The Health Benefits of Honey article will give you details on Honey’s medical, nutritional, antioxidant and healing properties. Honey is a thick liquid made by honeybees from plant nectar. With its sweet taste and depth of flavor, it is loved worldwide by everyone and it is also used in many foods and recipes.
There are varieties of honey, depending on the type of flower it is made from – As the smell, color, and taste of honey varies. This simply means, there are countless varieties of honey available.
Health Benefits of Honey
There are a number of potential health benefits of honey, as it plays a role in many home remedies and alternative medicine treatments.
Let’s have a look on some of these benefits provide by honey.
Medicinal use of Honey – Medicinal Benefits of Honey
Ayurvedic medicine review in 2012, shows that honey is used to treat the following wide array of illnesses, disorders, and injuries — whether it is mixed with other remedies and consumed or applied to the skin.
- The effects of hangovers
- Teething pain in babies older than 1 year
- Eczema and dermatitis
- Hiccups
- Stress
- Weakness
- Bed wetting and frequent urination
- Bad breath
- Vomiting
- High blood pressure
- Obesity
- Jaundice
- Arthritis
- Burns, cuts, and wounds
- Coughs and asthma
- Sleep disturbances
- Vision problems
- Stomach ulcers
Honey is recommended as a treatment for various skin ailments, citing honey’s antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties.
Read: Stomach Ulcer | Causes | Symptoms | Treatment/Cure
1. Honey and Warm Milk
For those that are suffering from insomnia (difficulty in sleeping or lack of sleep), the consumption of pure honey and warm milk is a remedy for insomnia.
Although they are both good at promoting sleep, when taken together their effect is superlative.
In the biochemical section, consuming honey and warm milk makes the brain release a compound called tryptophan (an essential amino acid which can only be produced in the body).
Tryptophan is eventually converted to Serotonin (a neurotransmitter) which increases the feeling of wellness; and is later converted to Melatonin (an hormone responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle).
Tryptophan>Serotonin>Melatonin, through series of biochemical reactions work together for a sound sleep through the use of honey with warm milk.
Procedure for taking Honey with Warm Milk
- ½ Cup of milk (warm not hot).
- 1 Teaspoon of pure honey
- Then mix it well with a spoon or steerer and take/drink it gently.
Caution:
- Do not boil the honey and the milk together.
- Avoid honey and milk if you are Lactose intolerant or allergic to honey.
2. Honey Contains a variety of Nutrients – Properties of Honey
One tablespoon (20 grams) of honey contains variety of nutrients as listed in the table below;
| Calories | 61 |
| Fat | 0 grams |
| Protein | 0 grams |
| Carbs | 17 grams |
| Fiber | 0 grams |
| Riboflavin | 1% of the Daily Value (DV) |
| Copper | 1% of the DV |
A tablespoon of honey contains 64 calories, 17.2 grams (g) of sugar, and no fiber, fat, or protein. Honey has a slightly acidic average pH level of 3.9Trusted Source, and research indicates that this acidity may help prevent the growth of bacteria.
Note: The exact physical properties of honey depend on the flora used to make it.
When stored in an watertight vessel, honey has no expiration date.
It is also worth noting that Honey is essentially pure sugar, with no fat and only trace amounts of protein and fiber. It contains small amounts of some nutrients, but most people typically don’t consume enough honey for it to be a significant dietary source of vitamins and minerals.
Also know that honey is rich in plant compounds that improve health capacity known as polyphenols.
3. Honey is a Good Source of Antioxidants – Honey as Antioxidant
Pure honey contains a wide range of plant chemicals that act as antioxidants (vitamins that act against free radicals). Some types of honey have as numerous antioxidants as fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help to cover your body from cell damage due to free revolutionaries.
Free revolutionaries/radicals contribute to the aging process and may also contribute to the development of habitual conditions similar as cancer and heart complaint. Antioxidant composites in raw honey called polyphenols haveanti-inflammatory goods that could be salutary in guarding against a number of conditions associated with oxidative stress.
The pure/raw version of honey can also contain bee pollen and bee propolis, which may have added benefits. Pure honey is shown to have potential protective effects for the respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and nervous systems, and even has potential in cancer treatment.
4. Honey Improves Heart Health
Prevention of Heart disease is also seen with the use of honey.
