I'm afraid to admit it, but I am one of the people that voiced the goodness of honey, and took it often with my food, on top of toast, as a healthy salad dressing or just as a sweetener in my cereal.
I love the stuff, and believed it to be one of natures miracles.
Is this actually the case? I'm afraid you may be disappointed with the answer to that question.
In a world where how a product looks and feels is more important than the actual product itself.
Suppliers are worried about the facts that it is consistent, tasty and perfect. Since when in nature does that EVER occur? The true beauty of nature is that it is perfectly unique, pristine in its ability to offer something to the viewer or consumer that is completely new, unmatched, never to be duplicated and refreshing.
This is the almost ALWAYS the case, but not what market leaders look for, so they flood the market with uniform, regular, steady products that are in their control for the large measure.
Honey is one of the products that have fallen to the great machine that is supply and demand, and many of it's goodness and health benefits are stripped before being packaged into neat packages and added to a shelf and sold to the consumers as natures goodness....which it in most cases is no longer.
Because of this I would like to highlight the differences between the product we will call "regular" honey, and then "raw" honey (which could also include unpasteurized honey).
RAW Honey vs Regular Honey
- Colour: is usually a milky colour when raw, however regular honey is a golden and clear liquid
- Could contain pollen and organic material in it, however in some cases they can do a slight removal of the obvious materials like bees legs. Regular honey is perfectly clean and has no pollen or other materials in it. These are removed as it is run through it's 'cleansing processes'. Raw honey contains pollen and sometimes even bits of bees that were left behind. ALL the vitamins, enzymes and nutrients are left in RAW honey
- While raw honey contains anti fungal and anti-viral properties, the honey that is processed often contains antibiotics
- Raw honey with all its goodness left intact, is a powerful antioxidant!!
- Because raw honey is more expensive than manufactured sugars and syrups, most store honeys contain High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) from 10% volume levels to above 50%. These add a high amount of sugar into the diet which quickly turn to fat. Risks of diabetes, hypertension and disease is widely known as a byproduct, with no nutrients added.
- Raw honey wards off allergies and also assists with blood sugar level control
- Raw honey helps with skin conditions and boosts the immune systems
- Store honey is a problem with plaques buildup and also narrowing of blood vessels
- There are many uses of the goodness from honey that are also used in products like toothpaste, shampoos etc. In a lot of ways this is pat of the problem as these are also why the honey is tripped of the goodness and then used elsewhere, while the store product continues to be sold at a high price regardless
Sad reality, and how to recognize good honey
Almost 80% of all store bought honey is actually hardly honey at all. The main way they do this is by pasteurizing the honey.
Pasteurization is the process where honey is heated at high temperatures to kill any yeast that may be present in order to prevent fermentation. It’s also done to keep the honey from becoming granulated, making it look better to consumers. Commercial honey is smooth and uniform in color. - Credit
Some ways to recognize your honey
- Raw honey will always solidify and crystallize if left alone. If your honey doesn't then it is honey that has been adulterated. Put it in the fridge to speed up the process, and put into warm water to 'melt' it again
- Read the label. It it has glucose or HFCS in it then you are sure it is standard honey
- Add honey to water, then add 4 to 5 drops of vinegar to it. If it turns foamy then it is not honey, but probably contains a substance called gypsem added to it
- Add a tablespoon of honey into water. If it mixes easily then it is not honey. Pure honey remains intact in water
- Burn the honey. Pure honey burns easily while adulterated honey doesn't due to high water content. You can also leave honey on a price of dry bread to see if it becomes soggy or not
- Run the honey off a spoon. If it flows easily and quickly off it then it is not RAW honey, as raw honey is thick and will not fall easily at all
I apologize if I'm popping a bubble of sorts in this case, but I think its important for those that are wanting the benefits of honey to actually get those benefits.
Unfortunately in our world, profits are number 1 to 10, after which the rest of the concerns come into play.
Check out your suppliers and find someone that is still giving the products you are looking for. If you have time I'm sure you will be able to find a farmer of honey willing to dispense to someone that is wanting to buy raw honey.
We also need to stop being allowed to gag, or be put off by good natural products. If we are going to push for perfect looking fruit at the cost of the goodness and health of of those fruit then we will pay the price eventually.
Often the best looking in nature is NOT the best for us. In fact most of the most nutritious and beneficial foods in the world are NOT tasty or pretty, but the opposite.
Don't allow the honey industry to continue as they are in selling us "PURE HONEY" when it is anything but pure!
Hope this helps all you healthy people out there....cheers!
