I have been fighting a bit of a cold/flu for the past two weeks with a cough that would not go away. It is getting better now and I have also used honey and raw honey. The brand I was able to get was "Honey Gardens - Apitherapy Raw Honey." It is the closest I was able to find to a raw honeycomb. Seems to help.
That's a Vermont, USA honey. Do you get that in the Philippines or are you in the USA?
I found what the substance is that has insulin-like activity. It's royal jelly. One of the studies didn't have a positive result, but all the most recent ones did, including a clinical trial in humans.
Royal jelly reduces the serum glucose levels in healthy subjects
Münstedt K, Bargello M, Hauenschild A.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Justus-Liebig University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Giessen, Germany. karsten.muenstedt@gyn.med.uni-giessen.de
J Med Food. 2009 Oct;12(5):1170-2.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19857086Earlier biological investigations have shown that royal jelly has insulin-like activity. However, there have so far been no clinical trials to support these findings. The objective of the present study was to study the effect of royal jelly ingestion on the glucose metabolism of healthy humans. Twenty volunteers underwent the standardized oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and afterwards a second OGTT after ingestion of 20 g of royal jelly.
Serum glucose levels after 2 hours and the area under the curve for glucose were significantly lower (P = .041) after royal jelly administration. Substances originating from the pharyngeal glands of the honey bee with insulin-like activity are likely to have caused this effect and may thus be, at least partially, responsible for the lowering impact of honey on blood glucose levels. The identification of the substances that seem to act even after passage through the human stomach could lead to the development of new concepts in diabetology.
Biol Pharm Bull. 2008 Nov;31(11):2103-7.
Royal jelly ameliorates insulin resistance in fructose-drinking rats.
Zamami Y, Takatori S, Goda M, Koyama T, Iwatani Y, Jin X, Takai-Doi S, Kawasaki H.
Department of Clinical Pharmaceutical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18981581Abstract
Royal jelly (RJ) is known to contain excellent nutrition and a variety of biological activities. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of RJ on insulin resistance (hyperinsulinemia) in fructose-drinking rats (FDR; insulin resistance animal model). Male Wistar rats (6 weeks old) received 15% fructose solution in drinking water for 8 weeks. FDR
showed significant increases in plasma levels of insulin and triglyceride, Homeostasis Model Assessment ratio (HOMA-R, an index of insulin resistance), and systolic blood pressure, but not blood glucose levels, when compared with control rats. RJ (100, 300 mg/kg, p.o.) treatment for 8 weeks significantly decreased the plasma levels of insulin and triglyceride, HOMA-R, without affecting blood glucose or total cholesterol levels and tended to lower systolic blood pressure. In isolated and perfused mesenteric vascular beds of FDR, RJ treatment resulted in a significant reduction in sympathetic nerve-mediated vasoconstrictor response to periarterial nerve stimulation (PNS) and tended to increase the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) nerve-mediated vasodilator response to PNS, compared with those in untreated FDR. However, RJ treatment did not significantly affect norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction or CGRP-induced vasodilation.
These results suggest that RJ could be an effective functional food to prevent insulin resistance associated with the development of hypertension.PMID: 18981581 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]Free Article
Yakugaku Zasshi. 2007 Nov;127(11):1877-82.
[Effect of long-term treatment with royal jelly on insulin resistance in Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats].
[Article in Japanese]
Nomura M, Maruo N, Zamami Y, Takatori S, Doi S, Kawasaki H.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17978564Department of Clinical Pharmaceutical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Tsushima-naka, Okayama City, Japan.
Abstract
Royal jelly (RJ) is known to have abundant nutritional properties and a variety of biological activities. To investigate the effects of RJ on insulin resistance, 10-week-old Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, a type 2 diabetic model, were treated for 4 weeks with RJ (10, 30, and 300 mg/kg, p.o.). RJ treatment tended to decrease systolic blood pressure and
significantly decreased serum levels of insulin and the Homeostasis Model Assessment ratio, an index of insulin resistance. In isolated and perfused mesenteric vascular beds of OLETF rats, RJ treatment resulted in significant reduction of the sympathetic nerve-mediated vasoconstrictor response to periarterial nerve stimulation (PNS) and potentiation of the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) nerve-mediated vasodilator response to PNS, compared with that in untreated OLETF rats. However, RJ treatment did not significantly affect norepinephrine-induced vasoconstriction and CGRP-induced vasodilation.
These results suggest that RJ could be an effective and functional food to prevent the development of insulin resistance.Augmentation of wound healing by royal jelly (RJ) in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.
Jpn J Pharmacol. 1990 Jul;53(3):331-7.
Department of Pharmacology, Nihon University School of Dentistry, Matsudo, Japan.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2391765?dopt=AbstractChronically diabetic rats prepared by a single i.v. injection of streptozotocin were used to study whether royal jelly (RJ) possesses a hypoglycemic reaction and whether it can augment wound healing. Oral RJ administration of 10, 100 and 1000 mg/kg/day
did not show any insulin-like activity (the hypoglycemic reaction). RJ, however, showed some anti-inflammatory activity by decreasing exudation and collagen formation in granulation tissue formation in the cotton pellet method. RJ also shortened the healing period of desquamated skin lesions. Thus, RJ possesses an anti-inflammatory action and is able to augment wound healing, but does not have an insulin-like action in streptozotocin-diabetic rats.