Honey Health Benefits

Honey health benefits were known to healers for centuries, yet today, Americans are just discovering them. This delicious nectar is a creation of the bee to provide nutrients and food when normal sources are scarce. It has qualities that few other sugars contain. For instance, honey is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral. This not only gives it a long shelf life, it makes honey a natural antiseptic.

Honey also provides some protection against cancer, particularly colon cancer. A study from the University of Zagreb, in Croatia, used several different bee products on rats injected with cancer cells. If the researchers gave the rats honey orally before the injection, it caused the growth of the cancer cell to slow or not grow at all. However, if they administered the honey after the injection, it actually increased the spread of the cancer. However, other bee products like Royal Jelly, made by the worker bees to feed the young, injected at the same time as the cancer, inhibited its growth and spread.

Several studies show that specific types of honey, created from the bees' consumption of different nectars, may aid cancer patients. A study published in the international medical journal, "Medical Oncology" outlined the benefits of honey from bees fed specific types of nectar. The results showed that honey from bees fed Echinacea, Siberian Ginseng and Uncaria Tomentosa produced honey that provided cancer patients an increase in blood cell production. This aided those patients depleted by the stress of chemotherapy.

Other studies removed the active ingredients in the honey. There are four of them. These are caffeic substances, which are phytonutrients. Two of them, I. ipoxygenase and phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C act on the substances that cause the development of cancer in the colon. Unfortunately, processing often destroys the substances so the best choice is always raw honey. The immunity properties of honey also help cancer patients. When scientists conducted a study, they found that cancer patients given honey had 32 percent fewer infections and an improved quality of life.

Honey also provides a powerful antibacterial aid on wounds when applied topically. Many mothers from earlier centuries used honey as their method to prevent wounds from infection. It also speeds the healing process because it stimulates the new tissues to grow faster. It works to promote the healing of burns, too. A bottle of honey provides not only for sweet flavoring in tea but also replace many of the substances in the medicine cabinet.

Honey's healing properties vary by the type of food the bees receive, as mentioned previously. Acai honey shows many of the powerful antioxidant powers its berry shows. The honey from bees that consume buckwheat is a better cough remedy for children between two and eighteen than some many of the commercial blends of cough syrup, including those containing dextromethorphan.

No article on honey would be complete without mentioning the breakfast partner cinnamon. Studies show that a daily paste of honey and cinnamon on bread or toast not only helped reduce cholesterol build up in the arteries, it also increased the stamina so there was a stronger heartbeat and reduced fatigue which causes loss of breath.

These are just a few of the benefits. Beware; honey is still a sugar that contains calories. As part of a normal diet, it helps, but it shouldn't be used to the exclusion of vegetables, fruits and protein foods that make up a good diet. Honey health benefits are great and as a substitute for other sugars, it improves your health, therefore, the quality of your life.