Health Benefits of Honey

Health Benefits of Honey

Discover the health benefits of one of the oldest sweeteners on earth, plus some interesting trivia, some great recipes and a few cautions.
Bees swallow, digest and regurgitate nectar to make honey; this nectar contains almost 600 compounds. We need our bees, so let’s do everything we can to save them and keep them here on this earth.
Honey is so good we have included it in our list of powerfoods that should be in your kitchen right now.

Health Benefits-

1.Boosts memory

According to research reported by Reuters, 102 healthy women of menopausal age were assigned to consume 20 grams of honey a day, take hormone-replacement therapy containing estrogen and progesterone or do nothing. After four months, those who took honey or hormone pills recalled about one extra word out of 15 presented on a short-term memory test. That said, some critics of the study say that it wasn’t scientifically sound because it was small and didn’t last long. 

2.Potentially prevents low white blood cell count
The Mayo Clinic notes that honey may be a promising and inexpensive way to prevent low white blood cell count caused by chemotherapy. In one small trial, 40 percent of cancer patients who were known to be at risk of neutropenia (very low blood count) had no further episodes of the condition after taking two teaspoons daily of therapeutic honey during chemotherapy. More research is needed, but the remedy could hold great potential. 

3.Honey is an energy food

One of the important uses of honey in traditional medicine is as an instant energy booster. As mentioned above, honey contains many different kinds of sugar molecules, especially glucose and fructose. However, unlike white sugar where fructose and glucose are combined as sucrose and require an additional step in the digestive process, in honey, these two sugars are separate. Thus, the glucose acts as an instant energy source.

4.Honey helps with digestion

Honey helps reduce constipation, bloating and gas, thanks to it being a mild laxative. Honey is also rich in probiotic or “friendly” bacteria such as bifido bacteria and lactobacilli, which aid in digestion, promote the health of the immune system, and reduce allergies. Using honey in place of table sugar has been found to reduce the toxic effects in the gut of mycotoxins produced by fungi.

5.Honey Body Moisturizer

Mix 5 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons rose oil, and 2 cups almond oil in a medium-sized bottle. Apply as needed onto wet skin.