Did you know that when honey is stored in tight containers it never spoils? According to Smithsonian Magazine, sealed honey was found in Egyptian tombs still edible after 2000 years beneath the sand. Also, honey is the only food that includes all the substances necessary to sustain life including enzymes, vitamins, minerals and water. For thousands of years honey has been lauded for its taste and medicinal properties, but in these modern times all honey is not what it may appear to be. Over-processing of honey is common, and it is not a good practice, as it robs the natural sweetener of many of the key things that make it such a wonderful product.
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Raw Honey Vs. Pasteurized
Honey is a truly remarkable substance, made even more extraordinary by the process with which it is made. This blend of sugar, trace enzymes, minerals, vitamins, and amino acids is unlike any other sweetener. But it is best to choose raw, unfiltered honey, instead of processed, pasteurized honey.
Processing is where honey is pasteurized, heated, sometimes watered down and filtered to remove pollen.
Raw honey hasn't been heated, processed or pasteurized at all. Raw honey has many natural vitamins, antioxidants and other essential natural nutrients. These nutrients are destroyed when honey is heated during the pasteurization process, rendering processed honey just about the same as unhealthy refined sugar.
Oddly, it is the beautiful, flowing, syrupy, golden brown-hued honey that is the most likely to be over processed. While the cloudy, sometimes opaque, milky appearance of unprocessed honey is the better option.
Raw Honey Benefits
Raw honey has these benefits:
- Anti viral
- Anti-fungal
- Anti-bacterial
- Anti-carcinogenic
- Cough suppressing
- Stabilizes blood sugar
- Rich in beneficial enzymes/vitamins
- Superior aroma and flavor
- Wound healing properties
- Decreased LDL cholesterol
- Contains anti-inflamatories
- Contains bee pollen
- Stabilizes blood pressure
- Boosts immunity
- Promotes digestive health
- Reduces ulcers and GI disorders
- Helps prevent heart disease
Processed honey has few of these benefits, and may also contain high fructose corn syrup, as well as antibiotics, while also possibly increasing LDL cholesterol.
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Quality
The main factors that damage honey and destroy the benefits are heating and storage. Heating honey leads to drastic changes in its chemical composition. As a result, heating to high temperatures reduces the benefits of honey. Raw and organic honey allows for no heating at all.
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Storage is also a major factor in honey quality and when stored for a long period of time it loses many of its properties, and may also ferment if the water content is too high. It also becomes darker in color.
Despite the contrasts between raw unprocessed honey and processed honey, the latter still dominates supermarket shelves. But studies have revealed that up to 75 percent of the honey on supermarket shelves may be ultra-processed - to the point that all the inherit medicinal properties are gone.
A safer bet is to get your honey from farmers markets, co-ops, and natural food stores. Choose honey that is raw and unfiltered.
