Your Digestion System Will Improve
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Honey isn't always known for its nutrient levels but a spoonful of honey can do some good things for the body. It contains Polyphenols which is known to boost your digestion. This could be great, especially if you mixed in your honey with something high in fiber like oatmeal.
Your Heart Health Can Get Better
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Polyphenols again! Experts believe that they contain antioxidants that can help reduce any inflammation which is a risk for heart disease. They are also believed to have a hand in the lowering of cholesterol, so maybe that small spoonful of honey is better for your body than you might think.
Lowered Blood Sugar Level
Polyphenols are also believed to help lower your blood sugar levels which can also decrease your chances of type 2 diabetes. They also can prevent the breakdown of starch which can lower those spikes of sugars after your meals. Maybe add honey to your late night snacks from now on!
They Can Prevent Blood Clots
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Blood clots are another problem that can potentially be mitigated by the use of the polyphenols found in honey. It is believed that they can stop the aggregated growth of platelets in your blood which is what causes a blood clot; this occurs when they clump together in your body.
It Can Clear Up Your Skin
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We all know that honey has been used in skincare routines for decades, it can be found in creams and facemasks worldwide. But you can actually get similar impacts from eating a spoonful a day! The amino acids in honey can support with tissue rebuilding and keep your skin looking its best.
It Can Detoxify Your Body
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Studies have shown that using honey can actually be a useful therapy, as an antioxidant, to lessen the effects of some diseases. This is due to flavonoids within the honey that is known to treat what is known as oxidative stress. Green teas is also full of the same thing, so you could double up on those antioxidants.
It Could Help You Athletically
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Instead of turning to the ever-developing sports gels that keep appearing on the market, you could turn to honey instead. This is seen to be a natural alternative which is essentially a cocktail of sugars which has been found to perform just as well as the store bought gels.
It Can Help Avoid Weight Gain
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You might think that honey is something you need to avoid when trying to lose weight due to the amount of sugar within a jar. However, studies have found that honey actually has better effects on weight than a certified obesity drug! Gelam honey is believed to be the most effective variety.
It Can Attack Your Hangover
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Honey has been studied to actually aid in the process of removing alcohol from your system! It has been shown that an administered dose of fructose (a sugar) can reduce your intoxication levels. The sugar will also make you less irritable! So start adding honey to your morning after cures.
You'll Get A Better Sleep
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Honey has been used as a medicine for hundreds maybe thousands of years, and in some cultures there are pre-sleep rituals that use honey! It is believed that honey at night can release insulin which in turn sends an amino acid to the brain which helps produce melatonin. Phew!
Cholesterol Lowering
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A study has shown that participants made to eat honey actually ended up having a lower BMI. They concluded that, honey had a much greater effect than just normal sugar and actually had a hand in the decrease of cholesterol levels in adults. Honey in your hot drinks might be a big move!
Reduce Acid Reflux
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Acid reflux can be a particularly difficult symptom to have to live with, and on top of that quite painful. Fortunately, honey has been found to actually alleviate the problems caused by the stomach acid. It essentially acts as a coating on your mucus membrane, so can block the reflux.
Increased Brain Health
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It is now believed that high cholesterol is not just bad for your heart but also your brain! Apparently the cholesterol can build up as plaque in the brain causing issues like Alzheimer's. Fortunately, as we have discovered, honey can contribute to the lowering of these levels and so, the lowering of this risk.
Looking After Our Gut
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Gut health is surprisingly more important than we all might think, and fortunately, this is another part of the body that honey can help! It has been found that honey can help remove unwanted bacteria like E.coli and salmonella from within the body. This protection actually comes straight from the body of the bee!
You Can Avoid A Cough
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We've all seen the cough sweets that tend to come in Lemon and Honey flavour, but it turns out that honey is chosen for a reason! Honey has been found, in studies, to actually have a greater effect on a cough than some powerful cough medicines! So choose honey flavoured items, or just a spoonful!
It Can Cure Your Sore Throat
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This and a cough come hand in hand I suppose, but honey has been an option suggested to fight against a sore throat. You can use the sweets again, however professional singers often advise using honey as part of the solution to fight back against your sore throat. Many of them use honey in boiling water and breathe it in!
It Can Calm You Down
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Anxiety has become more and more of a problem in the last few decades, and we spend a lot of money trying to find ways to cure ourselves of the problem. Fortunately , honey has been found to help relieve stress and anxiety. Ashwagandha and a variety of other stress-relief drinks all contain honey.
