Purely Nourished

From Nec­tar to Honey:

Nec­tar is a solu­tion of sug­ars with small amounts of amino acids, vit­a­mins, pro­teins, and enzymes. The com­po­si­tion depends on the type of  plant that pro­duces it as well as numer­ous other envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors.  Nec­tar begins to be con­verted into honey as soon as the bee takes it in at the source. Enzymes are added to the nec­tar which break down the sucrose to glu­cose and fruc­tose. At the hive more enzymes are added and then deposited into the hive or brood box. Slowly the nec­tar becomes both dehy­drated and con­cen­trated and turns into what we know of as honey.

Honey has been used for thou­sands of years as a nat­ural rem­edy and an ingre­di­ent in foods and drinks.  It has been found to have anti­sep­tic and antibac­te­r­ial prop­er­ties known for treat­ing and revers­ing many ailments.

Honey has numer­ous med­i­c­i­nal prop­er­ties and has been shown effec­tive in:

• Heal­ing skin prob­lems: burns, sores, dry skin, cuts.
• Calm­ing diges­tive issues: diar­rhea, stom­ach bugs, constipation.
• Com­bat­ing stress: nerves, low energy, hot flashes.
• Treat­ing res­pi­ra­tory con­di­tions : colds and sore throats.

How does it work?

Honey’s high sugar and low mois­ture con­tent make it excel­lent at draw­ing out fluid from any organ­isms it comes in con­tact with — mean­ing excess flu­ids are drawn from, as an exam­ple, wound sites, decreas­ing buildup of fluid in the tis­sues and the loca­tion of the inflam­ma­tion. On top of that honey is acidic, there­fore inhos­pitable to bac­te­ria as well as a source of hydro­gen per­ox­ide mak­ing it a great antiseptic.

So many options…

When choos­ing honey, go for the local option. These hon­eys have antimi­cro­bial prop­er­ties that will ward off aller­gies and ill­nesses prone to that geo­graph­i­cal loca­tion. The nec­tar in local honey is that of the local flow­ers and plants there­fore the cause of most aller­gies in that area. Its kinda like an anti-venom — you con­sume the source to pre­vent the effect to build up a tolerance.

Use honey as a healthy way to sweeten and fla­vor your meals. Not only will you be get­ting that sugar that your body is crav­ing but also some pro­tec­tion against the chang­ing seasons.

To find out more about honey’s wide rang­ing ben­e­fits check out some of the schol­arly arti­cles in the Jour­nal of Med­i­c­i­nal Foods & the Inter­na­tional Jour­nal of Foods.