Heal with honey

by Traci Brosman

(NaturalNews) Honey is known for its many healing properties. Many believe that adding unfiltered, unprocessed, unheated honey to your daily diet can alleviate arthritis, reduce heart disease, lower cholesterol and reduce allergies. Honey has also been known to calm an upset stomach, lessen cold symptoms, strengthen the immune system and provide extra energy during a workout. As one of nature's natural anti-biotics, honey also heals wounds while minimizing scarring.

Honeys that have a wide variety of pollens have achieved wonderful results in minimizing many people's allergies. A tablespoon of lavender honey before bed helps people achieve a restful night's sleep. Cinnamon and turmeric combined with buckwheat honey reduces inflammation in the joints, thus relieving pain from arthritis and strengthening the immune system. Cinnamon honey is also known to help people recover from strokes, help lower cholesterol and eliminate bad breath.

There are many types of honey and not all honey has the same healing properties. Honey that has been processed or heated will not have the enzymes that aid in digestion. Filtering honey removes many types of pollen and other properties that aid in digestion, alleviate cold symptoms and reduce allergies.

When purchasing honey, you should know that USDA Organic does not mean the honey is from the United States. Currently the United States has not defined organic honey. Tests completed on honey produced in the U.S. (that is not organic) has shown extremely small traces of pesticide. It is more important however that the honey be processed organically. It is during this stage that pesticides and other contaminants can penetrate the honey at high levels.

Beekeepers Scott Shurman and Jean Vasicek suggest asking the following questions from the beekeeper you purchase your honey from.
1. How many beehives do you have? If they do not have any beehives, then they are not in control of how their honey is being processed.
2. How do you treat for mites? You are looking to make sure that pesticides are not used.
3. How do you feed your bees? Bees should be fed their own honey for most of the year. You do not want to purchase honey from a beekeeper that only feeds the bees sugar water.
4. Are you state certified for beekeeping and for your bottling facility? This answer should be yes.
5. Do you heat your honey? Purchase honey that has not been heated.
6. Do you filter your honey? The more honey is filtered the less medicinal benefits it will have.

Shurman, Scott and Vasicek, Jean. Interview September 28, 2011. http://www.winterparkhoney.com

Stefan Bogdanov. Honey in Medicine. Web. May 5, 2011. http://www.bee-hexagon.net

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Honey Can Serve as an Effective Carbohydrate Replacement During Endurance Exercise. 2004;18(3): 466-72. Web. http://www.honey.com/nhb

Suzanne

While some feed sugar water to "assist" the bees to make it through the winter since they stole too much of their honey, some dishonest beekeepers only allow their bees access to sugar water to convert into honey. Most beekeepers frown on the practice.

I have weak digestion and low tolerance for refined sugar and I've found that I can't digest commercial honey - pasteurized and filtered. Thanks for this information Susan and Kland. I'll try the natural. I love honey.

Shock finding: More than 75 percent of all 'honey' sold in grocery stores contains no honey at all

by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Just because those cute little bear-shaped bottles at the grocery store say "honey" on them does not necessarily mean that they actually contain honey. A comprehensive investigation conducted by Food Safety News (FSN) has found that the vast majority of so-called honey products sold at grocery stores, big box stores, drug stores, and restaurants do not contain any pollen, which means they are not real honey.

For the investigation, Vaughn Bryant, one of the nation's leading melissopalynologists, or experts in identifying pollen in honey, and director of the Palynology Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University, evaluated more than 60 products labeled as "honey" that had been purchased by FSN from ten states and the District of Columbia.

Bryant found that 76 percent of "honey" samples purchased from major grocery store chains like Kroger and Safeway, and 77 percent of samples purchased from big box chains like Sam's Club and Wal-Mart, did not contain any pollen. Even worse were "honey" samples taken from drug stores like Walgreens and CVS, and fast food restaurants like McDonald's and KFC, 100 percent of which were found to contain not a trace of pollen.

The full FSN report with a list of all the pollen-less "honey" brands can be accessed here:
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/...

