Honey Weight Loss

How are honey and weight loss connected? What makes honey a wiser choice than refined table sugar when you're watching your weight and trying to eat healthier?

Processed carbohydrates found in snacks and table sugar are deficient in vitamins and minerals which is why they're often described as empty calories.

In fact, in order to be processed by the body, refined sugar actually draws upon the body's existing nutrient stores thereby lowering overall health. When your body's nutrients are significantly lowered, metabolizing of cholesterol and fatty acids is diminished. This contributes to higher cholesterol levels and promotes obesity due to higher fatty acid collecting on the organs and tissues.

Honey is Nutritious

By comparison, raw, natural honey is very nutritious and contains 22 amino acids and various minerals essential for its own metabolism making it helpful in the prevention of obesity. Drinking lemon juice with a little honey the first thing in the morning is believed to be  an effective anti-cellulite treatment helping to increase body metabolism. Try this method out if you're determined to shed some pounds and speed up your overall metabolic rate.

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Another very well-known recipe connected with honey and weight loss is a drink that combines honey and cinnamon as ingredients in a broth. A lot of people find this home remedy very potent in losing pounds. The steps are simple: Dissolve half a teaspoonful of cinnamon powder (or ground cinnamon) in a cup of boiling water. Stir the mixture and cover for one-half an hour. Strain away any big particles and add a teaspoon of honey. Consume it in the morning with an empty stomach about one-half an hour before breakfast.

Steady Source of Energy

People who tend to overeat or feel bloated after meals, should eat honey for relief and better digestion. Honey is a simple sugar which can safely be consumed during fasting since it contains easily digested sugars and many nutrients. Foods rich in sugars or complex sugars are known as carbohydrates. Chemically speaking, how the sugars are arranged will determine whether a food source is made up of simple or complex carbohydrates. When sugars are chained into rows, such as in starches like whole grains and legumes, they are called complex carbohydrates. It takes the body much longer to digest the sugar from a complex carbohydrate so sugars enter the bloodstream in a gradual and more desirable way.

Latest Theories

The hibernation diet (one of the latest weight loss theories) establishes a link between fructose-rich honey and weight loss. It recommends taking a heaping spoonful or two of honey at nighttime. Taken as either a warm drink or straight from the jar, it promises to help us sleep and lose weight at the same time. It fuels the liver, speeding up fat-burning metabolism and easing stress hormones.

Taking artificial sugars or sweeteners like Aspartame to help you lose weight will put you completely on the wrong track. You might lose a few calories but it has proven to actually cause weight gain. Stay on a more natural diet overall and you'll watch the pounds melt away.

Conclusion

Honey aids weight loss because its sugars are more easily digested without depleting existing nutrients. It contains amino acids and minerals not found in plain table sugar, so it actually feeds the body instead of taxing it. It also burns more slowly providing steady energy and reducing sugar cravings.

Bottom line, if you want to shed some pounds try using some honey recipes to fuel your weight loss.

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3 Healing Properties of Honey

The three healing properties of honey (anti-microbial, antioxidant, and hygroscopic) make honey a potent medicine in addition to being a popular and tasty food.

Honey has been used since ancient times for open wounds, sore throats and upset stomachs but lost favor when antibiotics rose to prominence in the last century. Nowadays it is seeing a resurgence for medicinal use because many bacteria have become resistant to antibiotics.

I recently used ordinary honey on my diabetic foot ulcer and it closed the wound up within 12 hours of applying it. It did better than the expensive Iodosorb salve I was prescribed at $74 for a 3 gram tube. If you're not having luck with other treatments, I highly recommend you give honey a try. Just make sure you apply a thick coating to the affected area after thoroughly cleaning it.

These are the three main properties that make it so effective in healing:

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1. Honey Absorbs Moisture

Honey has an absorbent nature, meaning that when exposed to air, it soaks up moisture from its surroundings. In caring for open wounds, honey is invaluable because it could help prevent scarring... keeping the skin moist, advancing the development of new tissues, and permitting easy removal of any bandages by preventing dressings from becoming stuck to the skin.

Honey’s hygroscopic attributes likewise make it a perfect component in many cosmetics because it helps skin stay hydrated, fresh and prevents drying. Because of these facts, many people call honey a natural "humectant" since it draws in and retains moisture. When used in skin and hair treatments, honey immobilizes and locks in the moisture leaving skin soft and supple, and hair lustrous and healthy.

2. Honey Kills Bacteria

In the early part of the twentieth century, investigators set about to document the healing properties of honey. This ended when the development of antibiotic drugs captured the attention of most health practitioners. However, lately the evolution of resistance to antibiotics in bacteria has resulted in a revival of interest into the curative properties of honey.

