Honey is typically thought of as a golden liquid that is extra sweet and tastes very good, yet some people would rather avoid it because of the calorie content. However, when consumed in moderation and/or as a substitute for other sweeteners and flavorings, honey is actually beneficial to a person’s health. What’s more, honey makes an excellent beauty product for the skin and hair.
Immune System
Why is honey so good for you? Well first of all, honey is considered excellent for immune system health. Honey is packed with antioxidants. It is also an anti-bacterial. Consuming honey each day improves the health of the digestive tract, which is where immunity starts. If you want to improve your immunity, you can do it by starting each day with a simple beverage. Mix a little honey with the juice from half a lemon in a glass of warm water. This drink provides enough honey to reap its benefits but not so much that you will have to worry about tipping the scales.
Energy
Honey is full of natural carbohydrates, which makes it an excellent source of energy. If you are feeling reluctant about going to the gym, a spoon full of honey may be all you need to give you that extra energy and motivation. Ingesting honey before working out provides the body with extra strength and durability. A teaspoon of honey can help restore your energy levels on those days when you are feeling a bit listless and weary.
Health Conditions and Wounds
Honey has been used for hundreds of years to treat many ailments and health conditions. For example honey can be used to remedy hangovers, sore throats, arthritic pain, yeast infections, insomnia and athletes foot. Honey has also been used to treat wounds, cuts and burns. Honey cannot cure cancer, but ingesting it regularly may help to neutralize cancer-causing carcinogens.
Beauty Applications
You may have noticed that many high-end skin and hair-care products list honey as one of the key ingredients. Honey has been used as a beauty product for thousands of years. The legendary Egyptian beauty Cleopatra, for example, bathed in milk and honey to keep her skin youthful.
You can make your own skin-care products at home using honey as the chief ingredient. Honey is good for the skin for several reasons. For instance, honey holds on to water molecules. This makes it great for adding moisture to dry skin. Honey can help reverse the damage from pollution and the sun because it counteracts free radicals. Honey is also great for getting rid of acne and pimples.
You can moisturize your hair by putting honey on it. Honey helps the hair retain moisture so that it is easier to manage. It is especially beneficial for hair that is dry or damaged. You can make your own hair conditioner using honey and olive oil. Simply apply the mixture to your hair and scalp. Leave the mixture in your hair for twenty minutes before rinsing it out thoroughly.
Additional Information
It’s important to note that honey-containing products should never be fed to infants under one year of age; honey may contain Clostridium botulinum spores and toxins that can cause infant botulism, a paralytic disease that is life-threatening to babies during the first 12 months of their lives.
Two informative books for learning more about honey and its remarkable benefits as well as nutritional properties of other ‘superfoods’ are Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future and 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life.
Whisp
The informational content of this article is intended to convey general educational
information and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.
This article is intended to convey general educational information and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.