HEALTH BENEFITS OF PURE HONEY – Try our Hatherton Honey
Bees eat honey all the year round. They produce it from a food source called nectar which is found in flowers, so you can see that the flowers’ survival goes hand and hand with the evolution of the bee. Your local farmers and florists are acutely aware of how vital bees are to their business and to the ecology of the world. Without bees there would be no flowers, without flowers there would be no bees. Most of all, without flowers or bees, we would have no honey. Who would want to live in a world with no flowers, no bees or NO HONEY?
Hatherton Honey is raw natural floral honey. Bees visit the local flowers, whatever is in season, bring back the nectar and proceed to make their honey.
Honey is a treat, and is man’s oldest sweetener. It is an excellent substitute for sugar in our drinks and food. It is also good for many medicinal uses and treating certain conditions. Reliance on commercialised medicines which contain too many chemicals can be hazardous to our health.
Honey is composed of sugars like glucose and fructose and minerals like magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, iron and phosphate. It contains vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and C, the proportions of which vary depending on the qualities of the nectar and pollen collected by the bees. Copper, iodine and zinc are also present in small quantities. Several kinds of hormones are also present.
Approximately one half of the human diet is derived directly or indirectly from crops pollinated by bees. Today honeybees are an essential part of a healthy agriculture economy.
Honey can be beneficial if you suffer from allergies. If you eat honey that is local to your area, it may help prevent seasonal allergies. Bees collect pollen from local plants, some of which pollens will be incorporated into the honey.
Honey may also be good for your skin. It has the ability to attract water. It is also safe for sensitive skin. You can use it as a moisturising mask for your skin as well as your hair. To use it as a conditioner, mix the honey with olive oil. However, be sure to wash your hair thoroughly before you go outside or you may receive some unwelcome attention from passing bees!
Honey can soothe a sore throat. It has powerful antimicrobial properties, which can soothe your raw tissues. Pour a teaspoon of honey into a large serving spoon and then top off the spoon with lemon juice. Swallow the concoction (without water) every few hours until symptoms clear up. Some people add a pinch of black or red pepper to increase blood circulation to the throat. Due to its natural anti-inflammatory effect, it will help to heal wounds more quickly. It also has phytochemicals – chemicals found in plants and different foods that kill viruses, bacteria, and fungus – making it a good substitute for wound dressings. The taste may also take your mind off the pain. There is evidence that honey diluted in water will help with stomach-ache and dehydration.
Honey may also be effective in the treatment of ulcers. In Europe, honey has been used internally to help cure ulcers, particularly stomach ulcers. Studies show that burns heal better with honey. The advantage of honey is that, it not only prevents infections from occurring, but it actually accelerates skin healing. Since the sugar in honey absorbs water it helps to trap moisture so that bacteria and other microbes can’t grow as easily as in other foods.
In treating diarrhoea, honey promotes the rehydration of the body and more quickly clears up the diarrhoea and any vomiting and stomach upsets. The anti-bacterial properties of honey, both the peroxide and non-peroxide, are effective in the laboratory against MRSA strains of bacteria which are notoriously resistant to antibiotics and are sometimes responsible for the closing of hospital wards.
Do you have a cut? Honey is a natural antiseptic. Medical journals cite more than 600 cases in which honey was employed to treat wounds. By applying honey to wounds, infection can be prevented. Honey contains antimicrobial agents, which prevents infections by killing the bacteria in and around wounds. When using honey it may help to warm it slightly before putting it onto the wound (caution: test the heat before placing it on the skin). Many types of bacteria can’t survive in honey, so wounds heal, swelling eases, and tissue can grow back.
Honey is cheap and available, making it potentially useful for treating wounds in earthquake-stricken and war-torn areas where running water is scarce and often contaminated.
For centuries honey has been regarded as a wonderful gift of nature in which the properties of an excellent food for adults and children are combined with medicinal properties. Ancient Russian manuscripts attached great importance to honey as a medicine. The results of experiments and observations made by medical science in recent decades have proved that honey is an important medicine possessing many therapeutic properties.
These claims apply only to pure unadulterated honey such as Hatherton Honey,