It Can Strengthen Your Immune System
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If you drink or eat a spoonful of honey a day, then you might be helping your body in warding off any issues to its immune system. Thanks to it being rich in antioxidants and having both anti-bacterial and anti-tumor properties it could be an essential thing to start adding to your diet.
It Can Be Good For Your Blood
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If you pour your spoonful of honey in to a cup of water it has been shown to have a positive influence on your red blood cell count. This is great for the body as the red blood cells are what carry the oxygen we so desperately require around our bodies. This can also help the body with something else...
Counteract Iron Deficiency
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Honey, consumed in the same way as the prior point, can also have a positive effect on the issues that come with iron deficiency anemia. This is a condition in which iron absorption is limited and so you can begin feeling weak and you are at higher risk of bleeding. Thankfully the honey can negate this.
Your Scalp Might Feel Better
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Studies have found that honey can actually have a positive effect on the wellbeing of your scalp! It is believed that you can actually decrease the chances of scaling and dandruff with the use of honey. Maybe you can pair up your spoonful of honey with some honey infused products!
Your Child Might Sleep Better
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Results from a number of studies worldwide have found that honey can have a positive effect on your sleep, especially in children. They haven't yet found the reason why, but it is believed that honey can help avoid irritability in the bedroom. So maybe have a spoonful before bed!
It Could Get Rid Of Your Cold
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Not only can honey be used to cure your cough and sore throat, it can also help alleviate the issues that arise from a cold. The most annoying of which is probably the runny or blocked nose, but as hundreds of years have shown, honey can actually be used to clear your nostril pathways.
It Could Also Make You Gain Weight
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Although some studies have claimed you could avoid weight gain, others have suggested that it can contribute to weight gain as well. There are around 64 calories in 21g of Honey and a few spoonfuls a day would definitely start to build up over time; especially if your diet around this wasn't great.
It Might Make You Hungry
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Due to honey being high in sugar, if it is digested in a rapid manner then your blood sugar levels can spike and then crash. This can actually cause you to feel even more hungry and so you are likely to start eating more food. This can contribute to the weight gain previously mentioned.
It Can Make A Child Ill
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Unfortunately, these health benefits aren't always suitable to everyone, and honey can actually be quite dangerous if given to very young children. Unfortunately honey can contain dust spores that can cause botulism in young children. This is extremely rare, but botulism can cause paralysis.
You Could Be Allergic
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If you are one of the unfortunate souls who is frequently at risk of suffering from allergies then you might want to avoid eating honey. Although it is rare, honey allergies do exist, which is likely down to the pollen and enzymes released from the bees in to the honey. It might be best to steer clear.
It Might Not Help Your Allergies
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Honey has often been used as a home remedy to fight against seasonal allergies, they shouldn't be solely relied on. Although some studies have shown honey can support against allergies, it would be dangerous to throw away the idea of using traditional allergy medications to help you.
It Could Cause Diabetes
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Although we have discussed that honey can be a help to the body, too much could also cause the user to get type 2 diabetes. Alongside this, anyone who already has diabetes or another insulin affecting issue, eating honey should be avoided at all costs. It might be better to find a different sweet alternative.
It Could Damage Your Teeth
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As with all sugar packed foods, your teeth are always at risk of damage or decay. So it might be best to consider eating your honey in moderation rather than looking at eating a spoonful (or more) a day. It might be delicious but you've got to put your health at the top of the priority list.
Want to know more about honey? It's the only food that's made by an insect
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Honey is the only food in the world that's actually made by an insect completely, from start to finish. The only human interaction is through beekeepers getting the ready-made honey from honeycombs. It's actually amazing the process honey goes through when you think about it - and probably take for granted when there's a jar sat in your kitchen!
And it's the only food eaten by both humans and insects
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It's also interesting to think that we're eating something that's also enjoyed by insects! Usually insects aren't too fussy when it comes to their palate! To think that the taste of honey can be enjoyed and a much-needed diet item for both humans and insects, the only food in the world to be consumed by both.
A pound of honey needs about 2 million flowers
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Did you ever think how many flowers are actually needed to produce a certain amount of honey? To produce a pound of honey, you'd actually need around 2 million flowers! Bees would have to land on 2 million flowers and fly 55,000 miles to make just a pound of honey.
Natural honey will have flower pollen in it
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It's no surprise then - with so many flowers playing a huge part in the process - that naturally produced honey has some flower pollen contained in it - specifically, flower pollen grains. There's also an official study of the flower pollen that can be in honey, and that's called melissopalnology.
