in season here: all year, but most commonly harvested in the fall
Honey is a monosaccharide, the simplest form of sugar, so it's easy on the digestion. Yes, it's sugar, but it's also a natural food and requires no processing to use. It has a variable but generally reasonable glycemic index, making it a better choice than sugar for those with blood sugar concerns (although still something to be used sparingly; sorry). Honey provides small amounts of B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, some kinds of amino acid, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, and live enzymes that promote digestion. It contains antioxidants, including pinocembrin, which is only found in honey, and has anti-inflammatory effects. The levels of these various nutrients depend on the source of the nectar, as do the color and taste of the honey. As a general rule, the darker a honey is, the more honey flavor it will have, and the more antioxidants, while lighter honeys often seem sweeter because their flavor is milder.
Beekeeping dates back to at least 700 BC, and honey was once used to pay tribute to the gods and to embalm the deceased. Honey is a traditional burn treatment, relieving pain and minimizing scarring, and it has long been used to soothe sore throats. It also has antibacterial properties and has been used to clean wounds and promote healing of sores, scrapes, rashes, and even cataracts. It also makes an excellent moisturizer (just try any of Starry Lane Apiary's honey-based creams if you don't believe me), and can be used to treat skin conditions such as psoriasis and hemorrhoids. Eating honey instead of other sweeteners has been linked to slight improvements in blood pressure, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels, and may even help with weight loss.
Processed honey, of course, is little more than sugar, so (all together now) get it at the farmers' market or straight from the apiary for the best stuff. If your honey gets moldy, ever, it has gotten wet, either from water leaking into the container or from being watered down and who knows what else. If it develops little crystals in its old age, it's still perfectly OK to eat and the crystals can be dissolved by gently heating and stirring the honey.
The primary caution for honey is that it should not be given to children under 1 year old because of the risk of botulism, but more developed bodies are apparently able to combat this risk effectively.
Read more:
label-style nutrition information for honey
purehealingfoods.com includes information on using honey in various traditional treatments
authoritynutrition.com
Versión en español: this post is also available in Spanish.
Esperanta traduko: this post is also available in Esperanto, because Dana is a language geek.
