Whenever I look at a spoonful of honey , I remember that it take a exclusive doer bee her intact life-time to create just 1/12 of that spoonful . Granted , a doer only lives for about three or four calendar week in the summertime , but that ’s because she works herself ragged ( and literally to death ! ) in the mental process of gathering nectar , hive away it , winnow it , make the dearest and cap it . It ’s a lot of employment !
In our house , we revere honey — in its tender , unfiltered , unheated form , of track — for its simple sweetness , but also for a few more reasons .
1. Honey is the perfect burn and bug bite salve.
Put a tiny splatter on mosquito bites , white Anglo-Saxon Protestant or bee pang , and meek burns . It helps wounds cure faster , reduces swelling and rubor , and provides much - needed wet to burns , all while allow for a protective barrier against bacteria that may make infection . Any raw honey will do , but many bank by Manuka honey for medicative intention ( usable online and at health food for thought stores ) , as it contains more potent anti - incitive agents than other wild flower honeys .
2. It’s better for you than sugar.
It ’s true that honey is mostlysugar — it ’s the honeybee ’ carbohydrate author , after all . But it ’s notjustsugar , like refined cane saccharide , and it ’s not carry with synthetic substance additives and potential carcinogen , like sugar backup . compare to sugar , the glucose to fructose ratio of honey is easy for the organic structure to convert to get-up-and-go , mean there is n’t as much leftover to be store as fat . People that consume it , liken to those that consume other sweetening , terminate up confine onto fewer calories because their bodies use more energy to snap off the honey down . It also contains trace nutrients that are actually good for you .
3. It’s anti-bacterial and anti-microbial.
Ancient cultures around the world knew years before modern scientist that dearest own antimicrobial properties and was special in its lesion - mend power . It ’s low pH floor and in high spirits loot content contribute to its power to restrain microbial maturation , among other factor . In lab studies , dearest has been show to hinder the maturation of potentially harmful pathogens and bacteria , such as E. coli , salmonella , andStaphylococcus Aureus(staph transmission ) .
You might notice that some honeys are a light , golden gloss , and others are dark and loggerheaded . The varieties depend on the flowering works that honeybees impose in their neighborhood . Generally speaking , the darker the beloved , the more medicinally potent it is .
4. It helps fight seasonal allergies.
For seasonal allergic reaction sufferer , local , peeled dear may be the answer to your supplicant for relief . It ’s understood that fine particles of pollen are present in dearest ( one of the many reasons that bare-assed , unfiltered and untreated honey is so authoritative ) , providing an inoculation of sorts for allergy sufferers . For the best results at combat allergies , purchase and use dear produced within 50 miles of your home by a local beekeeper .
5. It coats a sore throat and helps the medicine go down.
This liquid gold work all variety of wonder with the vernacular common cold . In addition to the benefits we ’ve already research , honey exercise brilliantly as a natural cough appetite suppressant . agitate into hot tea leaf with a bit of lemon , it ’s used as a soothing , healthy elixir to help fight just about any bug . My personal favorite direction to practice it during grippe and cold season is to make anelderberry syrupwith dry out black elder , dribble water and in the buff honey to take at the onrush of a cold .
6. It’s a great natural energy booster.
Honey is the stark foot - me - up . It ’s a great source of carbohydrates , and wo n’t leave you with the same kind of clangour as a confect bar or refined cane saccharide would .
7. It’s the perfect cosmetic.
Honey is often added to cosmetics because it ’s a natural humectant , meaning it pull and retain moisture . Put it inhomemade easy lay , eubstance lotions , shampoos or hair discourse .
8. It lasts forever—literally!
It ’s true . Modern archaeologists have unearthed tidy sum of beloved from Egyptian tomb , and discovered that the 3,000 - twelvemonth - old beloved was still preserved . Although it will ferment under certain circumstances , it otherwise does n’t go speculative , keep well in a distinctive menage environment , and does n’t take up a bunch of blank space . There ’s no good reason to keep it around than that it ’s just a smashing insurance policy .
Kristina Mercedes Urquhart
Kristina Mercedes Urquhart
