Good Day Everyone! I hope you all are having a beautiful week. This week I would love to talk about the sweet nectar of the world, Raw all-natural Honey and its many gifts to humankind. If it wasn’t for our special little buzzing buddies, we would be lost without this wonderful natural resource. Like many other topics we will discuss over time, honey is another one that has always been around as long as our flying friends have been there to create it. People of the past seem to have known just how useful it was. The use of honey can be traced back 8000 years on a cave painting. One of the first fermented beverages was made from honey, known as mead. Another fun fact, the term honeymoon originates from a Norse practice of consuming large quantities of mead during the first month of marriage (measured by one cycle of the moon). Did you also know that the Honey Bee is the only insect that produces food eaten by humans and natural honey is made up of enough substances that is necessary to sustain life!

Oh the sweet nectar of honey.

Local raw honey is full of a variety of vitamins, essential minerals, antioxidants and amino acids. It is known to have antibacterial, anti fungal, antimicrobial and anti inflammatory properties. It is a phytonutrient powerhouse for digestive issues. Local honey is the best way to go because it best serves you due to the fact that your body is adapted to the area in which you live, helping your body build up a resistance to allergy concerns. It has been shown that local raw, unfiltered honey can be more effective than some common antihistamines & cough suppressants. It reduces inflamed tissues in soar throats and nasal passage ways. It also has immune boosting effects. Research has shown that taking 2 tbsp of honey everyday increases the number of lymphocytes, which are white blood cells. These cell’s job in the body is to recognize disease-causing antigens on microbes, build antibodies against those microbes and end up destroying them. Raw honey also increases the red blood cells in the body as well. In human history, Ancients from around the world have used honey for wounds because of its anti inflammatory activity and stimulation of the immune response within a wound. It also consists of substances that serve as a Pre and ProBiotic that can create a balance of gut microflora stimulation of beneficial organisms that help fight the bad bacteria trying to invade your body and cause disease of the intestinal tract. Pure honey also helps provide cardiovascular protection because it has certain antioxidant compounds that help lower blood pressure. Because of its antibacterial nature it has been found to prevent many different species of bacteria. During WWI some cultures used what was called honey therapy to prevent wound infection and help speed up the healing process. It would serve as a wound dressing. They would apply the honey directly to a dressing and cover the wound as it stimulated the healing process by clearing the infection, regenerating tissue and reducing inflammation.

The composition of raw honey all depends on what plants the Bees feed on. Another type of honey besides raw honey is called Manuka honey. It is made from a rare plant native to New Zealand called the Manuka bush. Honey made from this bush results in a more potent honey substance with higher amounts of its traditional ingredients that honey consists of. It is however a more expensive honey because of its rarity and can only be imported from New Zealand. For the most part Manuka honey is safe for most people but if you have diabetes or have an allergic reaction to bees you should address your concerns with your healthcare provider first before implementing. As with anything, you always have to watch out for adverse effects on certain populations such as our babies. It is not recommended for little ones under the age of 1 years old to consume raw honey as it poses concerns about botulism-causing bacteria. Mass produced honey that has been heated and based with corn syrup will Not have the benefits, it is nothing more than sugar and water. To receive all the benefits it has to offer, Raw unfiltered honey from your local honey bee farm is the best way to go. You can usually find this at your local grocery store or farmers market! There is an abundance of natural resources all around us

on this planet. We just have to revisit and rekindle our relationship with the world around us.