Raw honey is made from the nectars of flowers. Worker bees gather the nectar and place it in their honey sac where it mixes with acid secretions, and is capped inside the hive. Most processed honey today has been heated and filtered, robbing it of its nutritional value and resulting in a product no more valuable than a simple sweetener.
Honey is an instant energy-building food containing all the essential minerals necessary for life, all of the B complex group, amino acids, enzymes, and other vital factors. Honey is virtually free of bacteria and rarely spoils.
Raw honey contains up to 80 different substances important to human nutrition. Besides glucose and fructose, honey contains: All of the B-complex, A, C, D, E, and K, minerals and trace elements: magnesium, sulfur, phosphorus, iron, calcium, chlorine, potassium, iodine, sodium, copper, and manganese. The live enzyme content of honey is one of the highest of all foods. Honey also contains hormones, and antimicrobial and antibacterial factors.
Much of raw, unfiltered honey's effectiveness and health benefits may be due to the presence of bee pollen and propolis, but there are substances in honey as yet unidentified, that may be responsible for its positive effects.
Uses of Honey:
- Honey contains antioxidants, a wide array of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.
- Heals wounds, burns, cataracts, skin ulcers, sores, and scrapes.
- Provides a protective barrier for wounds.
- Kills bacteria and germs.
- Reduces inflammation.
- It's amino acids and vitamin C speed the growth of healthy tissue.
- It's a natural source of energy. It enlivens the body, makes muscles stronger, refreshes nerves, cheers up, sharpens the mind, and gives sound sleep.
- Soothes sore throats.
Bee Pollen contained in raw honey contains 22 amino acids, 27 minerals and a spectrum of vitamins. Raw honey contains over 5,000 enzymes including amylase, a digestive enzyme for carbohydrates. The benefit of ingesting naturally occurring enzymes such as amylase is that it reduces the burden on the body to produce these enzymes itself to digest the food. Raw honey has an exceptionally high concentration of enzymes and provides an outstanding source of energy for the body.
Antioxidants, found in raw honey are compounds that provide natural defenses against cell damage by neutralizing unstable oxygen molecules known as free radicals. Antioxidant compounds in raw honey are believed to aid the body in fighting cancer and heart disease as well as a host of other degenerative diseases. Honey contains high antioxidant levels equivalent to that of spinach, or even strawberries, and unique to honey is pinocembrin, an antioxidant associated with improved brain function.