A powerful disinfecting agent in honey prohibits the growth of certain bacteria. It relies upon an enzyme found in honey that produces hydrogen peroxide... a commonly used wound disinfectant. This is thought to be the chief reason for the anti-microbial activity of honey.

Honey is a valuable treatment for wounds, scalds, cuts, scrapes and blisters. These insults to the body can be covered in a thick honey dressing to keep bacteria from getting into the wound and boost healing.

Honey can also aid the treatment of minor acne by attacking the bacteria that cause skin eruptions while moisturizing the affected area to assist skin rejuvenation.

Types of honey differ greatly in their effectiveness, varying as much as one hundred fold. Ordinary honey can be very effective but honey derived from the Manuka bush (found in abundance in New Zealand and some parts of Australia) claims the highest potency with regard to its healing powers.

3. Honey Contains Antioxidants

Honey has effective antioxidant factors that destroy damaging chemical agents in the environment associated with a lot of illnesses such as cancer.

Investigative reports have concluded that darker colored honeys such as Buckwheat, appear to have more antioxidants than lighter colored forms.

Not only can honey’s antioxidants help to get rid of free radicals in the body, they also form part of the nutrient supply for the development of new body tissues.

Honey's antioxidants also help protect the skin under the sun and help it to regenerate and stay younger looking.

For this reason, there have been an expanding number of producers of honey skin care products that include sun blockers and facial cleansing products for treating damaged and dried-out skin.

Conclusion:

The healing properties of honey make it effective in treating wounds and healing infections. It is also a beauty aid and can help help prevent other illnesses when eaten on a regular basis. It is noteworthy that it not only has medicinal value but can also be enjoyed at the breakfast table.

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Raw Honey

 

It's important for your health to eat raw foods as much as possible and raw honey is one of those foods that can make this much easier to accomplish for busy people on the go.

Raw foods preserve all their natural vitamins, enzymes and other nutritional elements that cooking and processing destroys. Raw honey (not commercial honey) will help you live longer, keep fit and satisfy your body's energy requirements to power your daily life.

Raw, natural honey is the undiluted nectar of flowers that exits straight from the honey extracting machine. It is unheated, pure, unpasteurized, unrefined honey. An alkaline-producing food, this type of honey holds elements akin to those encountered in fruits, which become highly alkaline in the gastrointestinal system. This is a highly desirable trait. It does not sour in the stomach and it can be utilized to neutralize acid indigestion. When blended with ginger and lemon juices, it also alleviates nausea and furnishes energy to rejuvenate tired bodies. Raw honey is the most robust alternative amidst the assorted forms of honey since it has the highest nutrition. It contains amylase, an enzyme concentrated in flower pollen which helps to predigest starchy foods like breads.

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Nearly all honeys located in supermarkets and corner stores are not raw honey but are actually “commercial grade" honey. These honeys have been heated and filtered so that cosmetically they look cleaner, smoother, and more attractive on the shelf. In the handling facility, they're easier to work with and package this way. When honey is heated, such as during the pasteurization process, its fragile aromas, yeast and enzymes (responsible for activating vitamins and minerals in the human body) are partly destroyed. As a result, such honey isn't as healthy or nutritious as raw honey.

Defined through its fine rough crystals, raw honey appears milkier and bears particles and flecks made of bee pollen, honeycomb bits, propolis, and broken off bee wing fragments. Raw and unfiltered honey is comparatively low in moisture content (around 14% to 18%) and has a high level of antioxidants. It will generally granulate and crystallize to a margarine-like consistency after a month or two. A lot of folks favor spreading it on bread and waffles, dissolving it in hot coffee or tea, or using it for cooking and baking.

Amongst honey producers there exists no consistent code of use regarding the term "raw honey". There are no rigid legal prerequisites for claiming and labeling honey as "raw". You might find raw honeys that are unrefined but have been warmed to delay granulation for a short time period to permit light filtering and packing into containers for sale. If that's the case, then the honey won't be considered 100% "raw" because it's been heated up slightly and consequently truly shouldn't be labeled as such by the provider. Applying as little heat as possible is a sign of cautious handling.

Forms of honey

Honey comes in a variety of physical forms, and understanding the differences will definitely help you pick a suitable type from the grocery market. This is especially the case when you wish to combine honey with other ingredients used in the preparation of foods such as baking. Give all the different types a try when you have the opportunity.

1. Comb Honey:

It's hard to find comb honey today, but occasionally you'll be able to find a jar of liquid honey to which a bit of cut comb has been added. Prior to the innovation of honey extracting devices, honey was by and large made in the form of comb honey. Nowadays, very little honey is produced as comb honey.

Comb honey is made up of raw, pure honey sections taken directly from the hive. Honey bees wax comb without additional handling. It's the most natural and unaltered form in which the honey comes. The bees fill the hexagonal shaped wax cells of the comb with honey and cap it with beeswax. You can eat comb honey just like a chewy candy. Since the honey in the comb is not handled, it's viewed as pure. Honey made this way is pricier than other forms of honey but it is the most nutritious as well.

