Reader story — Greg, the US. Health focus: IBS.
A shared condition
Research indicates that IBS affects around 11% of the population globally. That's hundreds of millions of people worldwide living with a condition that is often invisible to everyone but the person experiencing it.
No one with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) wants to hear, "it's all in your head". Yet, too often those with IBS are told there is no explanation for their repeated bouts of abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhoea, and constipation — not to mention the anxiety and depression that often come with it. Research from the University of Missouri School of Medicine has established a link between irritable bowel syndrome and low mood, including anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation.
This study looked at more than 1.2 million IBS patient hospitalisations over three years and found that more than 38% had anxiety, and more than 27% had depression. Figures like these help explain why so many people living with IBS, like Greg, end up searching for answers well beyond the digestive system itself — and why the gut-brain connection has become such a talking point in IBS communities.
"I didn't want to get out of bed. I was depressed, riddled with anxiety and stress, and it was snowballing. But Manuka honey helped get my life back on track." — Greg
I've had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) for three long years, and everything that comes with it: gastro-oesophageal reflux, heartburn, and low mood. In the past year, my symptoms became so debilitating that they started affecting my mental health. I'd find myself yo-yoing between diarrhoea and constipation, suffering with diarrhoea for three days, followed by a day or two of constipation, and then back to diarrhoea again. I'd be crippled over in agony, my stomach so bloated I'd look like I was nine months pregnant, and then three hours later, for no reason at all, it would be gone.
With this, my mental health suffered too. I was in a really dark place — depressed, riddled with anxiety and stress — and day by day it was snowballing. I didn't want to get out of bed, and I couldn't focus on my work. But I also didn't want to take pharmaceutical medication, because I'd been there before, and I found it made me worse: my anxiety heightened, I felt hyperactive, and it also made me drowsy. This time I needed something different, a natural remedy.
"People often think they have anxiety or depression because there's something wrong with the brain, but what they don't realise is that it could in fact be the gut." — Greg
Desperate to find something that might help my IBS, I went online and read as much as I possibly could. I needed to find answers, but what I found surprised me. I thought IBS was a condition directly related to the food you put in your body, but it was so much bigger than that. What I learned was that an unhealthy gut can affect your brain, which some research links to depression, anxiety, and irritable bowel syndrome. So if you're stressed, it can affect your digestive system. If you're depressed, it can affect your digestive system. And if you have anxiety, that too can affect your digestive system. Your stomach and your brain are directly connected, so I thought to myself: if I can support my gut, maybe I can help my anxiety and depression too.
While searching online, I came across an article that talked about Manuka honey and its potential health benefits. I decided I had nothing to lose, and I started taking it twice daily to see if it would help ease my digestive issues and improve my overall health. I knew that Manuka honey is often used as a natural remedy for cuts and grazes, colds and sore throats, but what I didn't know was that some people describe it as a source of prebiotic support that may help build up the good bacteria in the gut. I read up on the benefits of Manuka honey for digestion, mental health, and anxiety, and that's when I knew I had to give it a go.
Editorial note: Greg's belief that Manuka honey acted as a "prebiotic" reflects a common piece of consumer wisdom about the honey, and it's worth understanding where that idea comes from and where the evidence currently stands — we unpack this further down in "What does the research actually say?"
A journey of change
I started using one Manuka honey brand, but after discovering it wasn't a genuine New Zealand product, I went searching for an authentic New Zealand brand. Once I started to read the reviews and testimonials, I was sold.
A jar of UMF™ 26+ | MGO 1282+ Manuka honey arrived at my doorstep, packaged beautifully. I began taking a teaspoon twice a day, morning and night, on an empty stomach. From what I'd read online, there are certain times of the day that are said to be best for consuming Manuka honey, on the basis that your body absorbs the nutrients better on an empty stomach. On first impression, I found the consistency silky, and it tasted pure and authentic.
I don't know if it was the first few days or the first week, but I felt like the darkness had lifted. I felt lighter, and my mood had shifted. I wasn't feeling irritable, stressed, or worried. I felt good. I had a new sense of optimism, focus, and productivity, and my sleep improved too. But mostly, I felt relief.
"Manuka honey seemed to help with problems I'd been told needed pharmaceutical drugs." — Greg
Because I'd been in that dark place for far too long. All of the things I'd been putting off because I felt anxious or depressed — things like work and life admin — I no longer felt reluctant to do. And it was at that moment that I felt Manuka honey had not only eased my IBS, but had helped get my life back on track.
