Manuka honey is an ordinary food carrying an unusual bacteria-killing compound. Held against a surface — a wound bed, an eyelid, a dry mouth — it has beaten the treatments it was tested against often enough to be taken seriously. Swallowed, it is a spoonful of sugar that digestion mostly destroys. Much of the research is company-funded. (Full Review)
| Marker | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Fasting glucose | 75–85 mg/dL (4.2–4.7 mmol/L) | Detects the added sugar load |
| HbA1c | 4.8–5.2% | Catches sustained glucose drift |
| Fasting insulin | 2–5 µIU/mL | Earliest sign of metabolic strain |
| Triglycerides | Below 80 mg/dL | Most sugar-sensitive lipid marker |
| hs-CRP | Below 0.5 mg/L | Tracks inflammation over time |
| Post-dose glucose rise on a continuous glucose monitor | Under 30 mg/dL above baseline at 60–90 min | Individual response to one serving |
| Waist-to-height ratio | Below 0.5 | Detects a creeping calorie surplus |
| Serum total IgE | Below 100 IU/mL | Screens for allergic reactivity |
| Wound swab culture | No established target; track clearance of baseline organism | Confirms control of colonisation |
Cadence: Baseline panel before starting; symptom scores at 4 weeks; metabolic panel at 12 weeks, then every 6 to 12 months if daily intake continues. Wound swabs only when clinical signs of infection change.