Honey

Recently my husband and I bought a tub of honey from Joanne at Tasty Life.  What a great purchase! We use the stuff all the time, on toast, in our coffee, tea and sometimes straight up off the spoon. There is nothing better than natural non-processed honey. (well maybe chocolate covered honey)

The difference between white sugar and honey is how it is processed. White sugar from sugar cane is submitted to several complicated boiling procedures during the process of manufacturing. According to www.honey-health.com processing white sugar “The organic acids, protein, nitrogen elements, fats, enzymes and vitamins are extracted or destroyed; on the other hand, hydrochloric, phosphoric and sulphuric acids, lime and other foreign substances are added. While honey is Nature’s own sweet, untouched by human art, sugar is a concentrated, denatured and polluted substitute, a produce, as a rule, of sugar-cane, robbed by superheating of most of its natural and valuable constituents. Honey and other simple or natural sugars, like that in dates, figs, raisins, etc., are live physiological sugars which contain the germs of life, while industrial sugars are anti-physiological, dead or, as a matter of fact, murdered sweets.” Wowzers Harsh! But well said.

Check out this video on how bees make honey

Benefits of Honey:

• may help prevent your seasonal allergies (Bees use the pollen from local plants and eventually it ends up in your honey)
• good for your skin
• good for sore throats (honey has antimicobial properties, which can soothe your raw tissues)
• good for healing cuts (honey is a natural antiseptic)
• gives you a good energy kick (can be easily converted into glucose by even the most sensitive stomachs)
• improves our body’s immunity (honey contains nutraceuticals, which are effective in removing free radicals from our body)
• an easier sugar for children to digest
• and on and on and on……

Bees are an important element of our environment. However, studies show that there is a decline in bee population, which will effect our foods.  Many fruit, nut, vegetable, legume, and seed crops depend on pollination, without bees we could face a shortage in quantity and quality of pollinated crops and even extinction of certain plants.

Read this recent article by The Globe And Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/science/decline-in-bee-pollination-linked-to-climate-change-study/article1699097/?cid=art-rail-gamesarchive