The Health Benefits of Raw Honey (Why you should make the switch!)
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Wondering about the difference between regular ol’ honey and “raw honey”? Let’s take a closer look at the health benefits of raw honey and why you should make the switch!
“‘Well,’ said Pooh, ‘what I like best,’ and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Pooh Bear, I think the word you are looking for is “anticipation.” And, oh, do I know the sweet feeling well. That moment before I plunge my spoon into the jar of honey… I can barely contain myself now thinking about it!
OK back to the point.
Honey. It’s amazing. Delicious and nutritious all wrapped into one. But not all honey is created equal. In fact, not all “honey” is even real honey…
Guess what? Most of “honey” sold at supermarkets isn’t the real deal!
Honey is one of the most commonly mislabeled foods. Last year, Food Safety News found that 75% of store-bought honey was ultra-filtered and did not contain pollen. Without pollen, it’s impossible to identify the honey’s source. Plus, the US FDA states that any “honey” that no longer contains pollen cannot technically be considered honey.
Even more concerning, a third or more of all “honey” in the US was found to have been smuggled in from China or India, and tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals. According to Food Safety News, millions of pounds of honey deemed unsafe and banned from dozens of foreign countries is being imported and sold in the US.
Additionally, a number of ingredients are added to “honey”, and even sometimes constitute the main ingredient. These include sucrose syrup, sugar syrup, partial invert cane syrup, corn syrup, glucose syrup, beet sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, as well as artificial sweeteners. Any “honey” that contains these ingredients is therefore not real honey, but a blend. And some of these ingredients — like high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners — are really darn unhealthy!
On my trip to the grocery store, I took a little and most of the honeys for sale listed high fructose corn syrup as the first ingredient! Which means they contained more high fructose corn syrup than honey.
Real honey — raw honey — is a pretty nutritious sweet little treat!
Raw honey comes straight from the honeycomb, and is honey in its purest form. It is unfiltered, unheated and unpasteurized, processes which can destroy the natural vitamins (high in vitamin C and B vitamins), minerals and enzymes found in honey.
The health benefits of raw honey are seemingly endless:
- Anti-viral and anti-fungal properties
- Contains polyphenols, a powerful antioxidant
- Helps ward off allergies
- Soothes sore throats and is a natural expectorant (i.e. is great to eat when you have a cold)
- Stabilizes blood pressure and balances blood sugar levels
- Boosts immune function
- Helps heal skin conditions and wounds when applied topically
- Promotes digestive health
- As an alkaline-forming food, helps combat chronic illness
Oh! And it makes for a great, hydrating and gently anti-bacterial face mask 🙂
So how can you make sure you’re buying the real deal?
When looking to buy raw honey, look for a product from a local producer, preferably one you know or know of. Local honey offers particularly great protection from seasonal allergies.
[Please note that pediatricians caution against feeding honey to children under one year old due to concern that it may contain botulism spores.]
Sources: Food Safety News, Mercola, LiveStrong
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Thank you very much Nadia the article answered the questions I had on raw honey. I’m very interested in health nutrition my wife beat cancer by Detoxing and changing her diet to plant based organic clean and pure. Our country is sickly and fat with phenomenon like type 2 Diabeties being diagnosed in 7-8 year olds type 2 normally takes 40 years to manifest it’s a poor lifestyle disease! 7 year olds aren’t supposed to have the disease. The only one that can save our country is the American mother! She’s the shot caller the decision maker the cook,medic, counselor she is truly the glue that keeps it all working (there’s always exceptions to the rule) but for 98% of American families Mommy is truly our gift from God! With that said
I would like to ask a question to the American mother. How could you carry your child for 9 mos go through the pain of labor and child birth and then quickly form an eternal bond of love with your baby so strong that if god forbid your baby was put in a very dangerous situation you would give your life to protect that child! Without hesitation without doubt and without fear! But I don’t understand how you could then turn around and feed your children the toxic slop you do? Whether it’s GMO’s High fructose corn sugar the bovine growth hormone and massive amounts of antibiotics given to the animals to control the infection and inflammation the growth hormone causes! The American mother is the smartest most educated mother on earth. As Americans we innately believe we are good guys and deeply trust those we elect and we love our children and believe that everyone has our childrens best interest at heart because we dont hurt children in America! It’s that trust and belief that is causing our children to be the fattest and sickest children on earth!! It’s that trust that allows you all to stay in the dark! Sure you’ve heard of GMO’S but 9-10 of you picked at random cannot give an accurate definition of them and that’s scary!! They will spend 10s of millions of dollars to keep from having to label a GMO why the big deal? Because they know how smart you are and if given the of 2 product totally equal but one is GMO and the other non GMO you all would intuitively pick the non GMO. That decision would come from your vague negative feelings something you saw on TV or briefly read about the gmo controversy even though totally in the dark you would pick non GMO the problem is they know that!! And to keep you from being given the choice they’ll keep getting the laws in their favor no matter what it costs! Russia recently banned GMO the premier stated [If Americans want to eat GMO let them we don’t need to we have the resources to grow and consume organic] The Russian was mistaken he thought we want to eat the GMO foods he didn’t understand its not that we want to eat GMO it’s we don’t know what is and what isn’t we’re in the Dark! The world looks at us as fools. What does Russia India Australia Hungry and almost 80 other countries know that we dont? The Bovine growth hormone turns a cow into and SUV with udders that have been enlarged all to generate more milk the bovine growth hormone that many of you have no clue of what it really is happens to be banned in almost every nation on earth but ours? I know the moms that read articles like this aren’t the ones that need to hear this, but why can’t you all collectively spread the word?? America is doomed unless mother’s wake up read and understand that they have been unknowingly complicit in the slow deaths of their treasured offspring by over trusting. There will be millions of pissed off mom’s out there and though they can force us to do many things, they’ll never be able to control where you choose to spend your money! And the companies that knowingly sold you garbage unfit for human consumption days are numbered when the truth comes out I guarantee you will stop spending on anything they produce! In the mean time you can be assured of this the greedy Big shots and the ones they love HAVE NEVER AND WILL NEVER CONSUME the very same garbage that makes them Billions by forsaking the health of your babys! All for (Profit) Thankfully Right now there are companies that voluntarily joined the non Gmo project I’m sure you’ve seen their labels their concern for their customer will be recognized and rewarded in the future
Treating digestion issues with honey has been done for centuries. Specifically, raw honey may be helpful with treating acid reflux. Honey may also help lower the specific bacteria associated with peptic ulcers, H. pylori.