Hands up if you love honey! We do, obviously, but we don’t just love it for the taste - there are so many more reasons to eat honey.
Here’s ten health benefits of honey that’ll make you reach for your nearest pot...
1. Antioxidant Prowess and Immune Boosting Abilities
Our favourite sweet stuff is rich in antioxidants, in particular antioxidants called flavonoids. Antioxidants help to ‘mop up’ free radicals. Free radicals are nasty molecules that can cause damage to our cells which can lead to disease.
Free radicals are produced as a by-product of normal functions such as breathing and digestion. But they also enter the body via pollution, smoking and eating fried and processed foods.
Regularly eating honey such as ours can help to boost the immune system, helping to defend against disease.
2. Antibacterial Properties
Honey contains agents that can kill common harmful bacteria such as E. coli and Staphylococcus. This is due to the naturally occurring hydrogen peroxide within honey. Hydrogen peroxide helps to inhibit the growth of bacteria and reduce the risk of infections taking hold.
Not all honey is created equally. Our honey is regularly tested and measured for its Total Activity, or TA. TA denotes the antimicrobial potency of honey, the higher the rating, the greater and more powerful the healing properties.
This means that you’re always guaranteed to receive the most potently antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and healing honey with true super honey status. We truly believe that our honey is the best honey on the planet!
3. The Heart Health Benefits of Honey Are Plentiful
The antioxidants in honey have been linked to lower blood pressure, lower ‘bad’ cholesterol and higher ‘good’ cholesterol. And all are great for the heart!
4. Honey Helps Wounds to Heal
As is so often the case, turning to nature provides medical solutions that were right under our noses. Another health benefit of honey is its ability to help heal wounds and burns. In fact, our ancient ancestors started using honey to treat skin problems centuries ago.
Hospitals regularly use honey based dressings for treating diabetic ulcers and surgical wounds. It’s all down to the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of honey. Plus its ability to draw excess fluid from wounds and provide a barrier to infection.
5. It’s an Effective Cough Suppressant
Honey is excellent at healing sore throats and coughs. It’s so good, that the NHS now recommend it as the only natural selfcare intervention for coughs and colds!
6. Boosts Endurance
Ditch the sports drinks. Save plastic bottles and make up a honey and water drink to take with you on your next run. It’ll help power your workouts in just the same way!
7. Could Another Health Benefit of Honey be Brain Power?
A type of antioxidant called pinocembrin is naturally present in honey. Researchers have found that pinocembrin has a protective effect on the brain. Researchers are posing pinocembrin as a potential medicinal drug of the future.
8. Or Anti-Ageing?
The antioxidants in honey help to support active skin cell renewal. Newer skin cells are fresher and more plump than old, tired skin cells making the skin appear more refreshed and youthful.
The production of collagen and elastin is also stimulated by honey antioxidants. These are proteins that form the framework that our skin sits on. The more of these proteins, the smoother the skin with fewer visible wrinkles and fine lines.
9. Gut Health Benefits of Honey
Honey has shown remarkable anti-diarrhoea potential. Researchers say that honey can help to kill stomach bugs and reduce the length of time someone might be ill with a stomach big for.
The benefits of high TA honey such as ours on gut health is a really exciting area of research at the moment. Studies are proving the ability of high TA honey to help support a healthy gut microbiome - the billions of bacteria, fungi and viruses that keep the gut healthy. A healthy microbiome is linked with a wide range of other health benefits such as good mental health and a strong immune system.
Medicinal honey is said to act as a ‘prebiotic’ that helps to feed the probiotic gut bacteria and help them thrive.
10. It Tastes Amazing
And that, in our book, is the health benefit of honey we love the most!