CyprusLiving

A lot of people are aware of the benefits of honey - but do you buy yours from the supermarket? Read this informative article, then make your own decision.

Unlike refined sugar, honey is full of amazing health properties-- just as one might expect from something made by bees straight from plants. Honey is revered for being both antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory; as a result, it's an amazing treatment for wounds. It also contains flavonoids, which are the antioxidants that help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, and ironically enough, it can help regulate blood sugar because of its balance of glucose and fructose. Honey also can boost your immune system because of its vast wealth of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Lastly, if you have annual allergies, consuming local honey can help clear up your symptoms.

But buyer beware! We all want to take part in the natural benefits of this amazing wonder, but not all honey available on the market is who it says it is. In a study conducted by Food Safety News in 2011, it was discovered that more than three quarters of the honey sold in grocery stores was not real honey. Instead, the pollen had been filtered out; without the pollen, these products would fail most worldwide quality standards, and the FDA has stated that an ultra-filtered product without pollen isn't considered honey. What's more, this filtering process heats the honey to high temperatures, killing the enzymes that make it so good for you. Here are some of the findings of the study:

• 76 percent of samples bought at groceries had all the pollen removed
• Every one of the samples bought at farmers markets, co-ops and “natural” stores had the full, anticipated, amount of pollen
• Out of seven samples labeled "organic", five (71 percent) were heavy with pollen

The bottom line? If you want to benefit from all of the amazing medicinal properties of honey, make sure that you are buying pure, raw honey. The best way to do so, I've found, is to get local honey, and if not, either "raw" or "organic" bottles.

Teresa

In a previous life I worked for a UK on-line & freephone health, care & local community information service. This was funded by two local authorities & the local health board & we had to be extremely careful about the authenticity of our information.

Nowadays you can find information on the internet about anything & everything but always look at several websites on the same subject to help you separate the wheat from the chaff, check when the article was written & then decide for yourself what to believe!

However, whether it’s honey, fruit, or vegetables, local produce is usually the better buy.

Here’s the website for the American National Honey Board http://www.honey.com/honey-at-home/hone ... formation/

With just a quick Google I found many references to the 2011 article but also:

"In the last several months various stories have resulted in misunderstanding and confusion about honey and honey filtration, leading some readers to believe that any honey without pollen is not real honey. This is not true. Honey without pollen is still honey nutritionally and in flavor, and that is why the U.S. Department of Agriculture identifies it as such. This misunderstanding has also led to several class action lawsuits regarding purchases of honey without pollen."

"By removing the pollen, you also remove clues needed to verify where the honey was produced and what nectar sources are dominant. This means that with no traces of pollen, honey sellers can take cheap honey and claim it's a type that sells for a premium price."

"It's important to avoid confusing bee pollen with natural honey, honeycomb, bee venom, or royal jelly. These products do not contain bee pollen."

"The Sunday Times yesterday (Aug 2013) reported that research by the main honey producers’ organisation in New Zealand revealed that only 1700 tons of manuka are produced a year. Yet 1800 tons of honey labelled manuka are sold in the UK alone and some 10,000 tons worldwide."

I usually get given it by my Cypriot family who have bees at Evretou or buy from the place in Chlorakas by Jim Peck's who have their own hives nearby - €8 per kilo! Absolutely love it!