2. Liquid honey:

Liquid honey is the easiest honey to find both at home and abroad.

Liquid honey has been strained to get rid of fine particles, pollen grains, and air bubbles. Then it's heated up to dissolve obvious crystals soon after being extracted from the honey comb by centrifugal force or gravity in the extractor. Since liquid honey blends easily into various foods, its uses in cooking and baking are diverse. It's employed as a syrup for flapjacks and waffles and in a wide variety of recipes.

3. Cream honey:

If you're among those who think that honey is messy to use, cream honey (also known as whipped honey, spun honey, granulated honey, or honey fondant) would be an excellent alternative to liquid honey. The crystallization method has been controlled very exactly, so cream honey doesn't dribble like liquid honey, has a smooth consistency and can be spread like butter.

It contains 1 part finely granulated honey blended with 9 parts liquid honey. Crystallization lightens the color of honey, but doesn't impact the taste and nutritional goodness in the least. For example, creamed premium lavender honey from the south of France is white in the jar. In warmer climates creamed honey that you buy from the air-conditioned superstore becomes darker in color and more liquid when sitting for awhile at room temperature.

Note: Honey does not do well if the moisture content is too high. No responsible honey dealer would add water to honey, since this would cause the honey to ferment and emit an alcoholic smell.

Color and Flavor of Honey

In the honey industry, color is used  as a handy way to measure the flavor and aroma of honey. In general, lighter honeys have a more modest flavor and darker honeys have a more full-bodied flavor. The coloration and flavor of honey is for the most part dictated by the floral origin of the nectar. Be aware that exposure to heat and storage time may affect honey’s quality and color. Generally, the darkening of honey comes about more hastily when honey is stored at high temperatures. Likewise, honey appears lighter in color after it has granulated. This is why just about all creamed honeys are opaque and light in color.

Conclusion

Raw honey is the king of honey nutrition and is at its peak when eaten directly from the honey comb. Processing reduces the nutritional value of honey but gives the honey a more pleasing look and makes it easier to handle. Use the information discussed here to help you choose the type of honey that is best for your culinary purposes.

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Honey Nutrition

 

 Honey nutrition is central to how honey heals. While great taste is always desirable in the foods we eat, honey delivers supreme sweetness with an added nutritional punch that helps your body function well and heal more quickly.

Nectar from flowers is mainly composed of sucrose and water. Honeybees gather the nectar from the blossoms they visit and then add special digestive enzymes that produce extra chemical compounds, inverting the sucrose to form fructose and glucose. These enzymes will gradually evaporate the water leaving behind a sweet sticky syrup that kills bacteria and resists spoilage giving it a superior shelf life.

The nectar also contains the special properties of the plant from which it came. If the bees collect nectar from only one plant source such as the Manuka tree, the honey will have extra nutrients not found in the honey made from more than one plant source.

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Honey is a rich source of carbohydrates, containing:

• 80% natural sugar -- mostly fructose and glucose. Due to the high level of fructose, honey is sweeter than table sugar by roughly 1.5 times.

• 18% water. The less water content the honey has, the better the quality of honey.

• 2% minerals, vitamins, pollen and protein.

Vitamins found in honey are B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and certain amino acids. Minerals found in honey include calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc.

Conductivity of Honey 

Electrical conductivity is a way of measuring the mineral content of different types of honey. It is a good indicator of the botanical origin of honey and today it's used in routine honey control. This measurement depends upon the ash (mineral) and acid content of honey. Higher content , results in higher conductivity and better quality.

Manuka honey has much higher than normal conductivity... roughly four times that of normal flower honeys. This fact makes it a potent healing powerhouse and the king of honey nutrition.

For health conscious consumers that also want rich taste, here are some surprising facts:

Honey is an all-natural sweetener that contains potent antioxidants to fight aging and reduce cell damage! It's also fat free, cholesterol free, and sodium free!

Honey Calories and GI

* One Tbsp. of natural honey contains only 64 calories.

* Honey has a healthy Glycemic Index (GI). Its sugars can be gradually absorbed into the bloodstream resulting in easier digestion and fewer sugar spikes. Fewer spikes mean fewer sugar crashes as the pancreas responds with corresponding doses of insulin. This has a positive affect on mood and less weight gain.

* Natural honey contains many minerals and vitamins which help metabolize undesirable cholesterol and fatty acid on the organs and tissues of our bodies, thereby preventing obesity and promoting better overall health.

Conclusion:

Honey nutrition is another way for an individual to be well-fed and healthier without sacrificing taste. Honey has most of the advantages of table sugar but has the distinct advantage of being good for you at the same time. It can even heal common maladies and it promotes weight loss. As such, it's a wonderful sweet tool in your body's self defense arsenal.

