There’s nothing like a golden drizzle of honey over cool, creamy yogurt. Or added to a hot cup of tea on a cool evening. Or as part of a spicy yet sweet glaze on grilled fish. Or slap on a homemade salad dressing fresh from the garden.
The possibilities for using honey are endless and only as limited as your imagination.
And honey has a number of health benefits that make it a wonderful addition to your diet.
Of course, it should still be used sparingly because honey is still mostly sugar, but unlike refined sugars and alternative sweeteners, honey is much more than its sweetness.
Bee Knowledge
Honey has been used for health purposes for thousands of years (about 8,000 years to be exact, which we know thanks to artistic depictions from the Stone Age).
Used both orally and topically, the ancient Greek, Roman, Chinese, Egyptian, Mayan, and Babylonian cultures are known to have used honey as a medicine, sweetener, and for cosmetic purposes.
As you know, honey comes from a process where bees take nectar collected from flowers and break it down into simple sugars. It is sold raw but can also be pasteurized. Honey can be up to 97% carbohydrates, mainly fructose and glucose. It also contains water and organic acids, making honey quite acidic (typically pH around 4).
All nine essential amino acids are found in honey, the highest of which is proline, as well as certain enzymes. Honey also has a small amount of vitamin C, folate, phosphorus, sodium, calcium, potassium, sulfur, magnesium and chlorine, although all of these are in very small amounts. This also applies to a range of trace elements and even heavy metals from the environment.
Bee Healthy
If vitamins and minerals are found in such small amounts in honey, how can it be so beneficial? The answer may partly come from the wide range of nutrients and how protected they are in this golden nectar.
Free radicals can cause oxidative damage and lead to various diseases. But antioxidants prevent this damage and Antioxidants in honey have been found to act as antioxidant agents to prevent oxidative stress. As a general rule, the darker the honey, the higher the antioxidant content.
In addition, honey acts as an anti-bacterial and anti-microbial. In fact, it has been established that works effectively against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and biofilms.
Bee Proactive
Probably the best known medicinal uses of honey are for wounds and as a cough suppressant.
Honey has been used for wounds such as burns for probably as long as people have been trying to find cures for them, thanks to activation of cytokines and due to their ability to prevent infection.
The power of honey to suppress coughs has been used throughout history. But now we have the science to back it up too. Studies find it Honey works as well or better than drug treatments for cough associated with upper respiratory infections at night in children. But it should be noted that honey should never be given to people under one year of age due to the risk of botulism.
Similarly, there are questions about whether honey can help asthma, but the research is inconclusive beyond helping nighttime asthmatic coughs.
Honey contains prebioticswho can do it a possible complementary option to support beneficial gut flora and therefore overall gut health.
Bee Curious
Beyond the classic honey we all know and love, there are forms of honey or other bee-derived substances that have their own unique properties and uses.
Royal jelly is also secreted by bees but is milky and gelatinous and is what they feed the queen.
Royal jelly appears to contain unique proteins, including major royal jelly protein 1 (MRJP1). Research has links MRJP1 to reduced serum cholesterol and cardiovascular disease risk.
The same protein it can also lower blood pressure by relaxing the smooth muscle cells along the blood vessels.
Further studies have looked at royal jelly for improving symptoms related to menopause, male infertility and Alzheimer’s disease.
Propolis is another product that bees make and is used as a coating to protect their hives. It comes from a mixture of their secretion and the sap of the trees.
Propolis has been found to be effective against Giardia, type 2 diabetes and other autoimmune disorders, labial soresand has even been researched against COVID-19.
Probably the version of honey that has everyone buzzing (pardon the pun) these days is Manuka honey.
This honey comes from bees that have pollinated the Manuka tree, found in New Zealand and Australia. It contains an active ingredient called methylglyoxal (MGO) and works especially well topically for wounds, ulcers associated with diabetes and acne.
MGO was found to they inhibit about 60 different strains of bacteria.
Similar to Manuka honey but without the name recognition, Tualang honey comes from Malaysia and actually has higher levels of phenols and flavonoids. May also works better against gram-negative bacteria, making it a slightly better choice for burns.
Bee Attention
The most obvious problem with honey is its sugar content. Although it has less of an effect on blood sugar levels than sugar, honey is known to raise blood sugar more than agave. This is why agave has become so popular with diabetics and pre-diabetics.
Vegans and others concerned about how their food choices affect animals can also choose agave as an alternative to honey.
Unfortunately, agave does not have the same health benefits as honey, so choosing the right option may depend on your goals and priorities.
Overall, adding honey to your diet for health can be beneficial as an alternative to other sweeteners. But it shouldn’t be an excuse to overdo it.
Honey is considered to be about 25% sweeter than sugar, so you don’t need as much. And the benefits don’t require you to consume large amounts.
If you’re careful not to overdo it, the health value you can get from honey can be even sweeter than the taste.
Want to find more ways to incorporate honey into your foods? Here are some healthy and delicious recipes:
Anti-inflammatory salmon bowl
The best recipe for liver: Dianne’s Beef Liver with Fig
Sweet Potato Brownies (Gluten Free)
About the Author: Maya Strausberg earned her Master Nutrition Therapist certification from NTI before starting her private nutrition therapy practice. She now offers writing and editing services to nutritionists and other health professionals around the world through her business, Family Tree Nutrition.
Pictures:
- Image by Chinh Le Duc on Unsplash
- Image by Bianca Ackermann on Unsplash
- Image by Vladimir Gladkov on Unsplash
