Interesting facts About Honey

Interesting facts About Honey

Here are the health benefits of one of the oldest sweeteners on earth, And some interesting facts, some great recipes and a few cautions.To make honey Bees swallow, digest and regurgitate nectar; this nectar contains almost six hundred compounds. We need our bees, so let’s do everything we can to save them and keep them alive here on this planet.
Honey is so good we have included it in our list of foods that should be in your kitchen right now.

Top 10 Health Benefits of Honey

1. Anti-bacterial and anti-fungal

“All honey is antibacterial and antifungal, because the bees add an enzyme that makes hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂),” said Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.

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2. Prevent cancer and heart disease

Honey contains antioxidants and flavonoids which help reduce the risk of some cancers and heart disease.

3. Increase athletic performance

Ancient Olympic athletes would eat honey and dried figs to enhance their performance and energy levels. This has now been verified with modern science, showing that it is superior in maintaining glycogen levels and improving recovery time when compare to other sweeteners.

4. Reduce mouth ulcers and other gastrointestinal problems

Research shows that honey treatment may help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastrointestinal problems. This may be related to the other benefit.

5. Reduce cough and throat infections

Honey fight with coughs, particularly buckwheat honey. In a study of 105 kids, a single dose of buckwheat honey was just as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep.

6. Balance the 5 elements

Since 4000 years, Honey has been using in ayurvedic medicines in India and is considered to affect all three of the body’s primitive material imbalances positively. It is also said to be useful in improving weight loss, eyesight, curing impotence and urinary tract disorders, premature ejaculation, bronchial asthma, diarrhea, and nausea.

Honey is called as “Yogavahi” since it has a quality of penetrating the deepest tissues of the body. When honey is used with other herbal preparations, it adds the medicinal qualities of those preparations and also helps them to reach the deeper tissues.

7. Blood sugar regulation

Even though honey contains simple sugars, it is NOT the same as white sugar which we use or artificial sweeteners. Its exact combination of glucose and fructose actually helps the body regulate blood sugar levels. Some honeys have a low hypoglycemic index, so they don’t push your blood sugar.

8. Heal wounds and burns

Studies have shown that honey to be very successful in healing wounds. External application of honey has been shown to be most effective as conventional treatment with silver sulfadiazine. It is speculated that the drying effect of the simple sugars and honey’s antibacterial nature combine to create this effect.

9. Probiotic

Some varieties of honey owns large amounts of friendly bacteria. This includes up to six species of lactobacilli and four species of bifid bacteria. This may explain many of the “mysterious therapeutic properties of honey.”

10. Strengthen the immune system

According to a study at the School of Medicine, Cardiff University, UK.
Manuka honey is a favorite of mine. Manuka Honey has been found to stimulate the production of immune cells.

Extra!

For Beautiful skin

Its anti-bacterial qualities are particularly useful for the skin, and, when used with the other ingredients, can also be moisturizing and nourishing! For a home beauty treatment for which you probably have all the ingredients in your kitchen already.

Different honeys have different flavonoid profiles, depending on the floral source of the nectar. The most beneficial honeys for the body are Manuka and buckwheat.

Different Types of Honey

• Manuka honey strengthens the immune system. pure Manuka Honey harvested from the remote hills, forest, and coastal areas of New Zealand.
• Buckwheat is also good for the immune system  and as a healthier alternative to cough syrup.
• Wildflower – Topanga Quality Wildflower Honey is raw, unfiltered and unpasturized. Kosher too.
• Alfalfa – Stockin's unheated and unfiltered raw Alfalfa honey is made in Saskatchewan, Canada from Alfalfa Blossoms.
• Black Locust has the lowest glycemic index (32) of all of the honeys.
  Raw Locust Honey by the Beekeeper’s Daughter is light, clean, and very aromatic and floral.
• Blueberry
• Orange Blossom

There are at least 40 types of honey – each one has distinctive taste and unique properties.
Darker honey tends to have higher antioxidant levels.
Monofloral honey (honey from a single plant species) usually has the lowest glycemic index. For example, locust honey from the Black Locust tree has a Glycemic index of 32. Clover honey, which is used commercially, has the highest glycemic index at 69.

Honey Suggestions

If you want to get the goodness from your honey, make sure it is pure and  Organic.
Raw Organic honey contains vitamins, minerals and enzymes not present in refined honey.

Source: http://www.realfoodforlife.com/health-benefits-of-honey/