Honey - More Than a Good Sugar
More than a good sugar, honey is highly regarded in ancient times. But it is not appreciated enough today. Perhaps, with more and cheaper means of sweetening food made available via technological advancement, people feel that they have more sugar alternatives and do not see the need to spend on a more expensive sugar. Honey, as these people have insisted, is just sugar, and sugar, regardless of its source and state, is sugar.
There are visitors of Benefits of Honey, who were apparently disturbed by what they read in our site have left their strong views on our pages, demanding for the qualifications and credentials of the author and empirical evidence in support of our claims to the colossal measure of benefits honey. (By the way, usually these visitors' names are accompanied by a long string of sophisticated sounding credentials.) Little do they realize that before pointing honey as empty calories, fancy sugar, claiming its value as ridiculous hoopla., and calling what they read as "bullshit" and "rubbish", perhaps they could first study at least a fraction of the hundreds of pages published in the site. It's still baffling how some people would go about demanding for scientific reports on honey as a more superior sugar and yet not question a word about the goodness of processed sugars and even artificial sugars they willingly consume every day. I wonder what goes into the food as sweetener for these people and the food they eat every day.
If you do eat some form of sweeteners, give honey a chance, give it a shot, don't be too quick to dismiss it; this golden liquid is too special to be classified as just sugar. Honey is not an indulgence but a smarter choice of sweetening, and more than a food or a good sugar, it is a medicine for many ailments, cuts, burns, etc.
To those critics who are not impressed by the fact that honey treats wounds because you believe that all saturated sugars inhibit bacteria growth and honey is not special, how about those studies that have proven that honey heals wounds faster than brown sugar? ~ Rural Science vol.42 no.12 pp. 2219-2224. Why not take some time and delve into the scientific evidence of the anti-inflammatory actions and protective antioxidant effects of honey against cardiovascular diseases ~ Current Medicinal Chemistry and how eating honey daily can treat stomach ulcer.~ US National Library of Medicine. And what about all the studies that showed that consuming honey (as compared to refined sugar or HFCS) leads directly to the formation of liver glycogen, thus stabilizing blood sugar levels, reduces metabolic stress and improves fat metabolism and disposal, and thus combating two of the key parameters of the metabolic syndrome, Type 2 Diabetes and obesity." Dr Ron Fessenden, The Honey Revolution. Today, such empirical research findings pointing to the benefits of honey are increasing by the year. I particularly love how Mike McInnes, a pharmacist, sports nutritionist, exercise physiologist, author of The Hibernation Diet, described honey as more than a good sugar.
McInnes pointed out that repeated metabolic stress resulting from the excessive production of stress hormones when there are less than optimal liver glycogen stores during sleep, overtime leads to impaired glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, diabetes and increased risk for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, obesity, osteoporosis, some forms of cancer, and several neuro-degenerative conditions. All these conditions are associated with increased oxidative stress. According to his research "The Role of Honey in Restorative Sleep", honey ensures adequate glycogen stores in the liver and plays a significant role in reducing oxidative stress via its antioxidants, minerals and other bioactive principles.
If you feel that none of the research findings hold any meaning to you, then how about paying heed to these voices that are saying there is something special about honey? Isn't the most powerful evidence from real people who have experienced the goodness of honey themselves? Read pages of testimonies: In What Ways Have You Experienced the Benefits of Honey?
Other Related Articles:
1) How honey can fuel your liver when you sleep at night: Honey Diet for Hibernation.
2) Honey is more than just good sugar and calories... Full account in: Honey Isn't Just Sugar!
3) Honey does not cure cancer but it is anti-cancer!
4) Surprising findings about honey from the Honey Revolution by Dr Ron Fessenden: Health and Nutrition: 5 Jolting Findings
End of "Honey - More Than a Good Sugar". Back to "Honey Isn't Just Sugar!".