A sweet way to treat burns

There was a great deal of chatter on the internet last week about Olympic gymnasts' use of honey during competition. With a bottle of the sticky stuff next to the chalk basin, everyone wondered what purpose it served. Many speculated that it was used for a quick shot of energy, but this turned out to not be the case. The honey, it was later revealed on numerous websites, was used to help gymnasts maintain a better grip on the bar during certain events.

This actually isn't very surprising, since honey has many uses for helping the skin. Most recently, in fact, researchers from New Zealand found that burned skin covered with antibiotic ointment healed much more slowly than burned skin coated with honey. Honey not only soothes the pain of burned skin, but it also reduces inflammation and prevents further infection.

Being that the burned skin covered with honey healed about four days faster than burned skin covered in antibiotic creams, bringing a small jar with you on that sunny vacation your planning may not be a bad idea. And, as evidenced by how well the gymnasts performed at this year's Olympics, bringing it to your kid's next gymnastics meet wouldn't hurt, either.