Since ancient times, mankind has been using honey not only as a sweetener, but also as a medicine. Those who regularly use this product, practically do not have to resort to medications. And this is no coincidence. After all, honey contains such useful minerals as iron, sodium, magnesium, potassium and calcium. Also in the product there is a huge amount of vitamins, fructose and glucose.
Honey in modern medicine
Despite the fact that most doctors do not use traditional medicine in their practice, it does not concern the use of honey. And for those who are not accustomed to consuming the pure bee's vital product, special preparations based on propolis and honey have been created.
The product has excellent antiviral, antifungal, and also antibacterial properties. The use of honey will not be superfluous in any disease. An exception may be only an allergy to its individual components.
Propolis and honey have a positive effect on the digestive tract. The vital products of bees help to cope with ulcers and gastritis. It is not necessary to use it in its pure form. It will be useful to drink milk with honey. The caloric content of such a mixture is not too high, but the benefits are huge.
Honey is also popular among athletes. There is an element in the product that increases working capacity several times. This allows athletes to conduct training and compete much more effectively.
Flower or buckwheat honey?
The calorie content of honey in a teaspoon practically does not depend on the species. But the properties of buckwheat and flower product are slightly different. Honey, which is obtained during the flowering of buckwheat, has a dark shade. It crystallizes quite quickly. It is buckwheat honey that should be consumed by people suffering from anemia. Due to the high content of iron and protein, the product perfectly increases hemoglobin.
Flower honey, unlike buckwheat, has a light shade. It can be preserved in its original form for much longer. The product will be an excellent complement during the treatment of cardiovascular and gynecological diseases. For children and the elderly, honey will be especially beneficial. Calorie content per 100 grams of this product is about 320 kcal. With it, you can perfectly satisfy the feeling of hunger. A combination of honey with fresh apples or pears will be beneficial.
In a separate group includes linden honey. It has a light yellow color and practically does not crystallize over time. The product perfectly removes strong inflammatory processes. Therefore, it is used not only for colds, but also during inflammation of the kidneys, bladder. It helps honey to remove toothache. To do this, just attach the product to a sore spot and hold for several minutes.
Good honey will help you lose weight.
Sweet foods are natural antioxidants. But many girls and women who have the problem of being overweight have to give up cakes and pies. But forgetting about sweets is optional. Honey has excellent properties. Calorie content per 100 grams of product can be compared with the same amount of wheat bread or condensed milk. But it’s not worth worrying about the fact that extra pounds will appear. After all, the product helps to accelerate the production of bile, which burns fats. Honey will become an indispensable product during any diet. Girls who are used to denying themselves certain foods know a sense of fatigue. Honey perfectly improves performance and increases resistance to stress.
The product can not only be taken orally, but use it as an additional tool during massage. Honey perfectly saturates the skin and muscles with oxygen, improves blood circulation, relieves swelling. The product will be an excellent tool in the fight against such a nuisance as cellulite.
The energy value of honey
It is no coincidence that honey is an essential component of many weight loss diets. After all, it is quite possible to replace sugar with this useful product. It is added to tea, milk or porridge. Despite the similarity of taste, the calorie content of honey and sugar is different. So, 1 tablespoon of honey has a calorie content of about 30 kcal, and a spoonful of sugar - 45 kcal.
The calorie content of honey also depends on the variety. Less energetic valuable are flower varieties. But 100 grams of dark honey may contain more than 400 kcal. The main source of caloric content of bee products is considered glucose and fructose. These two components occupy more than 80% of the total honey composition.
The use of honey in cosmetology
In matters of beauty, honey has also found wide application. The product is used as masks for skin and hair, it is added to creams, lotions and tonics. In this case, honey will be equally useful for people with various types of appearance.
Regular application of honey to the scalp helps eliminate dandruff. Hair becomes more docile, shiny and grow faster. Honey helps activate cellular respiration of the scalp. Thanks to this, regeneration processes are much more efficient. The positive effect of honey on the hair and scalp can be seen already from the first application.
Bee vital products are also used as a face mask. All you need to do is apply honey on cleansed skin and pat it lightly with your hands. This procedure improves blood circulation, so that the skin becomes supple and radiant.
Honey in baby food
Every mother wants the child to develop harmoniously. One of the first places in this matter is proper nutrition. Honey in the daily diet of a child older than a year will not be superfluous. The product supplies biologically active substances to a small body. At the same time, the calorie content of honey in a teaspoon is sufficient to charge the child with energy for the whole day. Such a volume will be quite enough for the baby. It is advisable to eat the product during breakfast.
A true helper is honey during teething. It relieves pain and eliminates inflammatory processes. But the product should be consumed correctly. You need to take a spoonful of honey in your mouth and hold for several minutes. If the child can complete the procedure, the pain will quickly go away.
Unfortunately, not all children like to use honey in its pure form. In this case, you can make a fruit salad flavored with honey, or offer your child milk in addition. An apple with honey, which calorie content reaches 320 kcal per 100 g, will be an excellent substitute for breakfast.
Is honey good for everyone?
Unfortunately, far from all can use high-quality and tasty honey. Some people are hypersensitive to the product. Even tea with honey, whose calorie content is low, can cause a serious allergic reaction. Most often, it manifests itself in skin rashes. In advanced cases, itching and swelling may appear. Less commonly, after consuming honey, headaches, runny nose, or stomach upsets may appear.
With great care, honey should be used for people with diabetes. Before using the product, consult your doctor.
Before giving honey to a child, it is also worth consulting a pediatrician.
What should be quality honey?
Enormous benefits can bring only a quality product. Therefore, everyone should know the signs of really good honey. A product that has been pumped out relatively recently should be liquid. Almost all the honey that is offered on the market has a liquid consistency. But preference should be given to products that crystallize over time. If this does not happen, then the honey was heated. And to do such a procedure is possible only subject to certain technology. The seller will never admit that he really heated the product.
Many unscrupulous sellers also dilute honey with water. Determining if a product is diluted is very simple. High-quality honey flows from a spoon in a uniformly thick stream, but the product with the addition of water will fall on the plate quickly and unevenly. In this case, the calorie content of honey in a teaspoon will be much lower.
How to identify a fake?
Almost everyone knows about the benefits of honey. This is used by unscrupulous manufacturers who try to sell a product that does not have all the necessary properties. You can easily identify a fake by trying a product. Quality honey should not be cloying. Often it is diluted with sugar syrup to increase the volume. The nutritional value of such a product will also vary. The calorie content of honey in a teaspoon should be at least 27 kcal.
Manufacturers can also add gelatin to honey to make it thicker. The thickener content can be detected by using a solution of tannin. If the product contains gelatin, white flakes will appear. In addition, 1 tablespoon of honey calories will be much lower.
When purchasing honey, you can ask the beekeeper for a certificate of conformity and a sanitary-hygienic passport. If he provides all the documents without question, then the product is offered really high quality.