So what is all this phony honey made of? It is difficult to say for sure, as pollen is the key to verifying that honey is real. According to FSN, much of this imposter honey is more likely being secretly imported from China, and may even be contaminated with antibiotic drugs and other foreign materials.

Most conventional honey products have been illegally ultra-filtered to hide their true nature

According to FSN, the lack of pollen in most conventional "honey" products is due to these products having been ultra-filtered. This means that they have been intensely heated, forced through extremely tiny filters, and potentially even watered down or adulterated in some way prior to hitting store shelves.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) holds the position that any so-called honey products that have been ultra-filtered are not actually honey. But the agency refuses to do anything to stop this influx of illegitimate "honey" from flooding the North American market. It also continues to stonewall all petitions to establish a national regulatory standard for verifying the integrity of honey.

Ultra-filtering eliminates and destroys all medicinal properties of honey

Assuming that there is any real honey at all in the phony honey products tested by FSN, the removal of pollen and other delicate materials via ultra-filtering renders them medicinally dead. Raw honey is a health-promoting food that can help alleviate stomach problems, anemia, allergies, and other health conditions. Ultra-filtered honey is nothing more than a health-destroying processed sugar in the same vein as white table sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

The good news is that all of the honey products FSN tested from farmers markets, food cooperatives, and "natural" stores like Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, were found to contain pollen and a full array of antioxidants and other nutrients. Local beekeepers are another great source of obtaining raw, unprocessed, real honey.

Be sure to read the entire FSN report at:
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/...

Suzanne

Don't waste your money and risk your health with "funny honey" illegally imported from China

by PF Louis

(NaturalNews) Raw, unfiltered honey is your healthiest choice for health benefits. You couldn't ask for a healthier sweetener, unless you pay more for New Zealand Manuka honey. However, there are several honey scams that deprive you of honey's health benefits. Some of the honey posers are absolutely unhealthy.

The best is pure raw honey. Adulterated honey is mostly real honey with additives, which should be listed on the label. Then there is imitation or fake honey. It is usually a syrupy concoction of cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup in water with colorings and binding additives, and maybe a small amount of honey.

Both pure and adulterated honeys have similar identification markings, pollen. Fake honey has no pollen. Honey can be legitimately filtered to remove wax and other large particles. But ultra-filtering removes the pollen completely.

Almost 80% of the brands from big box grocers and pharmacies tested by Food Safety News had no trace of pollen. Add 100% without pollen in those little packets of honey provided by airlines and restaurants. Products are listed here (http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/...). Despite even congressional demands that the FDA do something to curb the fraud, the FDA refuses. Maybe they're too busy harassing raw milk providers.

"Ultra filtering makes no sense," asserted Mark Jensen, president of the American Honey Producers Association. He went on to say no real honey producer would do that because it's costly and diminishes quality.

But Jensen added this stinger: "In my judgment, it is pretty safe to assume that any ultra-filtered honey on store shelves is Chinese honey and it's even safer to assume that it entered the country in violation of federal law."

Chinese honey is fake funny honey that bypasses strict tariffs, imposed a few years ago to keep cheap Chinese honey from squeezing USA bee keepers out of the honey market. The reason it's so cheap is that it usually has no honey in it! So how do they avoid the tariffs and keep that high markup intact?

Simply misdirecting the point of origin is one way. Sending it to Canada or Mexico, then changing the shipping labels there and sending the containers across the border is the essence of this shuffle.

Another way is to simply lie about the contents of 50 gallon drums, using fake labels of other items that match the funny honey prices. Since either method involves food brokers in the middle, retailers who purchase at good prices don't ask questions.

According to reporters investigating, they don't answer questions either.
This is probably not a Chinese conspiracy. The Chinese are having the same issues with funny honey on their grocery shelves.

Co-ops, farmers markets, and respected health food stores all had high marks from Food Safety News. Pollen showed up in all the products tested. So the worst honey you could get from them is adulterated, i.e. containing mostly real raw honey partially filtered with some additives. Again, your best bet is raw, unfiltered honey from a reliable source. It's worth the extra cost for its nutritional and healing properties.

