Everything you need to know about honey
Honey is a sweet liquid made by bees using the nectar from flowers. It is graded by color, with the clear, golden amber honey often fetching a higher retail price than the darker varieties.
The flavor of a particular type of honey will vary based on the types of flower from which the nectar was harvested.
Both raw and pasteurized forms of honey are available. Raw honey is removed from the hive and bottled directly, and as such will contain trace amounts of yeast, wax, and pollen. Consuming local raw honey is believed to help with seasonal allergies, due to repeated exposure to the pollen in the area. Pasteurized honey has been heated and processed to remove impurities.
Honey has high levels of monosaccharides, fructose, and glucose, and it contains about 70 to 80 percent sugar, which provides its sweetness. Honey also has antiseptic and antibacterial properties. Modern medical science has managed to find uses for honey in chronic wound management and combating infection.
This MNT Knowledge Center article includes a brief history of honey in traditional medicine and explains some of its potential health benefits.
Fast facts on honey
- Honey is linked to wound-healing properties and antibacterial action.
- It has been used in medicine for over 5,000 years.
- Honey can replace sugar in meals, providing a healthier option. However, they can also add browning and excess moisture to a dish.
- Do not give honey to children under 12 months old.
Benefits
Modern science is finding evidence for many of the historical uses of honey.
Manuka honey may even help reverse bacterial resistance to antibiotics, according to research presented in the journal Letters in Applied Microbiology. This type of honey showed action against Ureaplasma urealyticum, a bacteria that is resistant to many different antibiotics.
5) Relieving cold and cough symptoms
Honey may prove beneficial in relieving symptoms of a cold or cough.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends honey as a natural cough remedy.
The American Academy of Pediatrics also recognizes honey as a treatment for a cough.
However, they advise that honey is not suitable for children under the age of one year.
A 2007 study by Penn State College of Medicine suggested that honey reduced night-time coughing and improved sleep quality in children with upper respiratory infection to a greater degree than the cough medicine dextromethorphan.
6) Replacing added sugar in the diet
Honey's sweet flavor makes it an ideal substitute for sugar in the diet.
Added sugar in the diet provides excess calories with no nutritional benefit. This can lead to an increased body weight, which comes with an increased risk of high blood pressure and diabetes.
Honey can be added to food and beverages to sweeten the taste without the negative health impact of added sugars. However, since honey is still a sweetener, it is important to remain mindful of how much honey being is used.
Medicinal use
Honey has been used to treat a wide array of illnesses, ailments, and injuries.
It can be mixed with other remedies and consumed or rubbed onto the skin. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine have attempted to use honey as a remedy for the following:
- stress
- weakness
- sleep disturbance
- vision problems
- bad breath
- teething pain, in children over a year old
- cough and asthma
- hiccups
- stomach ulcers
- diarrhea and dysentery
- vomiting
- bedwetting and frequent urination
- high blood pressure
- obesity
- jaundice
- hangover relief
- eczema and dermatitis
- burns, cuts, and wounds
- arthritis
While not all uses of honey are confirmed as effective, trying it as treatment will not make conditions any worse or cause harm.