Honey Benefits, Its types and Uses: Honey, the nectar for Winnie the Pooh, the gummy bears, and bees in the Bee Movie. Well, honey is as significant to humans as it is to our all-time favorite characters. This must be the energy source for them as well; Winnie collecting jars of honey and the gummy bears taking honey before every action. There must be something special to it, isn’t there?
The band of little workers processes this pure gift from nature and stored in a hive. But since humans can also reap scores of health benefits of honey, it becomes essential to help you know more about this nectar. So explorers, let’s talk about honey.
No doubt, honey is all a business of bees and the flowers, humans just have a job to process it and put it to different uses. Bees produce this sweet and viscous food substance from the sugary secretions of plants known as floral nectar, or some other insects secrete from honeydew that is rather a lengthy process involving regurgitation, enzymatic activity, and evaporation of water. There is a special place where bees collect and process honey which you commonly call, the honeycomb.
It is the benefits of honey that made humans love it, besides its taste; and now honey is commercialized at a massive scale. Honey, now, has multiple applications and purposes for humans that beekeeping or apiculture is practiced these days to produce honey and its variants.
At present, there are seven major countries that are into commercial production go honey namely, USA, China, Turkey, Iran, Ukraine, Russia, and India.
There are many similarities between Honey and sugar that are spot on. Both are sweet and excellent additives to your dishes and snacks. But the key differences are spotted when you break Honey and sugar into their substituent proportions. Sugar contains 50% Fructose and 50% Glucose whereas Honey has the two in 40% and 30% ratio respectively. Apart from fructose and glucose, honey also has Water, Pollen, Magnesium, and Potassium which makes it stand alone.
Honey is obtained with less processing as compared to sugar. There are several other difference you need to know about that are also the form factors health benefits of honey.
Before, buying a jar of raw or pasteurized honey, look up to the contents and nutritional value. You will find that honey is also loaded with Vitamin C, Antioxidants, Amino Acids, Vitamin B, and Enzymes. That is way much more than sugar. Other benefits of honey that help you include.
The regular intake of honey in your diet immunizes you against many minor and major diseases. In a study based on Mice, it was found that honey modulates your immune response against infections. Honey also prevents carcinogenic cells from growing that too one of the most significant benefits of honey for cancer patients.
The Manuka and Buckwheat honey are the types of honey that help you put a fight against bacteria obstruct their growth.
Dark honey benefits kids during cough and bronchitis. A research done in 2007 concluded that is the intake of dark honey is helpful to reduce the inflammatory effects of bronchial passage and provides relaxation during cough. If taken with ginger paste, it also helps you eliminate excessive phlegm.
In ancient times, honey and its extracts were used to treat infections and allergies. Research by National Institute of Health, US, based on scientific properties of honey stated that honey holds the properties like healing wounds, treating ulcers, and healing burns. If applied on the skin, it also helps you cure skin problems.
Yes, magical and quite unbelievable to eyes, honey application on your skin gets you better skin and the glow you ever wished. Ladies, you can apply a face mask mixed with yogurt and honey on your skin to get the benefits of honey on your skin. Just keep applying it every night before bed. The results are surprisingly glowing.
Honey is the most natural agent to treat your hair fall. Another study based in the National Institute of Health proved that honey also promotes the growth of epithelial (skin) cells that contribute to healthy scalp and hair follicles.
Higher contents of antioxidants and flavonoids present in honey help you fight heart diseases and cancer. Buckwheat honey reportedly increases the antioxidant values of your body and protects you against heart attack, strokes, and maintains your eye health.
As said before, honey has higher nutritional value than sugar, but higher calories and carbohydrates also accompany the sweetness. This turns honey into the non-favorable side for diabetic patients and kids less than 12 months.
Honey has similar effects on your body as sugar; now imagine if you take the same amount of honey ads sugar and compare one tablespoon of it with sugar. One tablespoon of honey contains 64 calories which are alarming for a diabetic patient. However, the same amount of sugar amounts to 49 Calories.
Based on their uses (whether commercial or medicinal), you can categorize honey in more than 300 types. The taste, flavor, and color of honey also depend on the type of flower that the little bees got it from.
Some of the common types of honey that are commercialized:1. Pasteurized Honey: Heating honey to kill harmful microorganisms is called pasteurization of honey, although this process also destroys some components which are beneficial for us.
2. Raw Honey: The honey which we get from the directly from the beehives and has not been processed is called raw honey.
3. Crystallized honey: Also called “granulated honey” or “candied honey”, is a crystallized form of honey that turns into a liquid when heated.
4. Strained honey: That is passed through a mesh top remove particles from the extracted raw honey. The particles include wax, other impure or dirt particles.
5. Filtered Honey: Filtered honey is heated and passed through a filter to obtain a better and liquefied form of honey. You can see it commonly in a supermarket and it is manufactured mainly for commercial use.
6. Dried Honey: This type of honey is used in baking, this is why it’s also known as baking honey. The moisture is extracted out from dried honey to make it usable as a garnishing element on toppings and desserts.
7. Manuka Honey: Mostly used for making medicines and generally produced in America.
8. Buckwheat Honey: Very dark in color and not found very often. Very effective in a cough.
Types of Honey based on flowers extracted color, flavor, and taste.You can find more types of honey, and that entirely depends on how you like it in taste, flavor, or color. Here are some of the honey treats for you that can be spotted in a store near you.