Sources for this article includes:

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/...

http://www.grist.org/list/2011-11-0...

http://imkers.blogspot.com/2011/10/...

http://ecobites.com/eco-news-articl...

http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/pu...

Suzanne

My son raises bees and this year, he collected the BEST honey I've ever tasted! It is goldenrod honey, and is a very pale yellow, so light in color and so light in taste....I kept 80 lbs for this winter! He collected about 300 lbs. I wish he would have had 10 times that amount! There is nothing like it....

10 times that amount!? Hopefully not to eat yourself.

How many hives did he have for collecting 300lbs?

New Scientific Study Links Bee Deaths to Pesticides

by Tara Green

(NaturalNews) A new study by Purdue University scientists seems to confirm what environmentalists have long suspected -- that the massive bee die-offs known as Colony Collapse Disorder are linked to pesticides. Specifically, researchers are pointing to a category of pesticide marketed by the German chemical company Bayer.

Multiple methods of poisoning bees

The Purdue research indicates bee deaths are connected to neonicotinoid pesticides, which use a synthetic derivative of nicotine. These chemicals are applied as a coating to corn and soybean seeds prior to planting. They are then absorbed by the plant's vascular system and expressed through pollen and nectar. Farmers have planted millions of acres of farmland with neonic-treated seeds since 2003.

Bayer has defended its pesticide in the past against charges of contributing to bee die-offs. The company says that bees do not forage much on corn pollen and therefore only trace amounts of neonic-laced pollen will return to hives. The multinational chemical corporation claims the tiny doses of the pesticide bees come into contact with cannot have an impact on hive health. So far, the EPA has supported Bayer's claims.

The Purdue study, however, shows that Bayer's products are far more lethal to bees than the company wants regulatory agencies and farmers to believe. The researchers found that, contrary to Bayer's claim, "maize pollen was frequently collected by foraging honey bees while it was available: maize pollen comprised over 50% of the pollen collected by bees, by volume, in 10 of 20 samples."

The scientists also identified unsuspected methods by which bees are exposed to the pesticide. Mechanical seed planters blow off a powdery waste as they move through fields. This talc prevents the polymers used to bind the chemicals to the seeds from clogging up seed coating machine and the seed planters. But this exhaust is dangerous to bees. The talc can contain up to 700,000 times the bee's lethal dosage of neonicotinoid so that foraging bees coming into contact with it are killed. These initial population losses begin to weaken the hives.

As the talc exhaust settles on nearby plants and into the soil, there is a long-term danger to bees. Dandelions near treated crop fields can harbor the poison. Bees gather nectar and pollen from the yellow flowers will bring the neonicotinoids back to the hive. Although these small levels of the pesticide do not kill the bees, their immune systems become compromised, leaving hives vulnerable to other threats. Also, developing bees are affected by exposure to pesticides through stored pollen. The cascading effects of sub-lethal doses can potentially devastate an entire hive. Scientists found neonicotinoid pesticides in every sample of dead and dying bees as well as in pollen the bees collected and brought back to the hives.

Money before honey

US regulatory agencies follow a policy of relying on manufacturer data to determine the safety of a substance. Although a leaked document in 2010 revealed that EPA scientists found Bayer's research on its neonic pesticides to be suspect, the agency has not acted to stop the sale of these products.

Bayer has profited to the tune of over one billion dollars from its two neonic products imidacloprid and clothianidin. Given Bayer's deep pockets, it seems unlikely the feds will take action any time in the near future -- particularly in a presidential election year. This means Colony Collapse Disorder is likely to continue to devastate bee populations, leaving reverberating effects on the environment for generations to come.