It can last pretty much a lifetime if stored in a jar
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Honey is definitely something you'll want to stock up on in your pantry if you're planning for a zombie apocalypse, because its shelf life is pretty much indefinite as long as you store it right (in an airtight container in a cool, dark place). If the temperatures are too cold, however, it could actually crystallize!
Bees make honey to keep them fed through the winter
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All this time you might have just thought that making honey was just something bees did to pass the time - we never really question the process of what certain insects and animals do. But there's a very important reason bees go to all that trouble to make honey: to keep them fed during winter hibernation!
The honey badger might be after the bees themselves
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The honey badger is a mammal that has a reputation for being aggressive and having quite a big ego! And because of its name, you might think its purpose in life is to track down that delicious honey. But studies have actually revealed that the honey badger might be targeting the bees themselves, when they are in their larvae stage in the nest.
Honey is a key ingredient in mead
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If you've never heard much about mead, it's a very sweet alcoholic drink that was very popular during medieval times and in ancient stories. And a key ingredient in the mead-making process is honey, which is fermented with water and mixed with other ingedients and spices.
It's not safe for babies
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You might think honey could be a good healthy snack for babies, as well as something they might enjoy eating when they don't have any teeth, or maybe even during the irritating teething stage! But honey isn't safe for babies to consume, because it could risk infant botulism (a disease in the intestine caused by bacteria).
And cats can't taste it!
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Sometimes you give your pets sticky treats, like dog-safe peanut butter to keep them occupied with their favorite toy, so honey for cats might have crossed their mind. But cats actually wouldn't be able to taste any of the sweet honey goodness, because they don't have the right taste receptors to do so!
Honey bees aren't the only bees to make honey
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We know the name might sound like they have exclusive rights to making honey, but really honey bees aren't the only type of bee capable of doing so! There is a species known as stingless bees which also make honey - and, surprisingly, some wasps can make honey too!
Honey is popular in beauty treatments
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If you're into your self-care and beauty regime, you definitely want to add some honey into the bargain! This is because honey is known for its antiseptic properties as well as its moisturizing qualities, making it a good option for things like face masks or facial treatments.
It can actually come in lots of different colors!
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We all have that golden tone in mind when we think of honey, but actually, it can come in a TON of different colors, from extremely pale to very very dark - close to black! You might not think black honey looks very appetising, but it's all honey and it all tastes good!
Tupelo honey is the most sweet
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Of all the honey varieties, Tupelo Honey is actually the most sweet you can get - so much so that the band Van Morrison wanted to talk about it in one of their tracks! Honey comes in all types of sweetness, so it all depends how sweet you like your honey. If the sweeter the better, then Tupelo is the way to go!
Honey is acidic
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While honey has a ton of healthy properties, it's also important to be aware that it's slightly acidic. It may surprise you to learn that honey is actually a tad more acidic than your morning coffee, or tomato juice. It's believed the acidity comes from the nectar used in the bees' process.
Cactus honey isn't honey!
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They really like naming things that don't make sense, don't they? Whoever they are! Cactus honey - despite the misleading name - is not, in fact, honey at all. But it's similar in terms of sweetness and consistency - that's because it's a syrup, and it's not made by bees.
Honey was used by Egyptians as pregnancy prevention
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How, you might ask. Well... only the Egyptians really know the answer to that. Apparently honey was used in Ancient Egyptian times to act as a pregnancy prevention tool, by women applying it to linen. Maybe they thought it would act as a barrier through their clothes?
Honey was once used as a weapon
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Honey was actually once used as a weapon for toxic warfare - and was powerful enough to defeat a whole Roman army! The honey was extracted from poisonous flowers to make a 'mad honeycomb', which was then set out as a trap. The Roman soldiers ate the honey, went a bit loopy and were therefore easy targets.
It was once used as tax payment
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In times before tax comes straight out of our bank account, honey was actually used as a form of tax currency that collectors would seek out. Lords would gather up honey in the times of medieval Europe, so if you didn't have money to pay, you best hope you had some jars of honey instead.
Owners would destroy their own hives to avoid tax!
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With this in mind, some people even went so far as to evade tax collectors by completely destroying their own honey nests! This happened in France, when the lords would target beekeepers and honey makers specifically. When they began to draw up a list of all people who owned hives so they could pay them a visit, the hive owners destroyed theirs instead of paying up.