decent amount of non-peroxide activity, try Steens Raw Manuka Honey UMF 10+. It’s similarly priced but you get the added benefit of the honey being raw and having non-peroxide activity!
