In addition to its healing properties, honey also offers several health benefits for the body.
It’s widely known that honey offers various benefits, but to fully enjoy its properties, it’s important to prioritize this product in its natural form.
First and foremost, it’s worth mentioning that industrialized honey is more harmful to health than refined sugar. This is because, during the industrialization process, honey loses many of its vitamins and antioxidants.
Benefits of Honey
While this food provides numerous health benefits, it’s important to note that experts do not recommend honey for children under two years of age, as it may cause infant botulism.
Now, here are the benefits of honey:
- Helps with Memory and Anxiety Did you know that replacing sugar with honey is linked to improved memory and reduced anxiety? That’s right. Another benefit is that honey helps improve memory in women during menopause and post-menopause.
According to a study published by the University of Waikato in New Zealand, honey helps improve spatial memory, making it easier to recognize places and situations you’ve experienced.
- Boosts the Body’s Defenses Honey helps boost the body’s defenses due to its antioxidant compounds, which are very beneficial to the body. These benefits include improving eye health, reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Moreover, it also helps in the treatment of certain cancers, as it inhibits the multiplication of cancer cells, including breast, prostate, and kidney cancer. Additionally, it reduces the risks of ovarian, cervical, rectal, and prostate cancer.
- Fights Bacteria and Fungi in Wounds Honey has properties that reduce healing time and can sterilize wounds. As a result, it reduces pain, size, and even odor. This characteristic aids in healing, being more effective and sometimes better than other types of dressings.
Honey can treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria, ulcers, and long-term wounds after surgery or burns. It is also a good option for treating diabetic foot ulcers, as it fights germs and helps tissue regeneration. Honey is also widely used for healing oral and genital herpes sores, as it helps reduce itching and is as effective as ointments from pharmacies.
- Improves Gastrointestinal Health Honey is a potent probiotic, nourishing the good bacteria in our gut. Therefore, it is great for digestion and overall health.
Additionally, honey is excellent for treating digestive issues such as diarrhea and for dealing with Helicobacter pylori bacteria, which cause gastric ulcers. If you’re dealing with indigestion, consider preparing a honey and cinnamon tea. This natural remedy is wonderful for treating such issues, as both ingredients improve digestion.
- Combats Obesity Have you heard of a sweet food that helps fight obesity? Well, thanks to its properties, honey helps regulate blood sugar and fat levels. This means it reduces inflammation and helps with weight management.
- Improves Cholesterol and Lowers Triglycerides Honey is great for combating high cholesterol because it lowers levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and raises good cholesterol (HDL) in the body.
Honey can replace sugar, and as a result, it helps lower triglyceride levels. Diets rich in sugar and refined carbohydrates typically raise triglycerides, increasing the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
- Helps Improve Brain Function Neurons need calcium to organize electrical signals, and honey not only absorbs but also helps fix calcium in the body. As a result, it enhances brain performance.
Additionally, because honey is a great calcium fixer, it helps prevent osteoporosis and other bone problems.
- Relieves Sore Throat, Asthma, and Cough Honey helps reduce inflammation and swelling in the throat and lungs, making it excellent for treating colds and flu. It also improves sleep quality.
Experts recommend taking up to two teaspoons of honey before bed, as its sweetness increases saliva production. This improves throat mucosa, protecting against irritation and alleviating coughing. Honey is often better than syrups, both in terms of safety and effectiveness.
- Helps Treat Hemorrhoids Due to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, healing, and analgesic properties, honey reduces bleeding and helps alleviate both pain and itching caused by hemorrhoids.
To benefit from honey’s properties, mix it with olive oil and beeswax, then apply this mixture to the affected area.
- Improves Heart Health Finally, honey’s ability to improve heart health comes from its ability to increase blood flow and reduce clot formation. This helps lower blood pressure and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases.