Joy Anyim
Can anything be sweeter than honey? Well, the answer to this question is No, as honey adds the double advantage of being the sweetest substance and also one of the healthiest nature has blessed mankind with.
Honey is a sweet, thick, liquid, made by honey bees. The bees collect sugar – mainly the sugar rich nectar of flowers – from their environment. Once inside the beehive, they consume, digest and regurgitate the nectar. The end product is honey, which is both food and medicine.
Honey contains 70 per cent sugar, while other nutrients make up the remaining 30 per cent. For example, a table spoon of honey (approximately 21 grams), contains 64 calories, 17 grams of sugar including fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose.
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It also contains protein, water, small amount of minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, hence very medicinal.
The benefits of honey beyond being a sweetener include:
- Burns and wounds: honey has been used as a salve to heal burns and prevent infection for many years. It helps wounds and burns to heal in less time and does not leave as much scarring as other treatment options.
- Herpes: it can be potent for treatment of both oral and genital herpes and reduce itching.
- Diabetes: honey has a low glycemic index than sugar, meaning its usage will not spike your blood sugar levels the way sugar will.
- Memory: it can improve both short term and long term memory especially in women in their menopause.
- Hemorrhoids causes itching, pain and blood in the stool. Honey reduces the pain, itching and continuous use in place of sugar, may also stop the blood.
- Sometimes, honey is used as part of treatments in some fertility issues.
- Psoriasis is a common skin condition that causes redness, blisters, itching and even lesions. Honey is effective in also treating this.
- Honey is very effective when used for skin therapy, it makes the skin glow, smooth and soft.
- Honey is rich in antioxidants, improves cholesterol.
- Honey lowers triglycerides. Elevated blood triglyceride are another risk factor for heart disease. Honey also helps arteries in the heart dilate, improves blood flow and ultimately reduces the risk of heart related illnesses.
- It is used in the treatment of cough in both children and adults.
- Effective for treatment of sore throat.
The uses and benefits of honey may also include other areas not mentioned here. Researches are ongoing to confirm the potency of honey in reducing the growth of cancerous cells and improving the immune system.
Caution should also be taken when buying honey as using the adulterated honey may yield little or no result.
Therefore, every household should have at least a bottle of original honey because beyond using it as sweetener, it may also come handy in treating minor health concerns.
A doctor should be consulted for advise before using honey for any health condition.
