Raw Honey

Raw honey has many health-promoting qualities. It contains natural antioxidants, enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Raw unprocessed honey contains calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, copper, chromium, manganese and selenium. The trace mineral selenium is necessary for the proper support of immune system health. Raw honey consumed at night provides nutrients to facilitate the conversion of serotonin into melatonin (the sleep hormone). Nutraceuticals found in honey assist in neutralizing the free radical activity and are vitally important for overall function of your immune system.

Glucose is considered the favorite food of a cancer cell. Raw honey is 38% dehydrated fructose and 31% dehydrated glucose as separate, non-linked compounds. Natural sucrose, maltose and water make up the rest of the 31%. Raw organic honey usually has a glycemic value below 50 while refined white sugar is 100.

Raw honey as a whole food, does not act like regular “sugar” in the body. In fact, not only does honey not appear to act as a “fuel” for aerobic glycolysis (the preferred metabolic mode of cancer cells), but instead seems to have potential as an anti-cancer agent. As with most whole food sweeteners, honey is much more than its sugar content. There is research that concludes consuming raw honey lowers plasma glucose, homocysteine and lipid levels (J Med Food 2004 Spring;7). And there is research that shows people with lowered plasma glucose levels develop less cancer and survive longer. (Cancer Watch, 2010)

A December 2004 BBC News article, “Honey’ could help fight cancer,'” reported: “A team from the University of Zagreb, in Croatia, found a range of honey-bee products stopped tumors growing or spreading in tests on mice.” The phenolic contents of honey have been reported to have anti-leukemic activity against different types of leukemic cell lines. Its anticancer activity has been proved against various cancer cell lines and tissues, such as breasts, colorectal, renal, prostate, endometrial, cervical and oral cancer.

A number of websites talk of there being little difference between white sugar consumption, and honey consumption and that the latter is not ´healthier´. The evidence would say that this view is clearly simplistic and inaccurate.

MANUKA HONEY

Manuka honey is produced in New Zealand and also goes by the name of jelly bush honey. Manuka honey is created by bees foraging on the nectar of Leptospermum Scoparium, the New Zealand manuka bush, as well as tea trees native only to Australia and New Zealand.

Findings published in the European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (June 2009 edition), reported that manuka honey killed every bacteria or pathogen it was tested on. The most exciting difference with the manuka honey that was tested is that none of the superbugs killed by the honey were able to build up immunity, a common problem with today’s antibiotics. Manuka honey has been shown to kill MRSA and other superbugs.

According to Dr. Dee Carter of the University of Sydney’s School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, manuka honey contains a compound called methyglyoxal, which combines with other unknown compounds to cause “multi-system failure” that destroys the bacteria.