These Top Health Benefits Of Honey May Surprise You

The use of honey dates back to ancient times. Honey is both a food and a natural medicine. Honey contains many nutrients that offer different potent health benefits.

health benefits of honey

Honey can be used as a healthy natural and sweetener.

Lets get into the top health benefits of honey.

1. Honey And Nutrients

There's a reason honey bees are able to live off of honey. The bees derive honey from the nectar of flowers which gives each honey in different regions nutrients from that areas plants. honey-benefits1

Honey is actually made when the honey bees eat, digest, and then regurgitate over and over again the plants nectar they collected. The end result is nutrient rich honey. Honey is a perfect food source for the bees as it can be stored for the rest of time and never go bad.

There has actually been honey discovered in the tombs of pharaohs that is still good to eat to this day.

2. Honey and Antioxidants

Although honey has many different minerals and vitamins they are small amounts. Honey does contain however many potent antioxidants and bio-active plant compounds. The darker the honey, the higher the antioxidant rich content. honey-benefits2

Antioxidants provide protection for the cells in the body from the damaging free radicals that present themselves everyday from the environment, stress, and diet. Too much damage from free radicals can cause certain diseases like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature aging. honey-benefits2

A specific type of honey from buckwheat has been shown to raise the amount of antioxidants in your blood. honey-benefits3

Quality honey contains beneficial antioxidants such as flavonoids and organic acids. honey-benefits3

These antioxidants work together to provide the health benefits that honey offers. honey-benefits4

3. Honey And Hypertension

Honey may be able to help lower blood pressure because of the antioxidants present. There are some antioxidants within honey that have been linked to decreased blood pressure. honey-benefits5

Some studies found that the consumption of honey did have a small lowering effect on blood pressure. honey-benefits6

4. Honey And Cholesterol

Honey consumption has been shown to lower the LDL (bad) cholesterol while at the same time raising the HDL (good) cholesterol. honey-benefits7, honey-benefits8

This is important because cholesterol plays a major role in cardiovascular health and too much LDL cholesterol can lead to cardiovascular disease.

When honey was compared to sugar, honey had the benefits of reducing LDL cholesterol by almost 6% while increasing the HDL cholesterol by just over 3%. honey-benefits9

5. Honey And Triglycerides

Having high blood triglycerides is a major risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. Those who consume high sugar and refined carb diets tend to have higher levels of blood triglycerides.

Honey on the other hand seemed to reduce the levels of triglycerides in the blood when consumed and even more so when regular sugar in the diet was replaced with honey instead. honey-benefits10

One study discovered that the group that ate honey had up to a 19% decrease in triglyceride levels versus the sugar group which did not have a reduction at all. honey-benefits11

Conclusion

Overall raw honey seems to be a great addition to a healthy diet. This is even more true when replacing the sugar in your diet with honey. Honey contains many beneficial compounds and has a high antioxidant content which will help you age better and decrease many different disease risks.

Try honeys from different regions as their flavor will vary depending on which pant nectar's were used by the bees. The darker the honey, the higher the antioxidant and nutrient content!