Life of a university student is indeed tough. Living the course myself, constant stress from studies, assignment datelines, personal commitment and peer pressure has taken a toll on me.The polluted environment and weather that is ever hot had left my sensitive skin dry.Consequently, I have succumbed to a horrendous acne outbreak that left me desperately searching for a cure to prevent blemishes and what not, scarring!!! Resolving to intake of vitamin C and other supplementary medication only ease the outbreak, however it did not reduce the inflamed acne. While I was lamenting about my situation to my mother, she advised me to try Manuka honey. Rather convinced and excited myself, I tried on the Manuka honey, grateful that I did not have to consume any bitter or painful antidote to cure the dreaded acne. After consuming and applying the honey daily for one whole week, the acne invasion ceased its merciless attacks and bade adieu, leaving my skin miraculously better and healthier than it used to be. Therefore, I would like to share the benefits of honey.
Honey is a sweet substance produced by bees that feed on flowers, diverse in its colour and flavour depending on the nectar source visited by the honey bees. Honey colour ranges from nearly colourless to dark brown and its flavour varies from delectably mild to distinctively bold. Generally, light-colored honey is milder in taste and dark-coloured honey is stronger.Dark colour honey contains more minerals, mainly iron, copper and manganese which makes it especially fit for medicinal purposes. People who prefer light honey over dark make a great error. Dark honey has a higher specific gravity; one "drop" of it will travel faster and also goes "further" in the organism.
Honey is a mixture of monosaccharide and other compounds. Displaying its carbohydrate properties, honey is mainly a watery solution of two invert sugars, dextrous (glucose or grape sugar) and laevulose (fructose or fruit sugar) in nearly equal proportions. These two invert sugars are natural or simple sugars due to their ability to be readily absorbed into the bloodstream without requiring assistance of the salivary, gastric or intestinal secretions to accomplish the process of inversion. Besides, honey does also contains traces of several vitamins and minerals together with some tiny amounts of several compounds thought to function as poisons, including sodium cyanide, pinobanksin, catalase, and pinocembrin. In addition to the two invert sugars, honey contains aromatic volatile oils, which bestow its flavour, mineral elements (sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, copper, phosphorus, etc.), some protein, various enzymes, vitamins and colouring matter. Honey is believed to be of an acid reaction where bees inject or spray some venom into each comb that impart an anti-fermentative, antiseptic and conserving quality to honey. The acid reaction may be due to minute quantities of lactic, succinic, citric and malic acids.Liquid honey is the only natural product that does not spoil. Because of its high sugar concentration, it kills bacteria by osmotic lysine. Natural airborne yeast cannot become active in it because the moisture content is too low. Natural, raw, honey varies from 14% to 18% moisture content. As long as the moisture content remains under 18%, virtually no organism can successfully multiply to significant amounts in honey.
The main components of honey are:
Invert sugars = 73.3%
Sucrose(cane-sugar) = 2.63%
Dextrin = 2.89%Nitrogen substances = 1.08%
Water = 18.96%
Ash = 0.24%
Below are some general health benefits of honey that include:
Sweetener:
Honey is actually sweeter than table sugar and has attractive chemical properties for baking. It has a distinct flavour which leads some people to prefer it over sugar and other sweeteners.
Honey is also used by many as a source of energy as it provides about 64 calories per tablespoon. One tablespoon of sugar will provide about 50 calories. Sugar in honey can be easily converted into glucose by even the most sensitive stomach fluids. Hence it is very easy to digest honey. The flavour of honey has also a dietetic value as it induces the free flow of saliva which promotes digestion.
Antioxidant:
Honey contains natural antioxidant that destroys biological destructive chemical agents which link to many diseases such as cancer. Dark-colour honey like Buckwheat seems to contain more antioxidant than light-colour varieties. Not only does it eliminate free radicals in the body, it also supplies nutrient for growth of new tissue. This precious property is deemed to help protect the skin under the sun and help the skin rejuvenate and stay young-looking.
Antibacterial and antimicrobial properties:
The reasons that contribute to the honey’s antibacterial properties are because honey is acidic and contains hydrogen peroxide. Honey has a pH around 3.2 to 4.5, which is low enough to be inhibitory to many animal pathogens.The glucose oxidase enzyme is secreted from the hypopharyngeal gland of the bee into the nectar to assist in the formation of honey from the nectar.Unlike the medical hydrogen peroxide, commonly 3% by volume; it is present in a concentration of only 1 mol/L in honey. Honey deactivates the free ion, which starts the formation as oxygen free radicals produced by hydrogen peroxide and the antioxidant constituents in honey help to clean up oxygen free radicals present.
C6H12O6 + H2O + O2 → C6H12O7 + H2O2
Skin Care with Milk and Honey:
Milk and honey are often served together as both these ingredients help in getting
a smooth
soothing skin. Hence consuming milk and honey daily in the morning is a common practice in many countries.
Honey taken with cinnamon powder also helps in curing stomach ache. For people who are suffering from gas problems, honey should be taken with cinnamon powder in equal quantities, relieves gas and pain in the stomach
Reducing Cholesterol:
Take two tablespoons of honey, three teaspoons of cinnamon powder and mix in 16 ounces of tea, when given to a cholesterol patient, reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10% within 2 hours. Pure honey is also sometimes used with food to check cholesterol.
Curing Infertility:
Various ancient medical streams like Ayurveda and Yunani have been using honey for years in medicine to strengthen the semen of men. Two tablespoons of honey before they go to sleep is what is prescribed by many experienced practitioners. This combination will work wonders for women as well. In China, Japan and other Asian countries, if the women who do not conceive, and or if their uterus is weak, then they have been prescribed cinnamon powder. Women who cannot conceive may take a pinch of cinnamon powder in half a teaspoon of honey, and apply it on the gums frequently throughout the day, so that it slowly mixes with the saliva and enters the body.
*Precautions*
Honey is however not always healthy. This is because bees gather honey from flowers in the wild that might produce toxic. Plants like Rhododendrons and azaleas have nectar that is poisonous to humans although harmless to bees, producing the toxic honey. Hives are empties immediately after the flowering season and cleaned of any residue to prevent accidental poisoning. Such poisonous honey is very rarely encountered.
Honey is sometimes cited as a source of the spores, which it can be, but the spores are everywhere, even in household dust. Sweeteners should also not be fed to puppies as they can cause them to go into a "sugar high". The sugar crash that follows can cause them to lose consciousness or die.
Note:
Manuka honey is a special honey with its active Unique Manuka Factor, UMF which has the antibacterial property. Therefore, it is advisable not to take Manuka honey using a metal spoon as the metal spoon will spoil the active UMF in Manuka honey.
Reference:
http://www.chemistrydaily.com/chemistry/Honey
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-properties.html
http://www.honey-health.com/honey-6.shtml
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