After this type of insecticides were banned in France and Germany, bee populations began to rise again. If you want to join with other citizens in urging decisionmakers to ban bee-killing pesticides, you can sign a petition here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/?cl=914333688&v=8201

Sources:

http://motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/01/purdue-study-implicates-bayer-insecticide-bee-die-offs

http://news.discovery.com/earth/insecticide-bee-collapse-120111.html

http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2012/120111KrupkeBees.html

http://www.panna.org/blog/banner-week-bee-science-zombie-flies-poisonous-planter-exhaust

Suzanne

Super bug breakthrough -- manuka honey may reverse antibiotic resistance

by S. L. Baker, features writer

(NaturalNews) In less than a week, three different research studies have been released about antibiotic-resistant super bugs. Two were issued as nothing less than dire warnings. For example, as NaturalNews covered earlier, UK scientists are calling for the "urgent need for global action" due to the discovery of a spreading phenomenon -- a gene that is turning bacteria into not just super bugs but SUPER superbugs.

On the heels of that report, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has just sounded the alarm that an impending "health care disaster" is looming unless Big Pharma can find new drugs to combat deadly antibiotic-resistant super bugs.

Tired of all this bad news? Keep reading. Because amid all this gloom-and-doom about the threat of deadly super bugs comes yet another study from a third group of scientists that reaches a new and hopeful conclusion.

It turns out these researchers have found a way to battle life-threatening super bugs naturally with manuka honey. In fact, manuka honey could be an efficient way to clear chronically infected wounds and could even reverse super bug bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

Those are the results of a report just presented at the Society for General Microbiology's Spring Conference in Harrogate in the UK. Professor Rose Cooper from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff is investigating how manuka honey interacts with three types of bacteria that commonly infest wounds: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Group A Streptococci and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). She and her research team have discovered that honey can interfere with the growth of these bacteria in a multitude of ways. And that makes honey a strong option for the treatment of drug-resistant wound infections.

The idea that honey has antimicrobial properties is nothing new. In fact, traditional therapies containing honey were used in the topical treatment of wounds by numerous ancient civilizations. Professor Cooper is particularly interested in the super bug-fighting potential of manuka honey, which comes from nectar collected by honey bees foraging on the manuka tree in New Zealand.

Although manuka honey is found in modern wound-care products sold around the world, the anti-infection properties of the honey have not been used much by mainstream medicine. According to a press statement, Professor Cooper's group believes this is because the mechanisms of the honey's germ zapping action haven't been known. So they are working to document just how manuka honey halts wound-infecting bacteria, including super bugs, on a molecular level.

"Our findings with streptococci and pseudomonads suggest that manuka honey can hamper the attachment of bacteria to tissues which is an essential step in the initiation of acute infections. Inhibiting attachment also blocks the formation of biofilms, which can protect bacteria from antibiotics and allow them to cause persistent infections," explained Professor Cooper in a media statement.

"Other work in our lab has shown that honey can make MRSA more sensitive to antibiotics such as oxacillin -- effectively reversing antibiotic resistance. This indicates that existing antibiotics may be more effective against drug-resistant infections if used in combination with manuka honey."

The researchers believe their findings may increase the clinical use of manuka honey as doctors are faced with the threat of diminishingly effective systemic antibiotics now used to try and control wound infections. "We need innovative and effective ways of controlling wound infections that are unlikely to contribute to increased antimicrobial resistance," said Professor Cooper. "The use of a topical agent (manuka honey) to eradicate bacteria from wounds is potentially cheaper and may well improve antibiotic therapy in the future. This will help reduce the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from colonized wounds to susceptible patients."

For more information:
http://www.sgm.ac.uk/news/
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-04/idso-laf040711.php
http://www.naturalnews.com/032004_superbug_bacteria.html

Suzanne

Seven ways to use honey for whatever ails you

by J. D. Heyes

(NaturalNews) Lots of us may like to use a little honey as a sweetener for our morning coffee, toast or tea, but there are several uses for this tasty little treat - in its pure, raw, non-pasteurized form, it can do more than just bring a smile to our face.

Manuka honey as the new 'superfood.' What is Manuka honey, scientifically known as Leptospermum Scoparium?

