My daughter’s H. pylori diagnosis, and the healing power of Manuka honey.

It was like the food hadn’t been digested at all. I shouldn’t be able to tell what my 6-month-old daughter had been eating by looking at her stool. As the months went on, I gently weaned her from breastmilk and introduced more solid foods into her diet which you’d assume would see her gain weight, but her growth slowed. In fact it slowed to the point where she started falling off the growth chart, which worried me.

Connecting the dots to find a diagnosis

We booked an appointment with her paediatrician to find out what was happening, but were told everything was normal. Sadly, this misguided reassurance continued for a year. When my daughter turned 2, we decided to put her into a new daycare, and with that came a diet of sugar-laden foods. A diet that should see her put on weight, but she continued to plummet off the growth chart. None of it was making sense. And then suddenly, one day, out of nowhere she developed a stutter.

As a neuroscientist, I understood there’s a connection between the gut and the brain, so I started looking into what it could be. It was something she was eating, so we started tracking her food intake to try and figure it out. We narrowed it down to certain foods like apples and bananas. These certain foods were causing her to stutter like crazy. So we decided to remove the foods and then slowly reintroduce them, but the stutter would return.

At one point the stutter was so bad, she would just cry. So we decided therapy would be good for her, and us too. It gave us the tools we needed to be able to support her emotionally and ensure she was not traumatised by it.

We knew we needed help. So we went to a paediatric gastroenterologist who did all sorts of testing, but once again we were reassured that everything was normal. At the time, I was working with a nutritionist to heal my gut, as I also had digestive issues. So I ordered some tests through her for my daughter. One of the tests profiled every bug in her gut and tested for parasites and H. pylori. And that’s when everything started to make sense - the test came back positive for H. pylori.

The road to recovery

Once we had the results, I sent them to the gastroenterologist who suggested we start various medications, including stomach acid blockers, antibiotics, and a few others that targeted H. pylori infections. But my daughter was only 2 years old, I didn’t know how comfortable I felt putting her through that. So I did what any mother would do, I started looking for a natural treatment for H. pylori.

I came across two research papers from the National Library of Medicine, The Antibacterial Activity of Honey on Helicobacter Pylori and Honey: its medicinal property and antibacterial activity that suggested using Manuka honey for H. pylori could help restore the gut and reduce the production of H. pylori. I also found research that lactoferrin, which is found in colostrum, has been known to reduce the production of H. pylori, which made a lot of sense to me because she started developing digestive issues when she was weaned from breast milk.

I needed to know more about Manuka honey. I wanted to ensure what I was giving my daughter was going to help her H. pylori. So I did a tonne of research and looked into whether Manuka honey was safe for children, how Manuka honey is made, how it is rated, and what MGO means. And that’s how I found New Zealand Honey Co. Finding your company was like finding the light at the end of the tunnel. I was drawn to the educational section of your website, it felt like you really wanted to educate your customers and steer them to a purchase that was right for them and their needs. I appreciated that.

The Manuka Honey didn’t just work, it worked like gangbusters. We paired 1/4-1/2 tsp of UMF™ 24+ | MGO 1122+ New Zealand Honey Co. Manuka honey with colostrum twice daily for one month. And after just one month she tested negative, her stools returned to normal, and her stutter significantly improved.

I was so relieved, not only that my daughter was now on the mend but that I had followed my gut and didn’t go the route of putting her through harsh antibiotic medications. Today I continue to give my daughter New Zealand Honey Co. Manuka honey intermittently as a preventative measure. She’s also had croup which was just horrible, so I’ve used the Manuka honey as cough relief, and found it worked wonders.

I recommend Manuka honey to all my friends and family, especially for coughs and respiratory issues. My friend’s 4-year-old son had a terrible cold and had been up all night coughing, so I recommended she try New Zealand Honey Co. Manuka honey. She was relieved when it soothed his coughing fits and made a huge difference to his sleep.

I have a PhD and I am a scientist, so it’s in my nature to be curious and observant, and question and test everything, but I just want people to give Manuka honey a go. The science supports it, and it’s absolutely worked for my family.

Could Manuka honey help your H. pylori?

Brianna’s daughter suffered from digestive issues, H. pylori, and a stutter, and this had a huge effect on her day-to-day life. New Zealand Honey Co. Manuka honey helped resolve her H. pylori infection, and we’re so thankful to Brianna for sharing her story. If you’re looking for an effective and proven natural remedy, Manuka honey could be what you need to restore your health. Explore our product range online, or learn about the specific UMF™ grades to see which products are right for you.

We do not recommend Manuka honey as a replacement for seeking professional medical help. If you’re feeling unwell, please seek medical advice and always consult medical professionals in an emergency.