Health Benefits of Honey
Most people love it because it’s a natural way to sweeten foods and drinks. But did you know honey offers so much more than just taste? Natural, raw honey yields many health benefits for the human body. It’s true! After reading this list, I pray you would swap out sugar for this wonderful natural substance.
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Plenty of Antioxidants
Of course, this natural substance is filled with plenty of vitamins, antioxidants, flavonoids, and minerals. However, it wouldn’t be a great idea to consume a whole lot of honey in the hopes of receiving your recommended daily intake of antioxidants. Nevertheless, it’s definitely worth replacing your current sugar intake with it. The minerals you can find within honey include:
- zinc
- potassium
- iron
- phosphorus
- calcium
- selenium
- magnesium
Honey contains many vitamins such as:
- Vitamin B6
- Pantothenic acid
- Niacin
- Riboflavin
- Thiamine
Be sure to buy the natural honey and not the processed junk. When factories heat up honey in their process to make it look more pretty, it destroys all the great benefits of it. Look for natural, raw honey. If you see crystals in it, it’s not natural. Because of honey’s high amount of antioxidants and flavonoids, it can help fight off bacteria that cause illness. The flavonoid pinocembrin it contains initiates apoptosis which destroys many types of cancer cells. Woohoo!
Sleep Aid
Struggling with obtaining a great quality sleep at night? A spoonful of honey at night may be the cure you’ve been looking for. There’s a great chance of sleeping through the night since honey refills the liver’s glycogen level. For the same reason, consuming it in the morning can help you prepare for your day.
Helps With Cholesterol
Honey raises HDL (good) cholesterol and decreases the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Also, it lowers triglycerides, which put people at risk for stroke.
Fight Allergy Reactions
Local natural honey contains the same pollen that makes someone have allergic reactions. By consuming some every day, you can build an immunity to it. For those who suffer extremely bad in allergy season, it may be something to consider.
Another cool thing about bee pollen is that it can also help prevent illnesses by boosting the immune system. I should mention that pasteurized honey does not contain pollen.
Honey Drenched Bandaids
Say what?!? Yes, it’s true. Honey contains healing compounds so putting it on a wound directly yields incredible results. They can be used to effectively treat for burns, psoriasis, diabetic foot ulcers (which could lead to amputation), hemorrhoids, herpes lesions, and more! Certainly, it’s something to keep in mind next time you get burned cooking and do not have Neosporin handy.
Treats Common Colds
How many other cool things can this natural sugar do? It’s been proven that it’s just as effective as over the counter cough medicine. Would you believe that? Just one tablespoon can reduce coughs and a runny nose. Yay! Now we don’t have to trick our kids into taking their medicine anymore. Since it helps promote better sleep at night, our little ones won’t constantly wake up. (Which means you can get more sleep, too!)
So let’s see…
- treats coughs and runny noses
- better alternative to sugar for diabetics and non-diabetics
- can be used as a pre-workout
- treats wounds
- promotes sleep
- protects against cancer
- boosts immune system
- tastes great
- regulates blood sugar
Sounds great to me! I’ve also heard it can treat dandruff and acne, but I haven’t tried it out yet. Trust me, I will be shortly. (I’ll let you know how it goes!) But there’s one thing you must know about this substance: DO NOT GIVE TO CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF ONE.
Botulism
Dust and dirt sometimes contain bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. There are chances it can end up in honey. Although it doesn’t pose any threats to adults, it can cause botulism in infants. That’s a rare disorder that children under the age of one are susceptible to because their body and immune system are still developing. It can leave the child paralyzed and placed in an ICU on a respirator. Let’s keep our children safe and not expose them to the risk.
That being said, infants can still eat items that are honey flavored like Honey Nut Cheerios. Other than that, honey offers a lot to humans over the age of one. There are so many health benefits of honey! I encourage you to contact your local beekeeper and see how you can obtain some today!
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Great article! We are beekeepers from IL, and would like to point out one statement that isn’t right. Natural, raw honey does in fact crystalize over time – that’s how to tell it IS raw and unpasteurized. Crystalized honey on a shelf doesn’t look as appealing and thus one reason for processing, to prevent the crystallization.
Honey is rich in pinocembrin, an antioxidant that works to improve the healthy functioning of the brain.