Honey – Important Health Facts!

Honey is the most known apicultural product, it is a substance that the bees produce through a complicated process of elaboration, where they absorb the nectar and deposit it in their stomach, then go back to the beehive to deliver it, throwing up repeated times; this way ferments, acid and albumen are added to the nectar. It contains most of the essential mineral elements that our system needs. There have already been found, in the honey, more than 180 different nutritional substances.

The beekeeping is a very old activity. Evidences from Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece describe ancient beekeeping and the honey is also mentioned in the Bible. It was considered sacred, and was also used to pay taxes and debts. Besides all this, it was used to draw and paint as well. Honey contains proteins, essential minerals and vitamins. It is a food of elevated energy and is also known for its medicinal and therapeutic assets. Honey is a food of easy digestion and enthusiastically assimilated by humans, constituting a healthy source of energy.

Honey consumed as food is important for the balance of the biological process of the organism. It contains glucose and fructose, which goes directly into the blood, becoming an energetic product. Honey can be used as food, as a natural sweetener and as medicine. After some time of use, it assists in the control of rheumatism and arthritis, prevents all types of respiratory illnesses and helps in the digestion. Honey is also used on the skin and is an ingredient for some shampoos. It is used extensively in the cosmetic industry as well (creams, cleanness facemasks, tonics, etc.) because of its astringent and softening qualities.

Eating honey will improve your quality of life, since it stimulates and increases physical resistance; it is slightly sedative, discouraging insomnias; it helps in the healing, it is anti-septic, digestive and laxative, helping in the treatment of gastritis; it is an expectorant fighting the cough, also of smokers. Used externally, it speeds up the healing of wounds and minor burnings, besides hydrating the skin.

With honey – and nothing else –, Nigerian doctors were able to cure serious wounds, burnings and ulcers of skin in 59 patients, which were submitted previously to conventional treatments with antibiotics without any satisfying results. First, the doctors gathered samples of the wounds to be studied in laboratory. The results had shown that the infections were caused by common bacteria – therefore more resistant – as the Pseudomonad, found frequently in infections. After that, the honey was applied on the infected skin. One week later, no micro organism appeared in the laboratory examinations. For the reason that it is slightly acid, extremely viscous and absorbs water, the honey cleaned the wounds, diminished their size and protected them from new infections. According to the Nigerian doctors, honey also has the property of being a bactericidal agent.

It has been indicated to prevent, control or cure the following illnesses:

• Respiratory diseases
• Cramps
• Intestinal disturbances
• Digestive disturbances
• Throat irritation
• Urinary irritation
• Irritation of the eyes
• Dental caries
• Illnesses of the liver
• Rheumatic pains
• Physical fatigue
• Insomnia
• Skin burn
• Stomach ulcer, etc.

The flavour, aroma and colour of the honey differ according to its botanical origin, in accordance with the flowers from where the bee has removed the nectar to manufacture it. The climate, humidity and even the altitude will interfere in these characteristics of the honey. Usually, the clear honey presents weak flavour and aroma. The honey of darker coloration is richer in proteins and minerals.

Here goes an advice: honey fattens less than sugar. 1 tea-spoon or 5g of honey = 16,4kcal. It is also the best option for athletes. Biologists concluded that honey is the best source of carbohydrates and energy for athletes and mature people.

The Miraculous Healing Powers of Honey

The researchers enrolled 105 children, between ages 2 and 18, in their randomized,partially double-blind study. On the first night of the study, the children received no treatment. Parents then answered questions about their children’s sleep and cough, as well as the quality of their own sleep. The second night, the children were given either honey-flavored cough syrup or honey or nothing at all. Parents then reanswered the questions in the survey. Parents whose children received the honey rated their kids’ sleep and symptoms as better and their own sleep as improved as well. Darker honeys have more antioxidants than lighter honeys, and we wanted the best chance to see improvements, he says, noting that lighter honeys would probably also benefit kids. At least locally [buckwheat honey] is available. I can get it here at the local supermarket says lead study author Dr. Ian Paul, a researcher at Penn State College of Medicine. Some of the kids who took honey did experience side effects, according to the study. The parents reported slightly more hyperactivity when their kids took honey, compared with when they took cough syrup. But it’s also interesting to note that this is not the first time the sweet stuff has beenlooked to as a remedy. Honey has been used since the time of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians to treat everything from wounds to insect bites. This usefulness can perhaps be attributed to the idea that an enzyme that bees add to the nectar produces hydrogen peroxide, an antibacterial agent. I believe that recommending honey as a cough medicine has merits. It provides a safe option to using chemical based options, says Paul Doering, co-director of the Drug Information and Pharmacy Resource Center at the University of Florida., adding that honey is part of a trend of recommending more commonplace traditional remedies for ailments. Documentary source: http://abcnews.go.com/

Like Your Tea Sweet? Add Honey Instead of Sugar

One of life’s purest pleasures is a cup of steaming tea. Some like it pure but most like it sweet. Adding sugar is by far the most common way of sweetening tea. Common table sugar (sucrose) is comprised of fructose and glucose. While sugar satisfies a natural craving, it is not without its downside. Sugar is the quintessential source of energy and most foods, when digested, are metabolized by the body as basic sugar (glucose). It is a major source of calories in the diet. The body will save the excess energy in sugar as fat. While some stored fat is necessary, too much is undesirable and pose several health concerns especially for diabetics. Sugar also supports the growth of the bacteria that causes tooth decay. A healthier alternative is honey. Honey is one of the oldest sweeteners used by man and was highly valued by ancient Egyptians for its medicinal and healing properties. It is a sweet, usually viscous, liquid made by bees from flower nectar and stored in the cells of the hive for food. Consumed fresh or after processing, it is usually used as a nutritive sweetener. “Honey is the ultimate in products derived from herbs. It’s like liquid gold. Fashioned through an ingenious alliance between animal and plant kingdoms, honey delivers a diverse array of phytochemicals in one package. This bounty arrives courtesy of the industrious honeybee, who visits some 2 million flowers to manufacture just one pound of honey” said Dr.Gina Mohammed, a plant physiologist in Sault Ste Marie, Canada. “Honey blends exceptionally well with black and flavored teas and enhances its fragrance”, added Kim Yong, founder of Your Tea Place, an online tea site which focuses on tea and health. A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, shows that the level of antioxidants of honey is comparable to that of many fruits and vegetables. And while you are unlikely to devour a cup of honey in lieu of broccoli, the golden liquid may be a respectable alternative to sugar and a healthy supplement to your diet. It has been found that honey lessens the ill effects of radiation therapy in patients with cancer of the head and neck, improves oral health, preserves food, boosts antioxidants and enhances athletic performance. Researchers at the University of Illinois studied 25 healthy men who consumed various combinations of hot water, buckwheat honey, black tea and sugar. They found that serum antioxidant capacity increased by 7 percent within two hours of ingesting 2 cups of hot water containing about 4 tablespoons of honey. Those antioxidants also help your arteries as it reduces oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (known as “bad” cholesterol), a benefit which likely thwarts development of atherosclerosis. The findings also show that many varieties are full of phenols and flavonoids – known cancer fighters even more powerful than vitamin E. So the next time you’re having a cup of tea, do your health a favor by added a spoonful of honey, nature’s liquid gold.