Health Topic: "Honey, Honey"

Lets talk honey, Sweetie.

YUM! I decided to jump topics to quickly discuss the benefits of using local, raw honey in your diet. For our "from scratch" baking, sweetening and tea, I only use honey. About a year or so ago, my wonderful friend Christie hooked me up with a local source of raw honey. It is AMAZING. SO much better than anything store bought. Raw honey is not filtered or heated. Real raw honey contains all the enzymes, pollen, and floral essences that the honeybees put into it. Do you see the dark color? Commercial honey found in most grocery stores have been heated, filtered and strained to eliminate extraneous particles. This is why processed honey has a golden clearer color than pure raw local honey. Do you see the delicious drips along the jar? Is your mouth watering yet? I'll be talking more about honey in future posts, with recipes:

Isn't it beautiful?

Its not only good tasting, honey is good for you.

I use honey not only as a sweetener, but as a natural remedy. For at least 2700 years, honey has been used to treat a variety of ailments through topical application, but only recently have the antiseptic and antibacterial properties of raw honey been chemically explained. Antibacterial properties of real raw honey are the result of the low water activity causing osmosis, hydrogen peroxide effect and high acidity.

I tested it out a few months ago as a burn remedy. I was making elderberry syrup (another blog post) and had no funnel. I accidentally poured boiling syrup all over my hand. Ouch. My skin got red right away, and started to blister. I slathered some raw honey on, and within 20 minutes, I was able to cook dinner and not be in any pain. A few hours later, my hand was red, but not blistered. I am now a believer.

LOCAL HONEY is also a beneficial factor. Especially if you suffer from allergies. Honey works much like an allergy shot in that it exposes you to small amounts of allergens to help your body build immunity to the allergens. When bees pollinate to make honey, they bring back allergens from the flowers, trees, and other plants. This leaves small traces of those allergens in their honey. Check it out. There is ample evidence of its benefits.

Here is a very comprehensive article on all of the benefits of honey, including the science and studies behind it helping to control blood sugar levels, and enhancing athletic performance, and so much more. Bookmark this link to refer to later, its a long article, but worth the read.

Finally:
Is raw honey safe to consume? Yes, in my opinion and experience.

What about for children under the age of one? That's for you to research and decide for your self. In my own personal opinion, breastmilk should be the only sweetener needed at this age.