Busy Bees Provide Surprising Health Benefits
This golden substance is not only sweet and delicious, it’s full of natural health benefits. From sweetening your tea to aiding in weight loss, boosting your energy and helping you get a night full of zzz’s, honey dates back to use by the ancient Egyptians.
10 HEALTHY GIFTS FROM HONEY
1. Boosts Energy: Loaded with the methylglyoxal compound, this great tasting substance it is known to boost energy levels and contributes to enhance your immune system.
2. Helps Control Cholesterol: Many studies have proved that honey is a healthy source to control high cholesterol levels with one study mentioning that consuming 70g of honey regularly for 30 days can reduce these levels by 3%.
3. Honey for Weight Loss: This sweet syrup is a mouthwatering way to lose weight. Replace regular sugar intake with it for quick results and consuming a spoonful with warm water can reduce your sugar cravings.
4. Fights Infection: Being enriched with antibacterial properties, honey works as a shield against various kinds of infection, helping prevent your body from further damage.
5. Treats Gastric Problems: Thanks to antimicrobial and antioxidant components found in the honey, you can treat your stomach complications organically. Consume it raw or diluted in warm water for better effects.
6. Prevents Nausea: Nausea and consistent morning sickness can impede you from sticking to your diet. Adding lemon juice to raw honey relieves nausea and prevents vomiting as well.
7. Helps You Breathe Easier: Honey treats troubling coughs and helps relieve the respiratory system by keeping all that wheezing and troubled breathing at bay. Moreover, honey is known to soothe mucus membranes found in the airways.
8. It Helps You Sleep: Sleeping 8 hours without any disruption is extremely important for your well being. Eating a tablespoon of honey before bedtime helps keep your liver glycogen up. If it drops, your liver stops glucose formation, which is essential for producing energy. This process is said to prevent you from falling asleep as you should.
9. Goodbye Dandruff: Thanks to the antibacterial properties found in honey, you can get rid of dandruff and itchy scalps once and for all. Mix equal portions of raw honey and water, massage it onto your scalp and down through your locks. Leave it for an hour and then rinse off. You’ll notice a difference in a few weeks.
10. Honey for Skin: Thanks to its antibacterial and antiseptic properties, regular applications of honey can treat various skin problems, as well as enhancing your complexion, keeping it radiant and clear.
FACT
While honey is good us, it should not be consumed by infants under one year of age or those with a compromised immune system.
THE BUZZ ON HONEY
- It never spoils when storage in an air-tight container
- A typical hive makes from 30-100 pounds of honey a year
- A single bee will only make 1/12 teaspoon of honey during its life
- During the winter months, bees survive on their own honey
- Bees are the only insect that make food that humans can eat
HONEY WINE
Is it a beer or is it a wine?: Honey wine, also known as mead, is quite possibly the ancestor of alcoholic beverages and is in a category all to itself. Think of Vikings and kings taking a swig of this golden potion, its elixir created by the humble honeybee.
Three basic ingredients: Mead is fermented from honey, yeast and water. Depending on the honey type, the mead’s flavor can vary greatly from mild to more robust. Add the choices of dry, sweet, still or sparkling, and you’ll have quite the tasting table to sample from.
Make it or buy it: With lots of DIY kits available, your kitchen can become the brewing grounds for your own personal label of mead. Rather just enjoy the refreshment without the work? Our friends at Kaw Point Meadery, Kansas City’s first dedicated Meadery, can take care of you. They offer a variety of meads, all handcrafted right here in town.