Conferring to one review, honey is seen to effect lower blood pressure, improve blood fat levels, regulate your heartbeat, and prevent the death of healthy cells — all factors that can improve your heart function and health.
Estimated study shows that over 2,500 people over age forty (40) associated a reasonable honey intake have a lower risk of high blood pressure among women. Honey help protect the heart from oxidative stress.
Pure honey naturally contains propolis, a type of resin that bees produce from sap-producing trees and similar plants. Propolis may improve cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
All being said, more research is needed to better understand honey’s effects on heart health.
5. Honey is a Phytonutrient Powerhouse
Phytonutrients/Photochemicals are natural compounds found in plant foods (vegetables, fruit, whole grain products and legumes) that help protect the plant from harm. For example, some keep insects away or shield the plant from ultraviolet radiation.
The phytonutrients in honey are responsible for its antioxidant parcels, as well as its antibacterial and antifungal power. They ’re also allowed to be the reason pure honey has shown vulnerable- boosting and anticancer benefits. Heavy processing in regular honey can destroy these precious nutrients.
6. Honey Helps in Digestive Issues
Pure honey is occasionally used to treat digestive issues such as diarrhea, though research shows that it works is limited. It may have implicit as a treatment for Helicobacter pylori (H.) bacteria – ulcer causing bacteria.
Honey also contains salutary prebiotics, showing that it nourishes the good bacteria that live in the bowel, which are pivotal not only for digestion but overall health.
7. Honey in Diabetes – Use Honey for Blood Sugar Levels
Honey is preferably better than regular sugar when it comes to blood sugar management, honey may offer some slight benefits over regular sugar.
Although honey raises your blood sugar level just like other types of sugar do, but the antioxidants content will help protect against metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Researchers have found that honey may increase levels of adiponectin (hormone that reduces inflammation and improves blood sugar regulation.
There’s also some substantiation that diurnal honey input may ameliorate fasting blood sugar situations in people with type 2 diabetes.
Even with this, moderate consumption of honey is advised for people with diabetes.
8. Use Honey for Cough – Soothe a Sore throat
Honey has been an ancient sore throat remedy that soothes the pang and can help with coughs.
Procedure to use it on cough involves; Adding it to hot tea with lemon when a cold virus hits.
Though further exploration is demanded, a 2021 review of studies suggested that honey could be superior to other forms of care for the enhancement of upper respiratory tract infections.
A 2016 study also suggested that the antibacterial andanti-inflammatory parcels are effective for helping a sore throat.
9. Brain benefits of Honey
There may even be some mental benefits to pure honey. The polyphenols in honey may be able to counter inflammation in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that has a major role in learning and memory.
The antioxidant andanti-inflammatory goods can profit numerous corridor of the body, including brain health.
10. Honey Heals Burn and Wound
Topical honey treatment has been used to heal wounds and burns since ancient days and it’s still ongoing in today’s honey treatment.
Honey as been seen to effectively heal wound from partial-thickness burns and wounds that have become infected after surgery.
Honey is also an effective treatment for diabetes- related bottom ulcers, which are serious complications that can lead to amputation.
The healing powers of honey is attributed to its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.
Honey can help treat other skin conditions including psoriasis and herpes lesions.
Side Effect of Honey – Risks in Taking Honey
- Honey should not be given to child less than a year, as it can cause a rare but serious gastrointestinal condition.
- Honey intake should be moderate based on its form of sugar content. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that women get no more than 100 calories a day from added sugars and men no more than 150 calories a day from this source. This amounts to about 6 ladles(teaspoons) for women and 9 ladles(teaspoons) for men.
- Botulism is another risk factor of taking honey – An illness caused by a toxin that attacks the body’s nerves and causes difficulty in breathing, muscle paralysis, and even death. According to research, the bacteria that causes this serious illness can contaminate honey, and approximately 20% of infant botulism cases in the U.S. stem from pure honey.
- Some people are sensitive or allergic to specific components in honey, particularly bee pollen. Some signs of this symptoms include: Wheezing and other asthmatic symptoms, Dizziness, Nausea, Vomiting, Weakness, Excessive perspiration, Fainting, Irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias), Stinging after topical application. The best thing is to avoid honey if these symptoms are observed.
