Honey is a natural, sweet, sticky substance produced by honeybees from the nectar of flowers. These honeybees collect a sugary liquid secreted by plants, ‘nectar,’ and turn it through a process of regurgitation and evaporation inside their hives, thereby producing honey, which they store in honeycombs for the rainy days.
The benefits of honey vary as it can be used as a natural energy booster due to its simple sugars, which is great for athletes, for skincare, in food, and for many other uses to derive its benefits.
Honey is used as a source of medicine in dressing wounds or soothing sore throats due to its antimicrobial properties, and thanks to compounds like hydrogen peroxide and low water content, it’s hard for bacteria and fungi to grow.
Studies also indicate that the antioxidants in honey can help reduce inflammation and even reduce the risk of heart disease. Although it’s not to be used to cure all diseases, more research about what it can be used for is still in progress.
Honey is a preferred choice of sweetener than refined sugar because of its nutritional properties.
Many people use honey in various ways. For example, in food, e.g., as a sweetener in tea, a glaze for meat, in yogurt, in snacks, etc. For medicinal purposes, e.g., it can be applied on injuries to help wounds heal faster and protect the wounds from infection, applied on burns to soothe the flaming feeling and aid in healing, help treat ulcers, and when mixed with ginger and lime, it can be used as a syrup for cough, a spoonful inside warm water with lemon for cold, and some say it can be used to attend to allergic attacks. In cosmetics, e.g., as a face mask and other skincare procedures to aid smooth and clear skin, it’s applied as hair conditioner. It also aids in weight loss.
While learning of the benefits of this power ingredient, we should be aware that there’s real and fake honey out there. Even if the fake honey might in some ways work for whatever you use it for, it wouldn’t be as effective as using the real one.
You should know that spotting the fake from the real can be tricky.
In order for you to identify which is fake and which is real, there are little things you can take note of, like:
- Pure honey doesn’t spoil because it’s a natural preservative, so if it’s fermenting, it’s probably the fake one you have.
- Testing the honey to see which is real, like;
i) Dropping them inside water: Take note that real honey doesn’t dissolve inside water as quickly as the fake one does.
ii) Ant test: You’ll take note that real honey doesn’t attract ants because of its antifungal properties, while the fake one will because of the sugar and artificial sweeteners inside it.
iii) The thumb test: When you put honey on your thumb, you’ll realize that the real one stays and wouldn’t run like the fake one will.
iv) The flame test: When you dip a cotton wick in honey and light it, for the real honey, you’ll take note that it burns due to its low water content, while the fake one won’t burn because it contains water.
Other ways to get the real honey are to buy from a beekeeper or a supplier who supplies real, original honey.
Written by: Bethel-Gold
