The Healing Powers of Honey

Read The Healing Powers of Honey Online

Authors: Cal Orey

Advance Praise for
The Healing Powers of Honey
“Discover the power of honey as ancient nectar of the gods, modern cure, and lover's potion by reading this fascinating book.”
—Dr. Ava Cadell, author and founder of
Loveology University
 
“I'm amazed at all the great health benefits that can be had from honey. I have fresh organic bee pollen in my freezer and local organic honey on my table. Thanks, Cal, for all your good work informing people about honey.”
—Sherry Henderson, Editor/Publisher,
Oracle 20/20 Magazine
 
“Cal Orey has done a wonderful job of thoroughly explaining the great value of honey.
The Healing Powers of Honey
is an easy-to-read book that's an invaluable addition to anyone's library. It's full of practical tips and applications for medical conditions that everyone should know about.”
—Allan Magaziner, D.O.
Magaziner Center for Wellness
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
 
“An original book using the queen honey bee and human metaphors in anecdotes is charming and witty. Pairing olive oil and honey in cooking and baking is healthful.
The Healing Powers of Honey
is a masterpiece.”
—Gemma Sanita Sciabica, author of the
Cooking with California Olive Oil
series
 
“Cal Orey scores again with
The Healing Powers of Honey,
a continuation of her widely praised
Healing Powers
series. Orey's honey book is well researched in a manner that makes it both entertaining and informative. This book will make you look at honey in a new way—as a bona fide health food as well as a gastronomic treat.”
—Joe Traynor, agriculturist-author of
Honey: The Gourmet Medicine
 
“Not everyone can be a beekeeper, but Cal Orey shares the secrets that honey bees and their keepers have always known. Honey is good for body and soul.”
—Kim Flottum, editor of
Bee Culture
magazine and author of
The Backyard Beekeeper
,
The Honey Handbook
, and
Better Beekeeping
Books by Cal Orey
The Healing Powers of Vinegar
The Healing Powers of Olive Oil
The Healing Powers of Chocolate
 
 
 
 
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
The Healing Powers of
HONEY
A Complete Guide to
Nature's Remarkable Nectar
CAL OREY
KENSINGTON BOOKS
www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
This book is dedicated to the honey bees—especially the persevering workers and queens—whom I feel are my kindred spirits. I feel a strong and moving bond to this small but remarkable hardworking creature with big efforts—nature's greatest gift.
Table of Contents
Foreword
A “sweet treat” that is good for you? What sugar can be eaten without guilt and bring you health benefits? What delectable substance comes in as many flavors as fine wine? The answers to these questions all point to one natural food—pure, natural honey!
This delicious treat is what some call nature's sweetener. But honey is so much more. It is a superfood that from ancient times has been known for its healthful and nutritional properties. It is a food that can be eaten in moderation without guilt. Cal Orey shows you why honey should be consumed daily for your health. So if you already love honey, or perhaps have never eaten it, or would love to have a good reason to love it, this book is a must-read.
HONEY HIGHLIGHTS
Bridging history and contemporary science,
The Healing Powers of Honey
presents a reader-friendly gem to explain the therapeutic and health benefits of honey. These amazing benefits include a lowered risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, an enhanced immune system function, and a longer, healthier life. Simply put, honey has been touted for its concentrated energy, as it is loaded with flavonoids and dozens of other active ingredients that are needed by the body.
For centuries, mankind has survived because of the medicinal benefits of nature's finest foods that prevent disease or even heal and cure
. The Healing Powers of Honey
resolves any conflict between folklore and traditional medicine concerning honey by bridging time with facts drawn from a variety of sources. The proof is in the honey—and Cal Orey shows it chapter by chapter in this revolutionary book.
A POUND OF SWEET RESEARCH
It has been my privilege as the co-chairman of the Committee for the Promotion of Honey and Health, Inc., for the past several years to research and write about the health benefits of honey. Thanks to my brother-in-law, a commercial beekeeper in Kansas, I have moved from skeptic to believer. Along with a pharmacist from Edinburgh, Scotland, we have scoured the world's literature for information relating to healing honey. Though much of the medical and scientific information about honey comes from smaller observational studies completed outside the United States, it is no less valid than results from large research projects accomplished in our backyard under wellcontrolled studies.
A good example is found in discovering the effects of honey on human metabolism. Honey regulates and stabilizes blood sugar. That statement on the surface seems as counterintuitive as eating bacon to control one's cholesterol. Yet multiple observations have indicated that the consumption of honey on a regular basis actually lowers blood-sugar levels and helps prevent swings in blood sugar throughout the day and during sleep and exercise.
The fact that honey, a combination of two simple sugars—both fructose and glucose—is able to regulate and control blood sugar is confirmed by understanding basic human physiology. Both sugars, found in honey in a near equal ratio, are required for the formation of most of the glycogen made and stored in the liver. It is this action following eating honey that is responsible for many of honey's miraculous health benefits in
The Healing Powers of Honey.
Other health benefits from honey, from ancient folk medicine to modern miracle, include aiding in treatment of ailments including digestion, insomnia, coughs, and respiratory diseases, helping improve skin conditions, enhancing sport performance, and much more.
Another powerful and therapeutic benefit of honey comes not from its consumption but in its external use. Study after study has shown that honey shows powerful antimicrobial properties. Some honey varietals, such as manuka honey, produced from nectar from the manuka plant in New Zealand and Australia, have been found to be very effective in treating wounds, although all types of honeys are helpful.
HUMAN-FRIENDLY HONEY VARIETALS
While manuka honey is touted for its powers around the globe, other honey varietals, such as buckwheat honey, have been found to contain higher levels of antioxidants. Buckwheat honey, used in a cough suppressant study at Penn State University Medical School, was found to be superior to the most common over-the-counter cough suppressant available.
The question is frequently asked of me, “What kind of honey is the best?” The answer really depends on one's taste. All honey is good as well as good for you. Honey is like wine. There are as many varietals of honey as there are floral and nectar sources. “Try several” is the best advice in choosing honey for your family. Select honey that is from identifiable floral sources and choose the ones that please your palate.
Finally,
The Healing Powers of Honey
has accomplished what no promotional campaign can or would do. The facts about honey and its powerful healthful and healing benefits are now mainstream, no longer relegated to folklore. All of us can celebrate the historic and healthful benefits of the wonder natural food given to us by the Creator as we experience the healing powers of honey for ourselves—with gratitude to Cal for her delightful and informative work.
 
—Ronald E. Fessenden, M.D., M.P.H.,
co-author of
The Honey Revolution:
Restoring the Health of Future Generations

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