This Drink Of The Vikings And Gods May Have Been An Ancient Antibiotic

The Vikings may have had the answer to fighting superbugs resistant to antibiotics, and it's all in what they drank. Studies show that mead, also known as the drink of the gods, may have given the ancient warriors an edge by boosting their immune systems naturally in a world where infections were the number one cause of death.

Mead, as a drink for the gods, is mentioned in Greek myths as well as Norse mythology where the god Odin was said to have gained his strength because he drank mead as a suckling baby. Vikings also believed that when they died honorable deaths and reached Valhalla, they would be rewarded with mead. But what was this superpower-giving drink that was all over the ancient world? The main ingredient in the concoction is honey.

Extensive studies have shown that honey has been used since the ancient times as a natural and potent antibacterial microbe that can promote wound-healing. According to a study published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, it can also hinder the growth of microbes and antibiotic-resistant bacteria that cause life-threatening infections in humans. With an “eternal shelf life,” honey has been touted as nature's very own power medicine that humans have been cultivating even in prehistoric times...