The phrase “As Sweet As Honey” is used by all but I use it differently I always say “ Good Health and Taste means Honey”. Probably you are getting the drift right that honey is a very healthy and beneficial sweetener but above all the taste is awesome and it just tingles your taste buds in all the right ways. All thanks to the honey bees which brings in the perfect sweetness.
The bees produce honey from the sugary secretions of plants i.e. the sugar-rich floral nectar or from the secretions of other insects such as honeydew by regurgitation, enzymatic activity and water evaporation. (If you find difficulty in reading it, do not worry as I was going through the same while writing 😉) It is also very interesting to know how they store honey. They store honey in these honeycombs which are nothing but the wax structures created by them. Honey is then collected from the wild bees colonies, or from the hives of the domesticated bees. This practice of domesticating them is known as beekeeping or apiculture.
So how does honey gets its sweetness?
The perfect sweet taste of honey is from the monosaccharides fructose and glucose, and it has the same relative sweetness as sucrose (that is the table sugar or refined sugar that is normally used). Nutritionally speaking(now let us get some food mathematics out of the way first), 1 tablespoon of honey(21 grams) contains around 64 calories and 17 grams of sugar, including fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose. And if you were expecting the typical culprits like fiber, protein or fat, then I am afraid you will be disappointed. A cool fact is that, microorganisms do not grow in honey and therefore, sealed honey does not get spoiled even after thousand of years.
Why introduce honey in your diet?
One should introduce high quality honey in their diet as they are rich in antioxidants like organic acids and phenolic compounds like flavonoids. Such antioxidants are linked to reduced risk of heart attacks, strokes and some types of cancer. They might also promote eye health. It has also been linked to lowering blood pressure.
It is always a better and healthier option than refined sugar. But, one should take caution before consuming honey especially the one with diabetes. Though, it is believed that honey reduces several risk factors for heart disease which are common in people with type two diabetes, one cannot ignore that it does increases blood sugar levels- just not as much as the regular refined sugar.
There are also studies claiming that honey might improve your cholesterol levels. It reduces total and “bad” LDL Cholesterol while significantly raises “good” HDL Cholesterol.
Not only this, honey is also used to treat burns and wounds. Honey is found effective for healing partial- thickness burns and wounds that have become infected after surgery. It is also effective in treating diabetic foot ulcers, which if not taken care of, can become complicated and lead to amputation. It is believed that this healing power of honey comes from the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects and also its ability to nourish surrounding tissues. It is effective for treating other skin conditions including psoriasis and herpes lesions.
It is also helpful in treating cough and sore throats amongst both adults as well as children. Though, it should be noted that honey should not be given to children below one year of age as there is risk of botulism. Therefore, for children above one year of age, honey acts as a natural and safe suppressant for cough and is also found more effective than cough medicines.
It also has higher shelf life and can last forever if kept in an air-tight container at a dry place.
Ayurveda on Honey
As per Ayurveda, honey is a boon for those having weak digestion. It is considered as an all purpose medicine for all types of diseases. But it also suggests one important point on how to use honey. It is very well explained by Ayurveda, that honey should never be combined with anything that is hot. When combined with hot drinks or food, it changes its natural properties and therefore, weakens the digestive and immune system. It is explained that when cooked at a temperature more than 40°C, it digests slowly and the molecules becomes like a glue and produces toxins. It also destroys the enzymes and therefore, considered as the most toxic food. Thus, unheated or uncooked honey is nectar while heated or cooked honey is a poison.
Hence, one can enjoy the antibacterial and antifungal benefits of honey if eaten properly with the right combination. So, to keep honey as sweet as your honey, always keep in mind the below mentioned:
-Never mix honey with hot foods.
-Never heat honey.
-Never consume honey in a hot environment or where you are exposed to more heat.
-Never mix honey with rain water, hot, spicy foods, fermented beverages, ghee and mustard.
Before buying honey, one should take care that honey is of higher quality as lower-quality ones might be adulterated. To be blunt if you are part of the urban population, then you will have to dig a bit deeper into your pockets and spend few extra bucks to get the right honey. In fact, respecting the Ayurvedic traditions, one should buy local, raw, unfiltered honey which contains minute amounts of pollen, propolis, honeycomb and live enzymes. Also, the fact that it is high in calories must not be ignored and therefore, used in limited quantity. For people who want to replace sugar with a healthier substitute should consider coconut sugar, jaggery powder and rock sugar for cooking recipes and honey can be used in lukewarm water or can be drizzled on top of cooked food once it is a little cold. Honey is therefore beneficial to be used both internally and externally.
lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu..