Honey

  Honey has had a long history. It has been used as a medicinal food since antiquity. It is mentioned in the Bible, the Talmud and the Koran. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used it in the treatment of his patients. Pliny, the Roman historian, wrote in praise of the honeybee and the value of honey. It still has properties that baffle the scientists.

   Honey is said to improve with age. A jar of honey was discovered in an Egyptian tomb after 3,000 years. The substance was still recognisable!

   With an industry unsurpassed in the human world, it takes about 2,000 bee visits to produce one tablespoonful of honey.

   Honey, when extracted from the comb, is a concentrated aqueous solution which in due course transforms itself into a glutinous, granulated, opaque mass due to the crystallisation of one of its sugars. This crystallisation, contrary to popular belief, is a guarantee of its pureness.

   By insisting that honey should be in liquid form, the public is compelling suppliers, whether they like it or not, to tamper with the product.

   Honey is chiefly composed of various sugars. Other substances hitherto identified include: phosphate of calcium and iron and minute amounts of sodium chloride, formic acid, vitamins A, B and C and small grains of pollen in minute quantities but of high nutritional value. When heated or sterilised, the ferments lose their character. Light destroys the vitamin A, while heat destroys all three vitamins.

   It is also anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and antiseptic.

   Maybe you are one who prefers it fluid? Crystallised honey can be returned to the liquid state by setting the jar in warm - not hot - water. When you store honey, never place it in a refrigerator or an excessively cold place: it likes warmth and dryness.

   White sugar is fattening and almost 100% carbohydrate, containing few vitamins or minerals. You have to eat a lot before your blood sugar rises to a point where it triggers off your appetite. Honey is different. It is rapidly satisfying, easily absorbed and recharges energy almost immediately.

   Every beekeeper knows that honey is good for indigestion.

   Honey can be used to treat dyspepsia and ulcers by eradicating Heliobacter-Pylori, researchers claim. Laboratory tests by Dr Peter Molan of the University of Waitkito, New Zealand prevented growth of the bacteria by a 5% solution of honey from the Manuka flower.

   A great many people are now using honey to treat peptic ulcers; also, many children with gastro-enteritis have found complete relief in honey.

   Honey is a potent inhibitor of the bacteria that causes salmonella poisoning.

   Another special honey, made especially for the queen bee, is called Royal Jelly; it’s produced by the worker bees from pollen and honey. It has required the reputation of being a superb tonic to create an alert mentality and virility. I often recommend Royal Jelly for the students in the weeks coming up to their big exams to give them extra stamina and clearness of vision.

   On a final note, I have noted over the years that beekeepers are the most friendly and helpful of people. Maybe honey imparts some of its sweetness to their characters!  

David Foley

MNIMH, MRCHM

Medical Herbalist