Honey: Properties and Benefits
Honey
Honey is a sweet substance produced by bees for nectar processing, its color and characteristics vary depending on the flowers from which nectar. The nectar and other sugary substances are sucked by the bees through the esophagus and thus arrive in the “bag supers.”
Here, the nectar and other sugary substances are dried and subjected to the action of enzymes produced by bees and honey, which is further processed into regurgitated in cells previously prepared. The quality of tgis product depends only on two factors: from the bees to produce it and the procedure to extract human and “packaging”.
Honey stored by bees in the cells, is extracted by centrifugation, left to settle for a few days and then placed in jars. These are the only processes that cause the product keeps intact its properties and characteristics. All honeys are originally liquid, but with the temperature drop many of them crystallize and become solid. To get them to return to the liquid is sufficiently heated in water bath at a temperature not exceeding 40 °.
Chemical Composition
It is composed primarily of water, sugar (fructose and glucose, maltose), acids, proteins, minerals (mainly iron, calcium and phosphorus), substances and aromas of flowers, including pigments (chlorophyll derivatives), tannins, phosphate and vitamins.
It is composed almost exclusively of sugar and is very important, as constituted, the high concentration of fructose because fructose is 100% a product derived from nature, without any intervention by man.
Healing Properties and Benefits of Honey
This product is particularly recommended in the diet given to children, favoring the establishment of mineral salts in the human body, which is the normal sugar is not capable of doing. There are many therapeutic properties of this food. Vary depending on the nectar of flowers with which it was produced. In general, it is an excellent anti-inflammatory by the throat and has sedative effects against the nervous excitement and insomnia.
Wildflower honey is known for its detoxification in the liver, while that produced from chestnuts promotes blood circulation and disinfectant for the urinary tract, for these reasons, it is recommended for children and the elderly. Interesting properties of sunflower honey which performs an action against the cholesterol in the human body as well as having an action calcific bones.
That produced from juniper instead, offers us a valuable aid in the respiratory and the dandelion has purifying action, especially on the kidneys. According to recent studies, this food provides the body of essential substances such as potassium, fructose and sodium that are used to recover after a night of “debauchery.”
Very important news that comes from some studies done on this product produced in the parks of Abruzzo, in Italy, especially on honey and saffron, it seems that these types of honey contain a high percentage of “nutraceuticals” which are molecules with high anticancer activity.
The Main Types
As we wrote in early types of honey are many and with different characteristics, which vary depending on the nectar which the bees produce, in the table below I’ve outlined the main types:
Calories
Each 100 gr of product we have a supply of about 300 kcal, and these can be used immediately after ingestion, as it is not required prior digestion.
For this reason, those who practice sport usually consume this food before and during and after a competition or sport.
Among its properties honey strengthens muscles, increases endurance and promotes recovery. Its assimilation requires no effort on our part because it is a food predigested by the bees and even enriched by some of their enzymes very important for assimilation. Those who suffer from digestive disorders can easily replace sugar with honey and enjoy the benefits resulting from this operation.
Honey and Cheese
One of the classic combinations of honey is the one with the cheese as we all know the cheese is a food that is absolutely devoid of sugars and then countered with honey that is composed, as we have seen, mostly sugar. It is for this reason that the combination of these two foods, it creates a balance of taste.
The criterion that is used for matching is to combine a sweet honey to spicy cheese, or a honey of a bitter little tasty cheese.
Perhaps not Everyone Knows
Perhaps not everyone knows that if honey becomes solid, or better, crystallizes, this is due to natural factors and may be an indication of quality food. There are types of honey crystallize relatively quickly, while there are others, such as the acacia, which remain liquid much longer.
This food has a very long storage times, however, to avoid losing many of its organoleptic properties, you should save for a period not longer than two years.
Propolis
Propolis is a resinous substance that bees collect from the bark of trees, shrubs and the buds and then enriched with enzymes of their bees, propolis is used by the bees with wax as building materials and insulation, is a strong antibiotic and antiviral. It is used to mummify all kinds of dead insects (including bees) inside the hive that the bees are unable to expel.
Propolis is used by humans and in combination with alcohol is an excellent disinfectant for oral infections in general, and an excellent healing and antiseptic. Propolis has a protective action against damage caused by free radicals, due to flavonoids and vitamin E.
The term “propolis” comes from the greek propolis, which means in favor (pro) in the city (polis). In fact, for the bees is a substance very important for the life of the hive.
Curiosity
This food was known and already used 1.000 years before the coming of Christ and was often marked with the name “food of the gods”. Its properties were already known to the ancients who were already widely used both for healing purposes and in cosmetics and cooking.
The typical term “honeymoon” stems from the fact that in ancient times they used to drink to marry a drink made of water, honey and yeast in order to propitiate the arrival of a son, hence the expression ” honeymoon”.
Honey: properties and benefits
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