Details about honey, its benefits and usage.

 Details about honey, its benefits, and usage.

What is honey?

Honey is viscous liquid food, organic and natural sugar. Color, taste, smell, texture differs from each; it depends upon the type of flower that the bees collect nectar. Honey is a type of carbohydrate. Mainly consisting approximately 40% of monosaccharide fructose, 30% glucose and 17% water. It also consists of a small amount of vitamins and minerals. One tablespoon of honey provides about 60 calories and 17 grams of sugar. Honey is the only food which will not spoil, due to its low moisture content. Bacteria cannot survive in a high osmotic pressure. Honey is hygroscopic, absorbing water from the atmosphere. Honey can be unifloral (single flower type) or multi floral (multiple species of flowers).

How is honey formed?

Honey bees collect pollen and nectar from the flowering plant, which gets broken down into simple sugar stored inside the honeycomb for the worker bee to process. Worker bees with the help of enzymes ripens the nectar into honey and it can be harvested for consumption. 

Uses of honey:-

Honey is a healthy alternative to sugar.

Honey is used for medicinal purposes as it is rich in antioxidants resulting in reducing the risk of some cancer, heart disease, wound healing, soothing cough and improving blood antioxidants status.

Honey is used for skin treatments and in some cosmetics products.

Honey plays a role in the diet process. Mixing honey with warm food helps in weight loss.

Types of honey and its uses:

Types of honey are categorized by the flower source; honey taste could differ by a huge margin even if it is extracted from the same flower. This is due to differences in temperature and rainfall level. Around 300 types of honey are available in the market depending on their nutritional composition, color, sources, processing methods and therapeutic uses.

Few most common types of honey and its uses:

ACACIA HONEY has hepatoprotective (liver) and nephroprotective (kidney) effects. It helps in speed wound healing and prevent bacterial contamination and infections.

ALFALFA HONEY can be used for baking purposes, and works better when combined with tea, lemonade and milkshake.

AVOCADO HONEY is dark colored honey with rich and buttery flavor, used for a tasty salad dressing.

MANUKA HONEY has anti microbial properties, slightly medicinal flavor. It helps in healing wounds and stimulates the formation of new blood cells.

BUCKWHEAT HONEY is dark and has a stronger flavor. It is rich in amino acids and has effects on the stomach and to treat skin problems. It helps in a greater increase in blood plasma antioxidant activity.

SAGA HONEY has anti bacterial, anti oxidant expectorant and digestive properties. This type of honey controls diabetes.

ROSEMARY HONEY can be used as a natural moisturizing agent with a high therapeutic value.

LAVENDER HONEY stands out as one of the most demanded honey varieties around the world. It is a type of monofloral honey. It is also used to treat foot ulcers and other fungal infections on the skin.

CLOVER HONEY is a valuable and rare variety. It is good to heal headaches, toothaches, bronchitis and arrhythmias.

Drawbacks of using honey:

Infants under one year old should not be given honey as it causes botulism. Botulism is a direct risk. Babies don’t have the digestive system to handle honey.

Risk of increasing blood sugar level, one tablespoon of honey exceeds the calories of one tablespoon of sugar. So it may increase blood sugar level in people with type 2 diabetes.

Honey can lower blood pressure; excess consumption of honey can lower blood pressure. Moderate usage of honey controls blood pressure.

Stomach disorder, if you suffer from constipation then honey can make it worse. Honey can also lead to bloating and diarrhea as a result of the body’s inability to digest the sugar in honey.

Skin allergies, for some people using honey in their skin leads to rashes and allergy.

Summary:

Honey is the best sweet alternative to sugar. Raw honey is a more natural form of honey and considered to be purer than the processed one which is heated and bottled resulting in loss of vitamin, minerals and other essential nutrients. Moderate usage of honey can absorb all nutrients value. It is safe to use maximum of 50ml per day.