Image courtesy of WellTuned.
Honey is a natural sweetener that comes with many healthy benefits. It is made up of mostly sugar, but also contains several vitamins and minerals. It is used to sweeten drinks and foods, and is often used in beauty products. Honey contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which is a large reason why it is often used to medicate. Honey is often used to treat colds and to heal wounds. There are so many great uses for honey, you might not realize that it can be even more beneficial when it’s sourced locally.
Local honey is often different from commercial honey because of the way that it is processed. Commercial honey is usually heated during a pasteurization process to get rid of any potential contaminants. That process also manages to get rid of some of the natural benefits of honey. Pasteurized honey is smooth and clear, but some of the healthy enzymes are missing. When you buy honey locally, you can access a lot of it in its raw form. Raw honey is thick and cloudy, but is packed with nutrients you can’t get from regular commercialized honey.
The Benefits of Raw Local Honey
Local honey is even more beneficial than commercial honey.
To access the purest and most nutritious honey, buying local is the best way to go. Local honey producers don’t have to put their honey through the same kind of processing as a large commercial factory does, so you will get an excellent dose of unfiltered nutrients. Those unfiltered nutrients will benefit your body even more than the commercial honey that you have in your house.
Reduce Seasonal Allergies
Many people suffer through seasonal allergies, and the best they can do is take allergy medication in an attempt to prevent it. Some people go as far as to take allergy shots to try to get rid of their annual symptoms. You might be surprised to find out that raw honey can actually help to reduce allergy symptoms! It can do that because it contains the same allergens that tend to cause trouble when breathed in.
When you eat honey that contains pollen and other allergens, it functions similarly to getting an allergy shot. The exposure helps your body gain some natural immunity to the irritable substances. When you consume local honey, you are also consuming the allergens from the plants that are directly in your environment. That is even better than consuming the allergens from different places. Local honey will help your system become accustomed to the same types of plants that give your air passages trouble during the spring season.
Packed With Antioxidants
Raw honey contains many plant chemicals that act as antioxidants. These antioxidants protect the body from damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are unstable atoms that can cause damage to cells. They contribute to signs of aging and diseases like cancer and heart disease. They can also contribute to joint inflammation, vision loss, and damage to nerve cells in the brain.
Honey can manage to contain similar or more antioxidants than many fruits and vegetables. The antioxidants found in honey will help to keep your body’s cells healthy and therefore keep your body functioning smoothly.
Natural Skincare
Raw honey is packed with nutrients that benefit the skin. It helps to balance the natural bacteria on your face. That function can help to clear up serious skin problems like eczema, psoriasis, and even acne. Just like honey helps reduce inflammation in the diet, it also helps reduce inflammation topically. It helps to reduce any redness in the skin as well.
Raw honey is also effective at exfoliating the skin. It easily removes any dull layer of your skin to show off the fresh skin cells underneath. You can use raw honey as a face scrub or leave it on as a face mask.
Local honey can also be used to fade scars. It is one of the most natural skin remedies that you can use. It can be useful to rub it onto a scar either everyday or every other day. A consistent routine would bring you the best results. Honey has been used topically for centuries. It was once used that way back in Ancient Egypt. And it was also used in several other societies for different medicinal reasons. It can kill germs and help regenerate tissue, and so it has long been used for treating wounds. Local honey is the kind that is nutrient dense enough to treat wounds.
Soothes Sore Throats
Most times when a person is sick with a cold or a flu, people recommend they use honey to remedy some of the symptoms. Honey is a common remedy used to help people suffering from colds. One of the most common ways that this is done is by putting honey inside of hot tea. It is very effective at treating coughs and sore throats. People often feel relief after ingesting honey while they are suffering through a cold, and there is an interesting reason for this.
Honey forms a cooling film around the throat much like over the counter cough medications do. The sweet taste of it stimulates salivation and mucous secretions that lubricate the throat’s passageways. Cough medicine mimics honey’s properties by using a lot of sugar to coat the throat. Honey is able to accomplish this without any additives.
Local honey is often raw, which means that it is packed with so many more nutrients than regular, store bought honey. Honey is beneficial even in its pasteurized form, but it comes with even more helpful benefits when you consume it raw.