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Benefits of Honey

 

The health benefits of honey correspond to these three main characteristics:

1. Honey is mother nature’s vitality booster
2. Honey reinforces the immune system
3. Honey is a natural curative for many medical conditions

Honey is a natural syrup produced by bees and is made up of glucose, fructose and water with trace amounts of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, pollen and propolis.

Since honey kills bacteria by its very nature, it is not processed or cooked in preparation for sale. It contains all of its vitamins and minerals in their natural proportions. There is no need to refrigerate it once opened and it has a very long shelf life.

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Natural Energizer

The benefits of honey far exceed its delicious flavor. A good natural source of sugars which supply strength and vitality to our bodies, honey is recognized for its potency in immediately supercharging the performance, endurance and reduce muscle fatigue of athletes. Its natural fruit sugars play an important role in preventing fatigue during exercise. The glucose in honey is assimilated by the body rapidly and gives a quick energy boost, while the fruit sugar is absorbed more slowly allowing for sustained energy. Honey has likewise been found to keep levels of blood glucose moderately steady compared to other types of sugar.

To experience these health benefits of honey, here are a few tips for you:

1. Prior to your next workout, take a spoonful of honey to enable you to go the extra mile.
2. If you're feeling low and unenergetic in the morning, rather than reaching out for a can of carbonated energy drink , try honey. Spread it on warm toast or replace the sugar in your tea with it for an energizing lift.
3. Whenever your kids are finding it hard to cope with the physical strain from the flurried activities at school, prepare them some sandwiches with honey, butter and ham to make certain they have sufficient energy to support them through the day. My children are enthralled whenever they see me preparing warm honey water in their bottles. They couldn't care less about the health benefits of honey, but merely enjoy the sense of taste of it!

Supports the Immune System

Among the numerous health benefits of honey, what is most telling to me is that it is a potent natural immune system booster. Honey’s antioxidant and anti-bacterial attributes improve your digestive system and help you stay healthy and fight disease.

Start every brand new day with this cleansing tonic if you want to see this health benefit of honey: Before eating breakfast, mix a spoonful of honey and lemon juice from half a lemon into a cup of warm water and drink it.

Honey Remedies

CUTS AND BURNS:

For thousands of years, honey has been accepted as being one of the most natural home remedies to care for a broad scope of ailments and complaints including yeast infection, athletes foot , and arthritis pain. Its bactericidal properties suppresses the development of certain bacteria and facilitates keeping external wounds clean and free from infection. Honey has been used as a natural curative in first aid treatment for wounds, burns and cuts since it's capable of absorbing moisture from the air and advancing rapid healing. Its anti-bacterial attributes prevent infection and operates as an anti-inflammatory agent, subduing both swelling and pain, and even scarring.

I can verify this personally since in my own case, ordinary honey applied daily twice a day eventually helped to cure my diabetic foot ulcer and osteomyelitus.

It's widely thought that UMF Manuka is the best honey for wound dressing due to its substantial anti-bacterial properties.

 

CURES HANGOVERS:

Whenever I get a hangover from drinking a bit too much alcohol, I fight its effects by employing a simple honey remedy. Honey is easy on the tummy and incorporates a mixture of natural carbohydrates such as fructose which is recognized to speed up the oxidation of alcohol by the liver, acting as a 'sobering up' agent.

Follow this recipe: 15ml of liquid honey with 80ml of orange juice and 70ml of natural yogurt. Blend them together until smooth.

SORE THROAT REMEDY:

Among the more well known health benefits of honey is that it's able to help treat raw, scratchy throats. Thanks to its disinfectant properties, honey not only heals sore throats, it can also defeat certain bacteria that causes the infection.

Professional vocalists typically use honey to gently soothe their throats before performances. The Chinese believe that excessive "heatiness" in the body induces sore throat and taking a honey beverage can be helpful.

Directions: Take a spoon of honey to soothe the inflammation or rinse and gargle with a concoction of 2 tablespoonfuls of honey, four tablespoons of lemon juice and a touch of salt. Personally, if I have a sore throat or cough, I particularly like to take warm water blended with Manuka UMF honey which is well-known for its anti-bacterial therapeutic properties.

SLEEPLESS AND RESTLESS NIGHTS:

Impossible to fall asleep? Use the age-old famous Milk and Honey Remedy. Take a glass of hot milk with a teaspoon of honey to calm your thoughts and induce sleep. Or, add one or two teaspoons of honey to a cup of chamomile tea and sip slowly.

Conclusion:

The benefits of honey are too numerous to be completely listed in this brief article. Honey is a whole food that contains many healthful vitamins, minerals and trace elements found only in nature. So, before you consider a pharmaceutical remedy, why not try a teaspoon of honey instead?

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