Here I was on a
beautiful morning in the comfort of my home while getting ready for a meeting
with a client. My regular morning activities had been done and everything was
ready to go. All I needed to do was to take a bath, get dressed and step up for
a busy day. What else could go wrong, right? As I stepped into the bathroom, I slipped
my footing on the wet, tiled floor and Boom! All hell went loose. I landed face
first on the ground before the rest of my body followed suit. By the time I could
get some strength and feeling in my legs enough to stand, I already had a bleeding
gash just beneath my chin! Nothing I or my spouse did could stop the bleeding
even with all the first aid tools on hand. Our best option was to rush down to
the nearest hospital which I reaaallyyy was not looking forward to.
Suddenly, like a rush
of wind on a rainy day, I remembered I had raw honey in the house and I had
been a witness to the use of honey for the treatment of a major surgical wound
some years back. Now this got me thinking. If honey could work for that, how
much more my bleeding gash? Without further ado, I brought out my honey,
applied it to the wound, and covered it up with some bandages and within
minutes, the bleeding stopped. Wow! I continued applying honey for some weeks
and now, the rest is history. There is little or no sign of my previous ‘accident’!
This led me on a journey to find out more about this amazing creamy substance
known as honey.
Honey has been used by countless cultures all
around the world over the past 2,500 years and can be found as an essential
commodity in many homes, mine included. Many do know the name, ‘honey’ but what
exactly is honey?
Honey is a sweet, viscous
food substance produced by bees and some related insects. Bees produce honey from the sugary secretions of
plants (floral nectar) or other insects
(aphid honeydew) through regurgitation, enzymatic activity, and water
evaporation and they are stored in wax structures called honeycombs. But there are two categories of honey which are
the raw, organic honey and the processed honey.
What is raw honey? It’s a
pure, unfiltered and unpasteurized sweetener made by bees from the
nectar of flowers. Most of the honey consumed today is processed honey
that’s been heated and filtered since it was gathered from the hive. Unlike
processed honey, raw honey does not get robbed of its incredible nutritional
value and health powers because it is unprocessed and locally grown. It contains a number of minerals and vitamins,
including vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, and calcium. There are also important
antioxidants, such as flavonoids and alkaloids. There are trace amounts of more
than 15 amino acids found in raw honey!
But what makes honey so popular? Most likely,
it is the ease with which it can be consumed. One can eat it directly, put it
on bread like a jam, mix it with juice or any drink instead of sugar, or mix it with warm water, lime juice, cinnamon, and other herbs to make a
medicine. I have been able to come up with a healing recipe as a medicine for a
respiratory ailment I had been battling with for a while now and I must say, my
health has really improved with the use of honey. You can read more about my
experience and my healing honey recipe here.
Health benefits
Honey is savored by all due to its taste as well as its
impressive health benefits, making it extremely useful and versatile. Its
benefits include the following treatments, taken from both traditional and
modern medical experts.
· Energy Boost
According to the USDA,
honey contains about 64 calories per tablespoon. Therefore, it is used by many
people as a source of energy. On the other hand, one tablespoon of sugar will
give you about 15 calories. Furthermore, the carbohydrates in it can be easily
converted into glucose, since it is very simple for the body to digest this
pure and natural substance.
· Healthy Sweetener
It can be used as a
substitute for sugar in many foods and drinks. It contains about 69%
glucose and fructose, enabling it to be used as a sweetener which is far better
for your overall health than your plain white sugar.
· Weight Loss
Though it has more calories than sugar when
consumed with warm water, honey helps in digesting the fat stored in your body.
Similarly, honey with lemon juice or
cinnamon helps in reducing weight.
· Rich in Vitamins & Minerals
It contains a variety of vitamins and minerals. The type of vitamins and minerals and
their quantity depends on the type of flowers used for apiculture. Commonly,
honey contains vitamin C, calcium, and iron.
If you check the vitamin and mineral content in
regular sugar from any other source, you will find it completely insignificant.
· Wound Healing
Significant research is
being carried out to study its benefits in the treatment of wounds. I have
also been a case study due to my experience stated above which led to my
research about the healing properties of honey.
Honey possesses antimicrobial properties that help to speed
up the healing process by stimulating wound tissues. It deodorizes malodorous
wounds, helps in promoting moist wound healing and also to initiate the healing
process in dormant wounds.
· Antioxidant Properties
It contains nutra-ceuticals,
which are very effective for the removal of free radicals from the body. As a
result, our body’s immunity is improved against many conditions, even
potentially fatal ones like cancer or heart diseases.
· Improves Athletic Performance
Recent research has shown
that honey is an excellent ergogenic aid and helps in boosting the performance
of athletes. It is a great way to maintain blood sugar levels, recuperate
muscles, and restore glycogen after a workout, as well as regulate the amount
of insulin in the body.
These healing powers are not overstated.
Not all honey is created equally, so the quality is different. The color
of honey is a very useful tool to judge its quality. Light colored honey is
more valued than dark colored as the former has a delicate flavor.
It becomes darker upon storing and heating. Heating honey leads to
drastic changes in its chemical composition. As a result, heating at high
temperatures reduces its benefits.
You can buy raw honey at grocery and
health food stores but the best places to find raw honey are in the local
neighborhood near you. Local farmers markets are also great places to
pick it up.
Raw, organic honey is indeed good for
health. It is unprocessed, so it retains all the minerals and antioxidants,
which is what you want. If you process honey, very often you’re only left with
sugar, which is the worst part!
We hope this information has been of
great help to you. If you have also tried using honey for health purposes just
like I did, please share your experiences with us in the comment section below.
It would be great fun to know much more benefits of honey. Cheers!
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