For the benefit of all our readers, the honey mentioned in this article is not the ones you can find on your local grocery shelves. To get the best health benefits from natural honey, it must not have been heated, or mixed with other sweetening agents.
Apart from honey health benefits, we’ll also explore the types of raw honey, and how they’re classified. Raw honey, if you can get one, has several health benefits not found in brands that have gone through the crystallization process, meaning it was heated.
The ideal natural honey will be strained to remove the tiny pieces of wax or the secretions from the trees where the bees built their hives. This is the type of honey that can enhance the fighting power of your immune system.
While it’s tough to find one reliable standard of quality due to FDA (Food and Drug Administration) ineptitude, any untrained and raw honey should contain no added chemicals or genetically engineered substitutes.
The word “organic” has now been corrupted within the food industry. Without reliable standards many pasteurized, heated and processed honey, are now been sold as natural or raw.
You might be thinking what is the difference between pasteurized and raw honey? Well, for starters, truly organic honey has naturally formed vitamins, powerful antioxidants, enzymes and many natural nutrients that does your body much good.
Most of the natural nutrients are destroyed during the pasteurization and heating process. In fact based on available studies, processed honey has been found to be just as unhealthy as the refined sugar that’s consumed by millions of people daily.
Within every natural unprocessed honey are found anti-fungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties, which are known to help promote digestive and body health.
Substituting your refined sugar with natural organic honey in your diet will help strengthen your immune system while also helping your body to create powerful antioxidants.
You’ll have less to worry about allergies while also witnessing fast healing of skin wounds.
The health benefits of all natural honey do not stop there! Regular consumption of natural unprocessed honey will help balance your body’s sugar levels, stabilize your blood pressure, calm your nerves, and also reduce pain.
A regular user of natural honey will experience fewer problems with respiratory conditions, such as asthma and bronchitis.
What About Pollen? Should You Care?
Well, to put it bluntly, you should care greatly if the natural honey you’re consuming has had the pollen removed, through industrial processing. You can kiss most of the medicinal value of raw honey goodbye once it’s processed through heating and pasteurization.
If you take a closer look at the so-called natural honey at your local supermarket, you can read the added ingredients on the labels.
The honest producers will list all the added ingredients while some would just say “processed”. Also, most of the processed honey comes with a different combination of raw honey, which is not what you want to be digesting into your stomach.
With the ever growing popularity of honey use, the potential for fraud is well documented by food safety activist. You can read this article to witness the inaction of our FDA.
Here Are some of The Health Benefits of Including Natural Honey in Your Diet
Every household should have a jar of raw honey, and can be used as a replacement for refined sugar. The sooner you get everyone in your household eating natural honey, the fewer health problems you’ll encounter.
1 – Antioxidants in Natural Honey
You want more antioxidants in your body as they help to slow down the deterioration and aging of cells. Now you know why so many skin products include honey in their ingredients.
Antioxidants that are found in natural honey can help fight those “Free Radicals”, which are bacteria’s that can damage our body’s DNA and cell walls, if not contained or eliminated properly.
It’s also true, you can get helpful antioxidants from consuming vegetables and fresh fruits.
2 – Natural Honey Contains Anti-inflammatory Properties
Sometimes the blood vessels in our body can get inflamed, but the natural properties in honey can help negate that problem before it even occurs.
Regular organic honey use will help promote better Cardiovascular health, with less chance of getting heart disease.
3 – Ingesting Honey is Better For Diabetics
For those with type-2 diabetes, you should know that natural honey if taken in moderation, is far safer for your condition than regular sugar.
As you know, too much sugar in your body can cause higher insulin levels, which is not good for your eyes, heart, kidney, and brain health.
Not only is the absorption of honey slower, but it taste sweeter, which results in less consumption. Unlike Sucrose that’s derived from regular sugar, natural honey is a good source of nutrition for your body.
4- Raw Honey Can Help With Allergy Immunity
Unfiltered and raw honey will contain most of the mold, dust, and pollens that are responsible for most allergies.
Based on studies by food safety advocates, taking small doses of your local raw honey can help forestall allergic symptoms just like the seasonal allergy shots, only without the side-effects.
5 – Honey Can Help Heal Colds
Grand ma’s will know more about the power of natural honey to stop and heal a viral cold. By adding a little bit of honey into a cup with warm water, one can suppress even the nastiest cough symptoms. It’s recommended you seek out dark natural honey for this purpose.
6 – Can Help Improve Athletic Performance
Before the advent of energy drinks, raw honey was used by sports athletes looking for a quick natural boost in energy. The natural properties in honey help to increase stamina and endurance.
7 – Will Natural Honey Improve Brain Performance?
The answer is yes, based on numerous studies conducted by leading scientific organizations. Honey in its natural form can help the brain function optimally while also fighting the free radicals trying to bring on forget fullness and Alzheimer’s.
8 – Will Improve Your Gastrointestinal Health
Most stomach ulcers are caused by the H. pylori bacteria, and they do most of their damage by penetrating the protective mucous lining in the stomach.
Honey has natural properties that can improve better digestion, thus eliminating the bacteria before they can do any damage.
Can It Be Stored?
Yes, it can last a very long time in storage, but you’ll have to limit the humidity present in the area where it’s kept.
Because raw honey in its purest state has very high concentration of sugar content, the problem of fermentation will not be an issue.
If allowed to come in contact with moist air the hydrophilic properties within the honey will pull in moisture, which then helps to begin the fermentation process.
Regardless of what type of preservation method is used to store your honey it will eventually crystallize, which can be negated by heating the raw honey.
Can Honey Be Toxic to Some People?
Yes, especially in infants. Children under the age of one should not be given any type of honey, either raw or pasteurized.
Raw Honey given to children can cause botulism, which is a stomach illness that can be fatal if not treated properly, and right-away.
As you shop for natural honey you’ll notice some are darker while others are lighter. In must cases, the darker the honey the more antioxidant and antibacterial power it contains.
While honey can be found in many different varieties, you should try your best to stay away from processed or refined honey, which is just as bad for your body as refined sugar.
