Since first posting this article about honey, I have used it a lot more to get through the Winter.  It has been amazing for colds, flu and allergy symptoms for my family as well as a sweetener to cut our use of refined sugar!  Hope you will incorporate it into your diet on a regular basis in order to be more healthy.

Honey is such an amazing food.  It has some very unexpected health benefits and because it tastes so good, we don’t mind using it.  Here are just a few things that you can benefit from by using honey:

Think about it as a natural way to give yourself a boost of ENERGY.

We all have experienced that run down feeling at some point in time if we are over doing it and have not gotten enough rest.  Honey is a wonderful source of carbs and an important component of our energy source for our bodies.  If you take honey, it will give you an immediate boost in your ability to get the task at hand done and hold on until you can get something that is even more sustaining into your body.  It decreases muscle fatigue for athletes and because of its natural sugars, you can use it as you exercise.

Here is how it works….two important properties of honey are that it contains glucose, which breaks down very quickly to give us immediate energy, and fructose, which breaks down over a slower period of time to help us to sustain the energy.  Honey is also known to stabilize blood sugar more as compared to other things we use to sweeten our food.

• Take it in the morning as an energy booster in your tea or as a cleaning tonic on an empty stomach with the juice of half a lemon, a bit of warm water and a teaspoon of honey (see recipe below).

It not only works to cleanse your body as it works as an antimicrobial and antifungal, it also helps to boost your immune system, hopefully preventing illnesses.  It has very powerful antioxidant properties that give want to be diseases a PUNCH!!!

• Honey has been said to help fight cancer.  See below references for more on this.
• One of my favorite uses:  a natural cure for treating wounds due to its antiseptic properties.  Next time you or your little ones have an OWIE, try a bit of honey on it.  It also is known to work to help heal minor burns.  There is a brand that has been shown to be good for this in the link below called UMF Manuka.
• If you have a sore throat or cough, try a drink of honey with warm water and lemon as mentioned above.
• Got insomnia, try honey and warm milk before turning in.  This is an old remedy that has been proven to work by many grandmothers.  You can even use the honey in tea such as chamomile.  My favorite is green tea and honey.  It seems to have such a soothing effect.
• Honey and vinegar have been reported by many to decrease their pain from arthritis and work as a home detox.
• Honey and lemon are said to be good for weight loss

Overall, you can’t beat a food that has so many HUGE benefits and tastes so SWEET!

So next time you are low on energy, instead of reaching for that candy bar or granola bar, give honey a try.

Check out this recipe below:

Honey and lemon

Mix one tsp of raw honey with the juice of about 2 tsp of lime or lemon in a glass of warm water.  Make sure not to use boiling water and definitely not tap water.  Try to use distilled or at least a good quality bottled water such as FUJI.  The pH of Fuji bottled water is reported to have a pH slightly above 8 which is healthier for us.  Use this drink in the mornings before eating anything. It is effective in detoxing the body and as a digestive aid after a particularly oily meal.  This along with exercise and a healthy diet will hopefully help you to shed the pounds naturally and make it a part of your lifestyle change.

References:

http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/honey-and-lemon.html

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/264667.php#the_possible_health_benefits_of_honey

http://www.medicaldaily.com/liquid-gold-7-health-benefits-honey-could-heal-your-whole-body-325932

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