Honey is healthy statement
Honey is healthy and we will exactly explain this statement in this blog post. We will also elaborate on what ingredients honey contains of. Honey consists of water and two forms of nutrients. These are sugars and micronutrients.
Natural product
Honey is a 100% natural product. The environment where the honey comes from determines the quality, structure, taste and smell. This has to do with the flora that differs in every environment. The diversity and ratio between these plants determines not only those aspects, but also the exact ingredients and the mutual relationship thereof.
Water
Honey consists of approximately 17% water. Nectar contains on average more than 20% water. The honey bees reduce the moisture content of nectar, so that it will increase its lifetime.
Sugars
On average, honey contains: 38% fructose, 31% glucose, 10% other sugars including maltose and sucrose. Because honey contains these different sugar structures, the peak of your insulin appears less than with the same amount of refined sugars. The amount of sugars in honey also plays a role in the antibacterial, antifungal and preservative effects.
The ratio between sugars in honey is determined by the flora in the region where the honey bees forage. For example, acacia honey contains a lot of fructose, which makes the honey stay liquid longer. Rapeseed honey contains more glucose, which makes it thick and syrupy. Each type of honey has its own way of the crystallization, as each type of honey has a different ratio of sugars.
Micronutrients
Honey contains many forms of micronutrients that are present in small amounts. It contains a few percent of your daily recommended dose. The most positive effects of honey on your health cannot be ascribed to this. It is the many organic compounds in honey that makes honey actually a healthy product. Most micronutrients originate from the nectar and pollen of plants. The vitamins and minerals, which together form these micronutrients, are stated below.
Vitamins
Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3), Pantothenic acid (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6), Folate (Vitamin B9) and Vitamin C.
Minerals
Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sodium and Zinc
Antioxidant effects of honey
Some of the organic compounds that provide the antioxidant effect of honey are mentioned below. Again, the local flora is decisive in the amount of organic compounds that honey contains. These substances are naturally present in plants. They provide attractive colours for the pollinators or a misleading taste to prevent attacks from other unwelcome insects.
Organic compounds
Various flavonoids, various phenolic acids, ascorbic acid, tocopherols, catalase, superoxide dismutase, reduced glutathione, and peptides.
Did you keep it up till here? As you can see, honey contains a lot of organic compounds. These organic compounds characterize the healthy benefits of honey. However, nutritionists have a cautious opinion about the fact that honey is healthy product. Consuming honey has proven to be a healthy influence on our body, however antioxidants and enzymes sporadically appear on dietary advice websites from the government. This raises big question about the trustworthiness and leads to the cautious opinions of nutritionists.
Healthy characteristics
What are some examples of those healthy characteristics we are talking about. Well, it can be good for your blood level, can help with respiratory infections, can help heal wounds, acts as a natural antibiotic and is good for digestion. Much more is written about on the internet and scientifically proven as well. Please note that it is your overall diet, regularly exercising and your lifestyle that makes you a healthy person or a less healthy person. Consuming honey is no guarantee for perfect health. Don't fool yourself.
Pure honey
Honey is a healthy product, because of all these organic compounds that plants produce for various functions. The amounts of the organic compounds are relatively more present than vitamins that are good for your body. It is important to make sure you don’t purchase heated honey above the 37 degrees. This has as reason that the heating process destroys the healthy characteristics of the organic compounds and therefore its quality. Honey mixed with sugar water or honey mixed with other bad quality honey has the same effect. So, make sure to always buy pure, unheated honey. Also known as raw honey. We call our honey pure unprocessed and unmixed honey, because that is what it is.
Team Vicus Apis.