Investigating the efficacy of honey for treating bronchial asthma

In this study, an international team of researchers investigated whether honey alone or in combination with other ingredients can treat bronchial asthma. Their findings were published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.

• Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic inflammatory diseases.
• The use of complementary and alternative medicine to treat bronchial asthma is increasing worldwide.
• To determine the effectiveness of honey against bronchial asthma, the researchers searched 10 electronic databases for studies involving the use of honey alone or in combination with other ingredients as treatment.
• They found that the combination of honey and Nigella sativa (black cumin, NS) significantly improved all pulmonary functions, including forced expiratory volume (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR), in both moderate and severe, uncontrolled persistent asthma cases.
• Honey and NS also signficantly improved the asthma control test scores of patients.
• Meanwhile, those with a less-severe grade of asthma showed a positive response in clinical parameters upon using honey.
• In one study, the use of celery seeds and honey caused clinical improvement of both lung functions, as well as FEV1, FVC and respiratory parameters.

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that honey combined with other natural ingredients is highly effective as a remedy for bronchial asthma.

Read the full article at this link.

Journal Reference: 

Abbas AS, Ghozy S, Minh LHN, Hashan MR, Soliman AL, Van NT, Hirayama K, Huy NT. HONEY IN BRONCHIAL ASTHMA: FROM FOLK TALES TO SCIENTIFIC FACTS. Journal of Medicinal Food. 07 June 2019;22(6):543–550. DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2018.4303