Honey

Honey is an easily digestible complete food, consisting almost entirely of pure glucose and levulose, as well as other substances necessary for cell, tissue and normal organ functioning.

Honey is mineral rich containing calcium, phosphorus, sulphur, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, chlorine and iodine salts. Some honeys – polyfloral and buckwheat – even contain manganese, silicon, aluminium, boron, chromium, copper, lithium, nickel, zinc and osmium. All mineral salts are highly important to an efficiently working body.

In addition, honey contains some organic acids, which increase the activity of the body, like malic, citric and oxalic acid. Although containing natural acids, this must not be confused with the fact that honey is basically an alkaline food and vital, therefore, in acid-neutralising and the alkaline balance of the body, which normally tends to be overbalanced in the acidity direction. This factor ties in with its mineral content, as the higher the mineral content the higher the alkaline value. This can be clearly worked out when buying honeys as the darker coloured ones are highest in mineral content. The nutritive and therapeutic qualities of honey are further enhanced by its excellent vitamin content which include vitamins B2,B6,H,K and C. The vitamin content of honey is dependent on the quality of pollen within it and if this is ever filtered out, then all vitamins are lost.

All honey acts as a disinfectant, having strong anti-bacterial and antimycotic properties (the latter preventing the growth of moulds and fungi). It is a great healer of wounds, wonderful for a host of upper respiratory diseases including the common cold, beneficial for heart diseases (improvement of the cardiac muscles are helped by honey), also for gastric and intestinal diseases – generally improving the digestive system and assimilation of food. The liver and its filtering function is aided by honey, while the nervous system is indebted to the natural glucose and its other components. It is a general help to skin diseases, eye diseases and for post-operative care, combining nutrition and healing factors. The list is endless and only a smattering of the curative, rejuvenative properties of honey have been mentioned, however enough, I hope, to persuade any who were doubtful that the best sweet accompaniment is honey.

Different honeys: native, imported, polyfloral, singles

The question in your minds might now be which honey to buy? The best honey of all is that which your own bees have produced, preferably eaten off the comb during summer. Flora of your own vicinity (the flight path of the bees being two to three miles) is the most beneficial to you and can even help in immunising the body against pollen irritation in cases of hayfever.

I dislike buying honey from shops for many reasons. Indiscrimination about whether the bees have fed on chemically sprayed fields, plus the fact that the bees may have been entirely fed on cane or beet sugar without going near a plant and its pollen, warns me away from many commercial brands.

Certainly, in this country, with our close-knit agricultural system, even a country garden free from chemical spraying may lead into a sprayed field as part of the flight path of the bees. So, having said that native honey is the best, unless you are really sure of the source, a honey like Spanish rosemary, taken from the mountain sides of Spain where the wild flora is far from the drift of chemical sprays, might be a good choice. Others include Mexican orange honey and Hungarian acacia honey to name but 2 more.

How much honey?

Having now chosen your honey, preferably from a known, local source, the question is how much honey is it wise or beneficial to consume? As with anything, balance is the key note (anything excessive is bad, even if it is good!). So as a guideline, one jar per healthy adult over a period of two weeks would be a balanced intake. However, honey will make you nauseous if you over-indulge– this is the body’s way of telling you about your excesses! Take care also that children and infants also gain a balanced intake, suitable for their body weight.

Taste and particular medicinal qualities

Every honey not only contains the therapeutic qualities previously mentioned but each has the particular medicinal quality of the plant or plants a bee has fed upon. For instance, rosemary honey is highly antiseptic and I particularly enjoy its flavour as it is a naturally bitter herb and, softened with the sweetness, the result is a rather savoury honey. Buckwheat honey ranks high on my list of excellent honeys, because it is very dark and therefore high in mineral salts, but added to this is the fact that buckwheat herb is specifically good for strengthening arteries and, therefore, ideal for any degenerative diseases. Alfalfa honey would be an almost untouchable complete vitamin source as alfalfa is a multiple vitamin plant anyway. While clover honey would be excellent added to a tea specifically designed for blood purification and tonic properties as red clover itself is a blood purifier.

If you are buying from a wholefood or health food store, with all the choice at your fingertips, then it might be nice to have a selection, making an evaluation on matching not only a harmonising tasting honey but also one that will enhance the brew medicinally.

Malted Barley

Malted barley is not only a good natural sweetener, but is also rich in vitamin B. Its texture is similar to that of honey and it is dark brown in colour.

Liquorice

Liquorice is rich in glychrrhizic acid, which is fifty times sweeter than sugar. This factor gives tea a naturally sweet taste when liquorice is added.

Lemon

Lemon is delightful in flavour and can be added to teas. It is rich in vitamin C, a natural antioxidant and it also encourages the immune system.

Stevia

Stevia is 300 to 500 times sweeter than sugar, dose not feed yeast, fungi, and other unwanted gastrointestinal microorganisms, and it helps improve digestion, by stimulating the pancreas. Made as a tea and kept in the refrigerator, a small amount can be added to herbal teas.