Honey Honey Honey

Honey is a natural sweet substance produced by bees from the nectar of blossoms or from the secretions of living parts of plants. Besides that, honey can also be produced from excretions which bees collect, transform and combine with specific substances of their own, store and leave in the honey comb to ripen and mature. This reminds me of my favourite cartoon "Winnie The Pooh"...lol...Pooh who is fond of honey decided to try and get honey from the bee's hive in the nearby honey tree when he discovered that his jar of honey is almost empty.




Chemical composition of the honey shows differences depending on many factors. The most important of these factors is the natural combination of the nectar and secretion. Water content in honeys is important only for determining the quality and fermentation so the it should be less than 20%. Besides, temperature and humidity where honey is stored can cause in the moisture content of honey.


CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF HONEY
Carbohydrates
Basic composition of honey is carbohydrate-about 82%. Fructose and sucrose are most commonly found. There are also some oligosaccharides present, formed from incomplete breakdown of the higher saccharides present in nectar.




Proteins and Amino Acids
Honey is rich regarding the enzymes. Honey enzymes are indicator that represent the quality of the honey. For example, invertase converts sucrose to glucose and fructose; amylase breaks down starch into smaller units; glucose oxidase which converts glucose to gluconolactone. Honey also contains eighteen free amino acids, of which the most abundant is proline.



Vitamins, Minerals and Antioxidants
Honey contains trace amounts of the B vitamins riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, pantothenic acid and vitamin B6. It also contains ascorbic acid, and the minerals calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, phosporous, magnesium, selenium, chromium and manganese. The main group of antioxidants in honey are the flavonoids. In general, the darker the honey, the greater the antioxidising properties.



Other Compounds
Honey contains organic acids such as acetic, butanoic, formic, citric, succinic, lactic, malic, pyroglutamic and gluconic acids, and an amount of aromatic acids. The main acid present is gluconic acid which is formed in the breakdown of glucose by glucose oxidase.
HEALING PROPERTIES OF HONEY
Honey especially mixed with cinnamon, can cure a multitude of ailments. Scientists today believe honey can be used without any side affects for a number of disease since honey is a natural sweet substance. Although it is sweet, it won't harm diabetic patients if taken in the right dosage as a medicine. Many uses of honey mixed with cinnamon cure ailments from heart disease, acne and hair loss.

Arthritis is one of the disease that can be cure with honey. It is believed that patients who suffer from arthritis can take one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and a teaspoon of cinnamon once in the morning and again in the evening.Cholestrol is said to be treatable with honey. As with arthritis, it is said that pure honey taken everyday will reduce cholestrol level. It is helpful towards preventing heart attack too.

Pay attention,everyone!!Honey can also help baldness and hair loss. Besides, colds can be treated with honey. It is said to cure most chronic coughs and clear the sinuses. As for weight loss, we can drink a cup of boiled hot water with honey and cinnamon twice daily, once at night, and once in the morning half an hour before breakfast. It's been said that even the most obese patient can lose weight and drinking this mixture doesn't allow the fat to accumulate in the body

Apart from that, honey is a great product for skin care..Honey is very good for our skin due to its properties. We can use honey for face mask as it treats your skin very well. It is very good to remove wrinkles from face and works as an anti-aging remedy. Honey is able to maintain moisture which helps your skin remain soft and supple. The hydration quality of the honey proves to maintain the skins elasticity, smoothness and softness. The presence of antioxidants in honey will protect us from UV rays.

Honey is a fascinating food. It plays an important role in our daily life. Hence, we must start taking honey in a right dosage everyday to keep us young and healthy always.^^


yummy yummy~~let's start our day with honey french toast as our nutritious breakfast!!...




References:
1. http://www.articlesnatch.com/tag/healing+properties+of+honey
2. http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Amazing-Healing-Properties-of-Honey
3.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey
4.http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/11/221/1838.pdf
5. http://jchemed.chem.wisc.edu/HS/Journal/Issues/2007/OctACS/ACSSub/p1643.pdf