Health Benefits and Importance of Natural or Raw Honey and Why we all need it and the Cost
Raw vegetables are considered more nutritious as compared to cooked vegetables. Same goes with raw honey. Most of us believe honey which is available in local shops is raw in itself but this is not true. Raw honey is non-heated, unpasteurised and unprocessed. It contains natural ingredients like vitamins, enzymes and antioxidants which get destroyed after heating.
One can easily distinguish raw honey with its looks. Unlike processed honey which is dark brown in colour, thick and refined, raw honey is milkier and contains bee pollen, broken bee wing fragments and honeycomb bits. Raw honey is high in antioxidant level and contains low moisture content. Honey when mixed with water, hydrolysis and produces an alcoholic smell which prevents it from further usage.
Honey is produced and processed in different forms. The most common and widely used honey forms are
1. Liquid Honey
Liquid honey is the most popular variety of honey available in the market. It is available in raw and processed form. It is processed to remove air bubbles, pollen grains and other impurities. It mixes well with different food items and is often used as syrup for pan cakes.
2. Comb Honey
Comb honey is hard to find these days. Comb honey is the purest honey which is extracted straight from the hive. Honey bees fill the hexagon shaped wax cells and cap it bees wax. Comb honey tastes good and can be chewed in its pure state.
3. Cream Honey
Cream honey is preferred by those who don’t like honey dripping out of spoons. Cream honey is smooth and can be spread like butter. It is also known as honey fondant, whipped honey and spun honey. Cream honey is lighter in colour than liquid honey because of crystallisation process.
Honey is used for healing internal as well as external injuries and wounds. It can be applied on rashes, wounds and can also be ingested to cure internal injuries. Raw honey helps in reducing acne and spots. Applying honey overnight helps in purification of skin and clears skin spots. It also helps in treating cold, fever and sore throat.
Honey is extracted in many forms. It is used in different compositions and combinations to cure certain diseases. Manuka Honey is used to cure cold, sore throat, Eucalyptus Honey is used to cure colds and headaches, Heather honey is used in protein rich edible items as it contains high amount of protein. Neem honey and Linden honey are famous variety of honey used as medicines for treating anxiety, bronchitis, diabetes and allergies.
Hippocrates wrote that during its consummation we can feel warmth. It is believed that it cleans wounds and sores, softens thickening on the lips and it can heal blisters.
Although it is often believed that all these incredible benefits of honey are just ideology, nowadays many scientific studies confirm its positive effect on human health. It is criticized for the carbohydrates of which it is mostly composed. Of all carbohydrates the most harmful is fructose, which is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
So what is the honey?
Honey is considered to be the most perfect product of nature, because it consists of almost all the ingredients that can be found in the human body. It is basically sweet and thick juice which honeybees form of nectar gathered from flowers, or sweet secretions (honeydew) of certain insects. Honey is rich in minerals, amino acids, and high-value-of an organic acids such as formic acid, malic acid, citric acid, acetic acid, succinic acid, pigments, and various derivatives of chlorophyll, wax, inulin and vitamin B complex elements.
One tablespoon of honey (21 grams) contains:
Energy value: 64 kcal
Protein: 0.06 g
Carbohydrates: 17.3 g
Total fat: 0.0 g
Dietary fiber: 0.042 g
The amount of individual substances depends on the type of honey. Due to the outstanding composition, honey is calorie food and biologically valuable food for children and adults, very easy to digest and natural source of vital force. One drop of honey contains more than a hundred different substances that are important for the human body. According to the content of enzymes, honey is among the most important food products.
A team of Croatian scientists found that flavonoids in honey, propolis and pollen, in combination with other drugs, significantly affect to prevention and treatment of tumors.
Honey enhances the absorption of drugs and increases their efficiency, while at the same time cleans the body of the harmful substances. It helps in the treatment of gastritis, gastric ulcers, and intestinal infections, reduces gastric acid secretion, and helps in the treatment and detoxification of the liver. Today, honey is used for gynecological problems , morning sickness, respiratory tract diseases, such as chronic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, rhinitis, allergic rhinitis, pharyngitis, sinusitis, laryngitis. Also, it helps with anorexia or loss of appetite, it normalizes intestinal peristalsis and removes constipation and cures hemorrhoids.
Therefore, a spoonful of honey a day will bring you a range of health benefits and will not affect your figure.
Phytonutrients, which are found in raw honey & propolis, can prevent cancer development. Enjoy in this perfect product of nature.
Combining knowledge and research with facts of modern science, and as an Health Advocate of Nature, I strongly believe in alternative medicine and the beauty and gifts of nature that there's no magic pill that will lead you to long term health and beauty and that without effort, there can be no gain.
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