1. Acacia Honey
Acacia is identified as light and bright honey. It gets the taste from the nectar of the blossoms of Robinia pseudo acacia, aka, Black Locust found in Northern America and European regions. Acacia can stay in a liquified form due to a higher concentration of fructose. People with diabetes can obtain maximum benefits of honey of this type as it has low sucrose content and rich anti-inflammatory properties. It also helps you during respiratory disorders.
2. Alfalfa Honey
Alfalfa honey, widely produced in Canada and the USA, is obtained from blue blossoms. It is also light in color and contains mild aromatic fragrance and taste. Alfalfa honey is generally used in bakery purposes because of its mild taste and flavor. If you already have it, you can enjoy dipping your fingers and enjoy its taste.
3. Aster Honey
This light-colored Honey is majorly produced in the Mid-South region of the United States. Aster Honey has a thick and smooth consistency accompanied by a distinctively sweet smell.
It tends to crystallize faster than most other variety of Honey available and tastes best when used as a natural sweeter in a variety of delicious drinks and desserts.
4. Avocado Honey
Avocado Honey doesn’t taste like Avocado but is extracted from the California avocado blossoms. It is dark-colored honey with a rich and buttery flavor and makes for a tasty salad dressing or condiment when mixed with other ingredients.
5. Basswood Honey
Basswood Honey is most famous for its biting taste, distinctive white color, and exceptional malleability quality that makes it easy to go for any food item. Basswood Honey is produced from the cream-colored Basswood blossoms found in the North American regions. Its fresh, pleasant, and wood-like essence tastes well with a variety of teas and often loved for salad dressings and marinades.
6. Beechwood Honey
Honeydew honey is popular in New Zealand's South Island. It is obtained from the sap produced by aphids on the bark of the Beechwood tree. The bees collect this sap. This type of honey is used as syrup for pancakes and fruit salads. It has highly aromatic properties and also immunizing capabilities. Honeydew honey is also good for your digestion system.
7. Blueberry Honey
Blueberry honey holds a pleasant flavor variety and is produced in New England and Michigan.
Blueberry honey is extracted from the white flowers of the blueberry bush. Blueberry Honey is a widely used ingredient in breakfast meals like oats, pancakes, and cereal bars.
8. Eucalyptus Honey
Eucalyptus honey is widely grown in South Australia and Tasmania. Its dense texture and amber-color make it a friendly for topping for toasts and wafers.
9. Bluegum honey
Bluegum honey tastes similar to that of bubble gum and has a dense texture with calming properties. It has anti-inflammatory properties.
10. Buckwheat Honey
Buckwheat honey is the strongest and darkest of honey varieties, which is mostly produced in Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and few eastern regions of Canada. Buckwheat honey is a rich source of iron and other essential nutrients. Buckwheat honey has the highest antioxidant compounds, which are also beneficial for your skin and heart health.
11. Clover Honey
Clover Honey produced in Canada and New Zealand and is also the most widely available and accessible type of honey. You can add clover honey to your dressings and sauces since it has a sweet taste and floral aroma.
12. Dandelion Honey
Dandelion honey tastes a little sourness and is generally stronger in taste. You can find this variety in New Zealand’s South Island. Dandelion honey has a dark-ember color and has the same aroma. Dandelion is also considered a medicinal herb in China, Tibet, and India.
13. Fireweed Honey
Fireweed Honey is obtained from a tall herb found in the open woods of north-western regions of the United States. It is light in color and has its own way of being sweet and sophisticated at the same time. Its smooth, delicate, and buttery taste make it an excellent option for gourmet cooking, baking, and fish smoking.
14. Heather Honey
Heather honey is one of the most influential and most pungent flavors available. Its aftertaste makes it commonly used honey type for marinating Ham, chicken, seafood and other cold meat dishes. It is thick and amber in color and is also known to be a rich protein source.
15. Linden Honey
Linden honey is light yellow in color and contains a very delicate and fresh woody scent. Linden honey is one of the most medicinally rich forms of honey. If you want to get honey benefits for sleep, take Linden honey as a sedative before bed. Linden Honey is a natural remedy for insomnia and anxiety.
16. Manuka Honey
Manuka honey is a native to New Zealand's coastal areas and is obtained from the flower of the Tea Tree bush. It contains highly antibacterial properties that treat many problems namely, stomach ulcers, sore throat, cold, indigestion, and acne.
Given many benefits and properties of honey, you can grab which flavor you want for yourself today. Honey cures it all, anxiety, digestion troubles, and corrects your metabolism as well. What’s better than knowing all the nature’s gifts is brought to you by the little gifts of creatures.
Adding two tablespoons of honey to your daily diet can offer various health benefits, such as antioxidants, better wound healing, and anti-inflammatory properties. A spoonful of honey contains around 8.6 grams of fructose, a carbohydrate type.
Honey is a sweetener composed mainly of sugar, and it also provides small amounts of several vitamins and minerals. It is rich in health-promoting plant compounds, including antioxidants, and it is better for blood sugar levels than regular sugar. Honey may also improve heart health and suppress coughing in children.
Honey has been linked to various health benefits like improved heart health, wound healing, and blood antioxidant status. However, consuming too much may cause adverse effects due to its high sugar and calorie content. Thus, it's best to use honey to replace other forms of sugar and enjoy it in moderation - making sure to take advantage of all of its excellent benefits.
Did you know that the American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than nine teaspoons (36 grams) of sugar per day for men? Women and children should consume no more than six teaspoons (24 grams) of sugar per day. Interestingly, a teaspoon of honey contains almost six grams of sugar.