Singing Manuka honey's praises from the rooftops
"I wish I'd done this sooner, but my brain wasn't capable of saying no to medication. I'm sharing my story now because it could potentially help turn someone's life around." — Greg
I've now been using UMF™ 26+ | MGO 1282+ Manuka honey on a monthly basis, and it's made a real difference. I'll tell anyone willing to listen about it. It sounds so simple, but I want everyone to try it. Just give it a shot. If my story can help just one person, and Manuka honey does for them what it seemed to do for me, that would mean the world. People think it's a lot of money to part with, but it's nothing compared to how I've felt these last few months. You can't put a price on your health, which is why I'm considering moving up to a UMF™ 28+ | MGO 1450+.
"Just try it for a month — you won't know if it works until you've given it a try." — Greg
I've also encouraged my mother to try Manuka honey, as she's always been a little up and down with gastric issues. She's going to give it a month. I believe if it helps me, it might help her too.
What does the research actually say?
Greg's experience is his own, and we're grateful he shared it — but as an education-focused resource, we think it's important to sit his story alongside what the wider research on Manuka honey actually shows, particularly around the "gut healing" and "prebiotic" language that circulates online.
The antibacterial story starts with MGO. Laboratory chemistry work has identified methylglyoxal (MGO) as the compound most responsible for Manuka honey's antibacterial activity in vitro, found at up to 100 times higher levels than in conventional honeys (source). This is largely why Manuka honey has built its reputation for topical use on cuts, grazes, and sore throats. However, this is a chemical and antibacterial finding — it does not, on its own, tell us anything about digestion, IBS symptoms, or mood.
The "prebiotic, gut-repairing" claim is not well supported by current human evidence. The only identified human trial testing Manuka honey's effect on gut bacteria — a randomised, double-blind, cross-over study of 20 healthy adults aged 42–64, consuming 20g a day for four weeks — found no measurable change in beneficial or commensal gut bacterial groups. The study's own authors noted this directly contradicts the anecdotal claims of digestive benefit that are common in consumer content (source). It's worth being clear-eyed about this: this trial was conducted in healthy adults, not people with IBS, and it didn't measure symptoms like bloating or bowel habits — so it can't tell us whether Manuka honey helps or doesn't help IBS specifically. But it is the strongest piece of evidence we currently have that speaks directly to the "prebiotic" claim, and it does not support it. We think that context matters, even within a story about someone's positive experience.
On the positive side, that same trial found no red flags for short-term tolerability. Daily Manuka honey consumption did not raise IgE (an allergy marker) or advanced glycation end-product levels in healthy adults over four weeks (source). That's reassuring from a general safety standpoint, but again, it was a safety-focused study in healthy volunteers — not a study of people with active gastrointestinal conditions like IBS, and not a substitute for individual medical advice.
Broader reviews describe the picture as still unresolved. A 2024 review of Manuka honey research documents a range of bioactive effects — anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory — across in vitro, animal, and some clinical studies, but explicitly flags safety, efficacy, and the "implied benefits" often attached to Manuka honey as controversial and unresolved areas of research (source). In other words, the scientific community itself is still working out how much of Manuka honey's reputation holds up under controlled study — which is a useful thing to keep in mind when reading any personal story, including this one.
There is some early, laboratory-only immune research. Some in-vitro (laboratory) research suggests Manuka-honey-derived methylglyoxal can enhance activation of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells, a type of immune cell, hinting at a possible immune-system interaction (source). This is genuinely interesting mechanistic research, but it's cell-culture work — it hasn't been tested in humans, and it says nothing about IBS symptoms, mood, or gut healing in real people.
MGO is not universally "good news", either. Commentary in the wound-care literature raises a theoretical concern that methylglyoxal — the very compound responsible for Manuka honey's antibacterial reputation — is also a protein-glycating agent, which in some contexts (particularly diabetic wound healing) could theoretically work against tissue repair rather than for it (source). This concern relates specifically to medical-grade Manuka honey used in wound dressings for people with diabetes, not to oral consumption of food-grade honey or to IBS — but it's a useful reminder that MGO's effects are not uniformly positive across every context, and that more controlled research is still needed.
Taken together, this body of research doesn't disprove what Greg experienced — plenty of people report feeling better after making lifestyle changes, and placebo, routine, and the simple act of taking control of one's health can all play a genuine role in wellbeing. But it does mean the specific "prebiotic gut repair" explanation Greg offers for why Manuka honey helped him is currently ahead of what human clinical research actually supports. We think it's more honest to say: Greg had a positive personal experience worth sharing, while the broader science on Manuka honey and gut health remains genuinely unsettled.
Could Manuka honey become part of your routine?
For years, Greg lived with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), depression, stress, and anxiety, which had an effect on his relationships, his job, and his self-esteem. Manuka honey became part of his personal wellness routine during that time, and we're grateful to Greg for sharing his story. If you're looking for a natural addition to your wellbeing routine, Manuka honey may be worth exploring — alongside, not instead of, professional guidance. It's worth learning about the specific UMF™ grades to see which strength is right for you.