Honey

High in beneficial plant compounds and offering several health benefits, honey is a relatively healthy alternative to other sweeteners used in daily life and cuisine around the world. It’s a liquid made by honeybees after they collect nectar from flowers further regurgitating it once taken back to their hive.

Honey is renowned not only for its natural healing properties but also due to its soothing taste. Apart from adding a very distinct sweet taste and aroma to our food, it has also consistently proven to possess several medicinal benefits since thousands of years ago.

Its antioxidant properties make it a no brainer alternative to mainstream sugar for a lot of people. It can have a plethora of honey uses all around the household but in this particular article, we are going to be exploring some of the herbal properties and potential medicinal honey benefits.

Usually, in the framed beehives, honeybees use their beeswax honeycomb to store the honey on a wooden structure which is referred to as the frame which is typically harvested during the late summertime period. On a completely filled frame, the bees cap over the cells for storage leaving each cell containing honey sealed with a capping made of beeswax.

The sugar collected by the bees mainly from the sugar-saturated nectar from flowers and once inside the beehive, it is repeatedly consumed, digested and regurgitated by the bees. The final product is a liquid that serves as stored food for the honeybees that they especially depend on, to survive through the winters. Properties of this liquid, which we know as honey, depending on the smell, colour, and taste of the type of flower visited.

Some of the components used to extract honey are :

1. Bee escape, escape screen, or Bee Quick and fume pad
2. Honey extractor (You can extract honey without an extractor, but it’s much more time consuming and messy.)
3. Hot electric knife (this is also not a necessity, but definitely worth having if you can.)
4. Bucket
5. Cappings scratcher
6. Filter
7. Jars and lids
8. Smoker for removing the frames from the hive

Table of Content

1. Synonyms
2. Honey Benefits
3. Side Effects and Precautions
4. Recommended Product
5. Frequently Asked Questions

Synonyms

• Shehed

Honey Benefits

1. Honey is Nutritious

• If we talk in nutritional terms, 1 Tablespoon of honey can contain up to 64 calories alongside 17 grams of sugar including Maltose, Sucrose, Fructose and Glucose while virtually lacking in fibre, protein or fat.
• Research has proven that shehed contains certain amounts of vitamins and minerals too but one would have to eat quite a lot of honey to replenish their daily requirement of said nutrients.

2. It is good for Blood Pressure

• It helps lower blood pressure, which is one of the main risk factors for heart disease and various problems related to heart health in general. The aforementioned fact takes place because of the variety of antioxidant substances and compounds found in honey.
• Different studies and research conducted on animals have proven that by consuming honey, there can be noticed a modest reduction in problems related to blood pressure.

3. Honey helps in improving cholesterol levels

LDL cholesterol levels are a strong risk factor for heart disease. This type of cholesterol plays a major role in atherosclerosis, the fatty build- up in your arteries that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

4. The Antioxidants in Honey are beneficial for heart health in General

• Honey being a rich source of antioxidant compounds like phenols is in turn linked to a reduced risk of heart disease. These compounds help in processes like dilating the arteries in your heart, increasing blood flow to the heart and also going as far as preventing blood clot formation which usually leads to heart attacks and strokes.
• Factually speaking, research conducted on rats has proven that honey protects oxidative stress.

5. Honey benefits for Skin

• Honey is renowned to have properties that moisturize the skin deeply and acts as a pore cleanser. It is a gentle exfoliator that contributes to lightening scars and fighting acne and pimples. Applying raw honey on the prone areas and leaving it overnight or even for a couple of hours can help soften inflamed skin too.
• Certain medicinal properties as also aforementioned in honey are useful in treating sunburns.
• It has a plethora of naturally occurring antioxidants as well that control wrinkles and fine lines on the skin. A homemade honey mask at night can help increase the skin’s elasticity. 
• The microbial properties and wound healing qualities in honey are some of its most widely recognized abilities.
• Many in vitro studies have also supported the idea that honey possesses a wide variety of antimicrobial properties.
• Several countries, including the United States, have approved honey in medications for healing wounds.

6. Honey for Face

• The antibacterial and anti-septic properties in honey contributes in getting rid of dirt and bacteria on the face that piles up over the course of our days in the usually hot, humid and windy weather like that of a country like India.

• The enzymes in Honey work as a gentle exfoliator as they slough off dead skin cells, leaving one with a clear skin and radiant complexion.

• Various components of honey-like probiotics, antioxidants, nutrients and enzymes work altogether cumulatively to nourish the skin, retaining and rebuilding moisture and avoid the creation of oily and irritative skin. It may not completely eliminate wrinkles altogether at once but it definitively reduces their appearance helping to reverse any damage.

7. Honey for weight loss

• It is also a renowned fact that honey acts as a fuel to aid the liver produce glucose which keeps the brain sugar levels high, forcing it to release hormones that burns fat.

• In order to reap the said honey benefits simply replace your sugar intake with shahed and you will notice a significant transformation in your health while also realising that you have a revitalized mood.

• Consuming honey and Lemon with lukewarm water daily in the mornings on an empty stomach has proven through thorough research to have a great advantage on increasing one’s metabolism remarkably.

Potential Side Effects and Precautions of Honey

• When taken by mouth honey is likely safe but likely unsafe if it is produced from the nectar of Rhododendrons and taken by mouth, as this type of honey contains a toxin that may cause heart problems, low blood pressure and chest pain as well.
• When applied to the skin or on the inside of the mouth: Honey is LIKELY SAFE for most adults when appropriately applied to the skin or rinsed in the mouth.
• If someone has a pollen allergy they shouldn’t consume Honey as food or for their skin.

Recommended Product

Himgiri Honey

Himgiri Honey is a Natural and Pure Honey and is considered to be the Best Honey among its competitors.

Himgiri Honey Nutritional Facts per 100gm:

• Energy: 320Kcal
• Carbohydrates: 80gm
• Natural Sugars: 80gm
• Added Sugars: 0gm
• Calcium: 13mg
• Iron: 1.5mg
• Phosphorus: 5mg
• Proteins: 0gm
• Fat: 0gm
• Sodium: 17gm
• Potassium: 138mg

Frequently Asked Questions