The Healing Powers of Honey (7 page)

Read The Healing Powers of Honey Online

Authors: Cal Orey

HEARTY CHUNKS OF HONEY
A healthful diet and lifestyle is part of the arsenal to beat the battle of the bulge, which can often be linked sooner rather than later to heart disease—still America's number one killer for both men and women, according to the American Heart Association.
Heart-healthy honey may help you to lower blood pressure and regulate cholesterol by reducing the bad kind (LDL) while maintaining the good kind (HDL).
High Blood Pressure
It's the total heart-healthy diet and healthy lifestyle package that may help keep blood pressure numbers normal—not
just
honey. But honey can be a good thing for your heart.
How Honey Works:
It's time you can say, “Please pass the honey,” rather than pass on the sweet stuff, because its oligosaccharides—good-for-you antioxidants—may help reduce blood pressure. But that's not all....
The Honey Revolution
author Fessenden links sleep deprivation and elevated blood pressure. If you're not getting adequate zzz's it can lead to hypertension, since you're not allowing your body to get its needed rest and rejuvenation. That's why consuming honey before bedtime is heart-healthy, because it “reduces the release of adrenaline, a catecholamine that raises blood pressure and heart rate,” says Fessenden. “Longer sleep means a reduced risk for hypertension.”
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What You Can Do:
Try eating 1 teaspoon of honey before bedtime. Pairing it with a cup of milk or herbal tea will increase the odds of you getting seven to eight hours of sleep and keeping those BP numbers at 120/80—and lower.
And chances are, if you have high blood pressure you may have high cholesterol, too.
Cholesterol Ups and Downs
In adults, total cholesterol levels of 240 milligrams or higher are considered high risk and levels from 200 to 239 are considered borderline high risk, according to the AHA. Your triglyceride level should not be more than 150. Research proves that polyphenols—like the kind found in honey—can help you stay heart-healthy. Research shows bee foods may also have a positive benefit on the heart.
How Honey Works
: A small study in Japan showed that royal jelly supplements lower cholesterol levels in humans. The scientists studied the effects on cholesterol and triglycerides. Several people took 6 grams a day of a royal jelly supplement for four weeks. Their total cholesterol and low-density LDL “bad” cholesterol was much lower than that of those people in the control group who experienced no change in cholesterol levels.
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What You Can Do:
If you want to lower your cholesterol, you may get help from royal jelly like queen bees do. This bee “caviar” supplies heart-healthy B vitamins, antioxidants C and E, more than a dozen minerals, 18 amino acids, and other key heart helpers. Royal jelly is available at health-food stores. It's sold in a variety of forms, including fresh royal jelly, royal jelly honey (this is what I have, and it is edible in smoothies), and capsules. The recommended dose is 1 to 2 royal jelly capsules daily, says Ray Sahelian, M.D., but he adds that it is difficult to prescribe a specific dosage since each person is different in how they respond.
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Consult with your health practitioner if you go the royal jelly route. But don't stop there.
The fact is, medical doctors will tell you that the teaming of aging and a sedentary lifestyle with other bad habits (i.e., smoking, overeating) means your risk of high cholesterol and high blood pressure is apt to go up, not down. While 1 to 2 teaspoons of honey multiple times per week may lower your risk of developing heart disease, too, it is the wholesome diet and lifestyle habits (including regular exercise) that can also help you regulate cholesterol levels and blood pressure and keep heart problems at bay—and don't forget the scourge of diabetes.
HONEY AND DIABETES RISK?
According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 18 million Americans have diabetes. An estimated 90 to 95 percent of Americans have type 2, which boomers and elderly people are facing as target groups that might be stung.
How Honey Works:
Research shows that honey helps maintain blood-sugar levels in athletes. A study of 39 male and female athletes following a workout ate a protein supplement mixed with a sweetener. Those who ate the supplement sweetened with honey, instead of sugar or maltodextrin, achieved better results. They enjoyed optimal blood-sugar levels for two hours after the workout and experienced better muscle recuperation.
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Nutritionists will warn you that honey is still sugar, so if you've blood-sugar issues, proceed with caution. If you check out the glycemic index, honey ranks 62nd, table sugar 64th. The glycemic index measures how your body turns carbohydrates into glucose, triggering an insulin response, explain nutritionists who believe people with diabetes should consume honey in moderation, if at all. If you are diabetic but want to include the golden nectar in your diet, use the good stuff, pure, raw honey.
What You Can Do:
