Honey has been used since ancient times both as food and medicine. The Egyptians used it to promote fertility while the Greeks regarded it as the food of the gods and ate it to acquire strength and prolong life. It was also used as an antibacterial salve for treating boils and wounds by doctors right up to World War 2 and is still valued today for its antibacterial and healing properties.
“Honey has antibacterial effects on a number of food poisoning organisms, such as salmonella and staphylococcus aureus,” says nutritional therapist Martina Watts. “And in hospitals certain varieties have shown great promise in treating wounds infected with drug-resistant bacteria including MRSA,” she adds.
Manuka honey from New Zealand has been subject to most scientific scrutiny in this area. Research carried out by Professor Peter Molan, director of the honey research centre at Waikato University, New Zealand, shows that as well as containing hydrogen peroxide produced by an enzyme called glucose oxidase, which bees add to the nectar, Manuka has other special components not found in other honeys. It is these according to Molan that make it such a powerful weapon in the fight against infection.
Honey
Eating locally-produced honey may help to reduce hay fever symptoms and it’s also a popular remedy for soothing sore throats and chesty coughs when mixed with hot water ginger and lemon.
But what are its nutritional benefits? “Honey provides glucose and fructose, both types of sugar, in a pre-digested form and is sweeter and more rapidly assimilated than refined (table) sugar,” says Watts. “But although it does contain traces of amino acids, enzymes, minerals and B complex vitamins and vitamins C, D and E in its natural form, 50 per cent of these are lost in commercially processed, heat-treated and strained honeys,” she adds.
So although honey is probably a slightly healthier option than refined sugar because it can provide some useful nutrients it is still a highly concentrated source of sweetness and used by your body in much the same way as sugar. For this reason you would probably be wise to steer clear of eating too much, especially if you suffer from blood sugar fluctuations or are trying to stick to a low GI diet.
Heather Caswell, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, also points out that it is high in calories. “It is fine to consume honey in small amounts, however too much may lead to a positive energy balance, resulting in weight gain.”
Perhaps as nutritionist Liz Tucker says, “Honey should not be seen as a super cure. It is a source of energy but it is sugar and should be eaten more as an indulgent treat rather than a substitute for more nutritionally rich foods such as fruit and veg.”
A new generation of pesticides could be to blame for Britain’s vanishing honeybees, a study has shown.
The chemicals, which are routinely used on farms and garden centres, attack the central systems of insects and make bee colonies more vulnerable to disease and pests, researchers say.
The claims, which appear in an unpublished study carried out at the US Department of Agriculture’s Bee Research Laboratory, add to the evidence that pesticides are partly responsible for the mysterious decline of one of the world’s best loved insects.
Wildlife campaigners today called for urgent research into the links between the chemicals and the collapse of bee colonies around the world.
Scientists are baffled by Britain’s disappearing honeybees. Since the 1980s numbers have fallen by half.
The new study, led by Dr Jeffrey Pettis, one of the U.S.’s top bee experts, found that exposure to a class of pesticides called neo-nicotinoids makes bees more susceptible to infection – even at doses too low to be detected in the creature’s bodies.
Neo-nicotinoids, which were introduced in the 1990s, are applied to seeds and are found in low levels throughout a growing plant – including in its pollen and nectar.
They were introduced to replace controversial organo phosphates because they appeared to be harmless to mammals and people and are used on oil seed rape, wheat, sugar bed and garden centre plants.
The U.S. research has yet to be published, but is discussed in a new documentary film The Strange Disappearance of The Bees.
Insect charity Buglife today said previous studies in France had found a link between pesticides and vanishing bees.
Director Matt Shardlow said: ‘This American study shows that even at levels where you can no longer detect the substance in bees, it is still having an impact on their health.
‘People have been wondering what is the cause of the decline of bees and moths and bumblebees in Britain. And the research is further evidence that pesticides are a potential cause.’
The Co-op is so concerned about neo-nicotinoids it has banned them on its UK farms.
Bayer – the German chemical giant that makes many of the neo-nicotinoids used in Europe – insisted its products did not harm bees.
A spokesman said it was difficult to comment on unpublished studies and that it was impossible to look at the methods used by the researchers.
‘I’m sure there are some very interesting effects Dr Pettis has seen in a laboratory, but in reality, when you get to what’s important to everybody which is what happens in the field, you don’t see these things happening,’ he said.
‘Bees are very ,very important insects to BayerCropScience and we recognise their importance.’
Honey bees are essential for British farmers and are thought to contribute around £200million to the economy by pollinating crops on farms, allotments and in gardens.
Two thousand years ago, Greek athletes stuffed themselves with honey during training for the great Olympiad, aware that it could boost their energy and performance levels, writes Gloria Havenhand.
Honey contains glucose and fructose, which produce tremendous reserves of glycogen in the liver.
The all-important consideration in any feat of endurance is to maintain blood-sugar levels because those with the best stores of glycogen and blood sugar will always emerge from such tests of endurance and races against time as the least exhausted and last to be fatigued.
A teaspoon of honey has 22 calories, whereas the same amount of sugar has 15. But honey is much more valuable and refuels the brain within minutes because it is almost equal parts glucose and fructose.
Having a spoonful of unprocessed honey before bed can support your brain function.
The fructose is stored as energy reserves in the liver, ready to fuel the brain overnight.
Brain activity does not stop when you sleep – it is a constant and so requires a continuous energy charge. Honey provides this so you wake feeling refreshed.
Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, is said to have eaten honey daily and used it to treat sores and syphilis. Indeed, honey boosts the immune system and has an antibacterial effect internally and externally, helping the body to heal.
Research in 2007 by Dr Shone Blair at Sydney University concluded that honey dressings for superbug wound infections should be used as a ‘first choice’.
It is also good for treating cold sores, periodontal disease, infected leg ulcers, psoriasis, eczema and aching arthritic joints.
Honey can be used to treat symptoms of low immunity – such as fatigue, repeated infections, allergies and colds.
It contains an array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and bioflavonoids which keep the immune system functioning well. A couple of tablespoons of honey daily can also encourage a good night’s sleep, which aids the immune system.
It also has a gentle laxative effect, especially appropriate for constipation associated with ageing and the digestive bloating caused by a diet rich in processed foods and low in fresh fruit and vegetables.
Honey supports friendly gut bacteria, aiding digestion, and is good for those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and thrush. Take two teaspoons three times a day for gastric ulcers.
Honey is a diuretic and removes excess water from tissues and joints. This can bring relief if you suffer from inflammation in any part of the body. Eat it for breakfast with a dash of cinnamon and stiff knees and sickly muscles may become less of a problem.
Colds are caused by viruses and honey is a natural antiviral. In a Pennsylvania State College of Medicine study, a spoonful of honey outperformed over-thecounter cold remedies.