Honey is known for its many health benefits. However, it is good to know that some types of honey are much healthier than others.
Most of the honey sold in supermarkets has been treated to the point of destroying many of its beneficial properties. In commercial honey production, honey is heated and pasteurized, which destroys many of its delicate health benefits such as antioxidants and enzymes.
Furthermore, the bee pollen is usually removed from commercial honey, although the pollen can be considered a superfood with many antioxidants.
So, it’s definitely worth seeking out ‘raw’ honey, which has not been treated in these ways. If you buy honey from a local beekeeper, directly or at a farmer’s market, you can make sure the honey is organic and untreated.
When you’ve got your hands on some good raw honey filled with natural health benefits, there are many ways you can use it. Some of them can be quite surprising!
- Honey is excellent for your skin
Switch your skincare products for raw honey and enjoy naturally clarified skin! Washing your face with honey cleanses the skin gently.
If you are struggling with acne or oily skin, honey helps reduce the spots and sebum production. The natural antioxidants and healing enzymes in honey also calm and brighten your skin.
If you are suffering from dry skin, you can make an easy DIY exfoliator with honey. Just run a bath, add two cups of honey and enjoy soaking in the bath for fifteen minutes. Then add a cup of baking soda and keep relaxing for another 15 minutes. After your honey bath, your skin should feel naturally moisturised and smoother than before.
- Honey gives a boost to your immune system
Raw honey has many health benefits: it can even alleviate seasonal allergies. Taking a tablespoon of local, unpasteurized honey every day helps boost your immune system. This is mainly thanks to the bee pollen contained in unpasteurized honey.
Even individuals who are allergic to pollen can usually consume bee pollen without any symptoms. Honey is a sweeter medicine than tablets and needles, so it’s surely worth trying!
It is really important to use honey that has been produced locally, because that means the bee pollen contained in the honey comes from the same pollen sources that are causing your allergies.
Honey is good for you even if you don’t have any allergies. Raw honey provides your gut with good bacteria, which improves your overall health and boosts your immune system.
- Honey makes wounds and burns heal faster
If you have a minor cut or burn, honey treatment can make it heal almost twice as fast as just using medicated bandages, according to a study published in The Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery.
The study concluded that applying honey dressings sterilized the wounds more quickly and made the burns heal faster. Raw honey can be used as an antiseptic owing to its antimicrobial properties.
- Honey can help with sleeping problems
Specifically, if you often find yourself waking up in the small hours in the morning and struggling to get back to sleep, this might mean that your stress hormones — cortisone and adrenaline — are out of balance. Honey can help with this problem by smoothing out spikes in stress hormone levels.
Mix some raw honey with sea salt and keep the mixture on your bedside table. When you wake up in the middle of the night, have a tablespoon of the honey mixture. Hopefully, it should guide you back to the land of nod soon enough.
- Honey can be used to preserve fruit
Fruit preserved in honey is a healthier, and even more delicious, alternative to sugary jam.
You just need to cover your fruit or berries with one part honey and ten parts water in canning jars. This makes for a delicious treat that is also genuinely good for you!
sources:
http://empoweredsustenance.com/uses-for-honey/
http://www.thealternativedaily.com/honey-benefits/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-brones/20-unusual-uses-for-honey_b_949475.html
http://www.seasonaleating.net/2011/07/preserving-fruits-2-berries-in-light_27.html