Try 1 to 2 teaspoons multiple times a week and avoid added sugars in your diet regime. Also, eating more fiber-rich foods, lowering dietary fat, and exercising regularly help aid in blood-sugar control. People who have type 2 diabetes can usually control the disease by diet and lifestyle changes. To be safe, always check with your health-care provider before making any sweet changes to your daily regime.
LONG LIVE YOU AND YOUR HONEY
Honey has a long shelf life and if you turn to honey for health improvements and health ailments, the golden liquid just may help to extend your longevity. Naturally, if you dodge cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, this in itself will help you to live a better life, right? And there are people who can tell you that honey is what keeps them going—even after age 100.
What's more, honey proponents believe royal jelly, the stuff that is a key player in the making of the queen bee (the only bee that is fed this creamy thick fluid her entire life), is rich in natural hormones and B vitamins. Because of this food fit for a queen, she lives 40 times longer and is larger than the other bees in the hive. For humans, royal jelly may help increase longevity, provide antiaging benefits, and preserve vitality in the body.
One well-known pioneer of the honey industry at the Comvita Company shows the longevity honey connection at work. At 63, Claude Stratford could be found in his basement at home making and selling bee products. In 1976, he teamed with beekeeper Alan Bougen—two entrepreneurs ready to change the people's ideals of natural health. The duo believed wholeheartedly in the healing powers of bee products, and in the seventies they were the first to export New Zealand manuka honey in a jar. The secret to Claude's longevity may be 2 teaspoons of bee pollen, manuka honey, and olive leaf extract each day.
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Speaking of longevity, Wendy Iturrizaga witnessed and documented “the sweet aphrodisiac” at work by observing her neighbors, a retired couple but very active, indulging in the hobbies of cycling and apiculture:
In their back garden they have several beehives that they take care of with diligence. Every morning very early I can see them from my bedroom window walking up the hill to take care of their beloved bees. After lunch it is almost sure that they will spend the afternoon cycling in the countryside and from what they say, they spend very active nights as well!
The couple who last summer cycled France from north to south confessed to me that they owe their energy to their bees. They systematically consume honey and pollen every day. Honey on toast, pollen and yogurt, honey and crepes, tea and honey. They even make their own jams, breads and biscuits with honey. It is not a surprise my neighbors could manage the Tour de France.”
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The following recipe was created as part of cholesterol-lowering program for Chicago firefighters. It's quick, simple, and tasty—containing healing foods that include sweet honey.
Firefighter's Honey Muesli
1 teaspoon honey
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup skim milk or
low-fat vanilla soy milk
1 ounce mixture of
almonds, walnuts and
pistachios
cup mixed dried fruit
Mix all ingredients and eat immediately or cover, refrigerate overnight, and eat the next day. Break it down.... Calories: 330; Total Fat: 8 grams; Saturated Fat: 1 gram; Cholesterol: 0 milligrams; Sodium: 90 milligrams; Total Carbs: 56 grams; Dietary Fiber: 6 grams; Sugars: 10 grams; Protein 11: grams.
(
Source:
Dave Grotto, R.D.)
In the next chapter, I'll show you how the traditional Mediterranean diet and its common foods, including honey as a sweetener, continue to get a thumbs-up in medical journals and studies. It's the antideprivation eating and lifestyle habits—regular exercise teamed with both good fats and sweets (including honey!)—that works for me and can work for you.
UN-BEE-LIEVABLE HEALING HINTS TO CATCH
Honey may help boost your quality of life and enhance longevity by staving off age-related diseases.
Healing honey with its powers is acknowledged around the world as a healing medicine.
Honey heals in a variety of ways—antioxidants, osmosis, acidic, and bacterial.
Honey is a fat-burning food because it provides the body with energy to repair cells and burn fat.
HONEY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY
Disease/Condition
How Honey Works
Obesity
The fructose and glucose in antioxidant-rich dark honey satisfy your sweet cravings so overindulgence in fattening and/or sugary foods without nutritional value is easier to avoid.
Heart Disease
Antioxidants in dark honey help to lower the risk of high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Diabetes
Dark honey may cut the amount of “bad” LDL cholesterol in the blood, which may lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Cancer
Phenols in dark honey act as disease-fighting antioxidants to hinder the cancer process and may reduce certain cancers.
Aging
Dark honey in moderation lowers the risk of heart obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer—all diseases that can shorten life span.

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