Health Benefits of Honey

Most people love it because it’s a natural way to sweeten foods and drinks. But did you know honey offers so much more than just taste? Natural, raw honey yields many health benefits for the human body. It’s true! After reading this list, I pray you would swap out sugar for this wonderful natural substance.

Of course, this natural substance is filled with plenty of vitamins, antioxidants, flavonoids, and minerals. However, it wouldn’t be a great idea to consume a whole lot of honey in the hopes of receiving your recommended daily intake of antioxidants. Nevertheless, it’s definitely worth replacing your current sugar intake with it. The minerals you can find within honey include:

• zinc
• potassium
• iron
• phosphorus
• calcium
• selenium
• magnesium

Honey contains many vitamins such as:

• Vitamin B6
• Pantothenic acid
• Niacin
• Riboflavin
• Thiamine

Be sure to buy natural raw honey and not the processed junk. When factories heat up honey in their process to make it look more pretty, it destroys all the great benefits of it.  Because of honey’s high amount of antioxidants and flavonoids, it can help fight off bacteria that cause illness. The flavonoid pinocembrin it contains initiates apoptosis which destroys many types of cancer cells. 

Struggling with obtaining a great quality sleep at night? A spoonful of honey at night may be the cure you’ve been looking for. There’s a great chance of sleeping through the night since honey refills the liver’s glycogen level. For the same reason, consuming it in the morning can help you prepare for your day.

Honey raises HDL (good) cholesterol and decreases the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol. Also, it lowers triglycerides, which put people at risk for stroke.

Local natural honey contains the same pollen that makes someone have allergic reactions. By consuming some every day, you can build an immunity to it. For those who suffer extremely bad in allergy season, it may be something to consider.

Another cool thing about bee pollen is that it can also help prevent illnesses by boosting the immune system. I should mention that pasteurized honey does not contain pollen.

Honey Drenched Band-Aids

Say what?!? Yes, it’s true. Honey contains healing compounds so putting it on a wound directly yields incredible results. They can be used to effectively treat for burns, psoriasis, diabetic foot ulcers (which could lead to amputation), hemorrhoids, herpes lesions, and more! Certainly, it’s something to keep in mind next time you get burned cooking and do not have Neosporin handy.

Honey has been used to help heal wounds for thousands of years! In fact, there has been a great deal of clinical research done on honey as a wound dressing and for healing wounds that proves honey is definitely an exceptional natural remedy.

Honey is antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and immune-stimulating. Here is some of the clinical evidence for using honey as an effective wound dressing in this article from Wounds Research. 

You might also be interested in my article about making your own homemade Quikclot, how to stop bleeding fast, which discusses natural hemostats (blood clotting agents). 

Here at Thomas & Co we only offer Raw Organic Honey because of all of the amazing health benefits that go with it!

No matter who you purchase your honey from be sure that you only buy raw honey, it can also be called unpasteurized. It is healthier and works better than the processed stuff. I also suggest finding local honey like ours that can be found at many farmers markets or produce stands. This will help with allergies as mentioned below along with other problems that might be local to you.

Help with Indigestion – Taking a tablespoon or two will settle your stomach and it won't ferment and cause more trouble.

Relieve Nausea – You can use honey with ginger ale to help relieve nausea or morning sickness.

       Cure Acne – It's a natural face cleaner and is known to help cure  acne, and works on all skin types even sensitive skin. Use about half a teaspoon and warm it in your hands then spread on your face like soap, rubbing in circular motions. Let sit for about 10 minutes then rinse with warm water and dry.

Relieve Sore Throat  – There is a reason your mom would make you warm tea with honey when you had a sore throat, it can help it feel better. You can also mix with lemon or peppermint oils as well.

Sugar Substitute – Use raw honey as a substitute for white sugar and it will help you lose weight.

Energy Boost – Take a tablespoon of honey before a workout, it has been known to boost athletic performance.

Moisturizer – Use a spoonful of honey and mix with olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice to make an ultra moisturizing lotion.

Cure Dry Elbows – Rub some honey on your dry elbows and it will help soften your skin.

Lip Balm – Use honey to a make a natural lip balm. We off all-natural Beeswax & Coconut Oil Lip Balms.

Hair Mask – This will help lock in moisture and shine in your hair use one teaspoon of honey to 5 cups of warm water the rinse and style like normal.

Balance Your Blood Sugar – Using honey over store bought sweeteners has been shown to help control your blood sugar more effectively than some medications used for diabetes!

Cure a Hangover – Honey will help speed up your metabolism and help your body process the alcohol faster.

Cough Syrup – Use honey to make a cough syrup instead of taking the store-bought ones. Wellness Mama has a great one.

Reduce Seasonally Allergies – Use local raw honey and take a tablespoon or so a day. The local pollen in the honey helps build your body's immunity to the pollen which will lessen your allergies during pollen season.

Moisturize Your Skin – Add a tablespoon of honey to your hot bath to help moisturize your skin while you bathe or use one of our soaps or body scrubs!

Help Get to Sleep – Use a tablespoon of honey at night to help get to bed! Honey has been known to help absorb the compound tryptophan, which makes us sleepy!