Well, it is honey that is produced by bees that pollinate Manuka trees, which grow almost exclusively in the East Cape region of New Zealand. Because it's a bit of a rarity, it also tends to be pricier but according to Britain's Telegraph newspaper, a recent survey of people who bought it showed that 58 percent believed it to be better than ordinary honey - even if they didn't really know why.

This might be why. Manuka honey has a long reputation for offering a number of health benefits. For New Zealanders, local honey containing local pollen can help reduce the effects of hay fever, but for everyone else, Manuka honey has antiviral and antibacterial actions, which is why lots of people familiar with this superfood's qualities down it at the first hint of a cold or sore throat.

"According to doctors, Manuka honey's high sugar content creates a waterless environment in which the bacteria that are infecting a wound are unable to survive. Also, thanks to the presence of an enzyme called glucose oxidase, it is acidic, which apparently adds to its unique antibacterial properties," the Telegraph said.

"The therapeutic potential of uncontaminated, pure honey is grossly underutilized," says Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. "It is widely available in most communities and although the mechanism of action of several of its properties remains obscure and needs further investigation, the time has now come for conventional medicine to lift the blinds off this 'traditional remedy' and give it its due recognition."

Honey as a natural energy booster. Do you down an energy bar or drink during your hectic day? Try a spoonful of honey instead; it's been proven to deliver a significant boost of energy to athletes performing strenuous exercise.

"Numerous studies have singled out carbohydrates as a critical nutrient in endurance exercise," says Richard Kreider of the University of Memphis Exercise and Sport Nutrition Laboratory. "Most of the studies to date have shown supplementation with glucose to provide the extra staying power. We were pleased to find that honey, a 'cocktail' of various natural sugars, performed just as well."

Forget the fancy facial creams. Raw honey is exceptional for your face and skin, according to research. Try a "Gentle Honey Wash" consisting of a dollop of honey mixed with two tablespoons of warm water in the palm of your hand, then gently massage the mixture into your face or skin.

"Honey has long been valued in Asia for its natural medicinal properties. Combined with rice bran, honey is used there to treat diaper rash and even acne. Honey is also an excellent treatment for dry skin as it stimulates good circulation and helps to seal in moisture," says holistic skin care expert Ettia Tal.

You can even make your own honey moisturizer, says travel and food writer Anna Brones: "If you've got a handful of sweet smelling herbs -- think lavender -- laying around and ready to be used, why not use them for your own homemade honey lotion? Warm honey over a saucepan until it gets to a liquid consistency. Pour honey over herbs and cap tightly; the ratio you want to use is one tablespoon of herbs per eight ounces of honey. Let sit for a week and then mix one teaspoon of liquid into an eight ounce bottle of unscented lotion."

Having trouble sleeping? "A spoonful of honey before bed (by itself or in a cup of warm herbal tea) is a natural sleep remedy that can help you relax and fall asleep faster," writes Natural News' Elizabeth Walling.

Suppress that cough and throat irritation. Pure, non-pasteurized honey is an excellent elixir for common wintertime ailments like coughs, colds and sore throats.

"Honey helps with coughs, particularly buckwheat honey. In a study of 110 children, a single dose of buckwheat honey was just as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep," writes health enthusiast and researcher Diana Herrington.

Boost your immune system with this natural antibiotic. According to recent research, defensin-1, a protein added to honey by bees, possesses antibacterial properties and could be used against drug-resistant bacteria. This bee-produced protein "could one day be used to treat burns and skin infections and to develop new drugs that could combat antibiotic-resistant infections," says a summary of the research published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Balance the five elements "Honey has been used in ayurvedic medicine in India for at least 4000 years and is considered to affect all three of the body's primitive material imbalances positively," says Herrington. "It is also said to be useful useful in improving eyesight, weight loss, curing impotence and premature ejaculation, urinary tract disorders, bronchial asthma, diarrhea, and nausea."

Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

http://www.scientificamerican.com

http://innovativehealingtouch.com

http://www.naturalnews.com/035721_raw_honey_hair_first_aid.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-health-benefits-of-honey.html

http://www.healthcanal.com

Suzanne