Every type of honey begins as raw honey! This honey has not been tampered with in any way, no heating has taken place, no straining and no pasteurization methods have been used, it has not yet even been seen!
It remains packed tightly and securely in the engineering marvel known as the bee honeycomb. Surrounded, and covered with a protective covering of remarkable bees wax.
What is raw honey?
It has not yet been touched by the beekeeper; it is still sitting there in the raw waiting for you to dive in and taste! This is the real thing, pure bee hive honey!
It will still contain a few fragments of Propolis, bits of pollen and quite possibly a few dead bees who have gorged themselves to death and who can blame them!
Any beekeeper will tell you the excitement and anticipation they feel as they scrape the wax coating away from their honey frames! And everyone will tell you the first thing they do is to dip and run their finger into the golden liquid and place into their mouths just to taste it.
As with any type of raw food it is quite safe to assume there may be some botulism spores lurking around. However adult digestive systems have developed sufficiently to kill these off.
Babies and Honey together should be avoided for this reason alone, their digestive systems do not develop sufficiently until around the age of one year although this subject of giving them honey to eat has been a matter of some debate!
What Makes This Honey so Special?
It is classified as a superb form of natural nutrition beating table sugar and sugar substitutes into oblivion. They have no nutritional value whatsoever. What is Honey? and what makes this product so special?
Raw honey research has discovered very important enzymes. These consist of: Diastase, Invertase, Catalase, Glucose oxadaise, Acid phosphatase and Inulase.
These are the “magical ingredients” added to the nectar collected by honey bees. There is no other product on earth to beat it! I am now directing you to another website who has written in great detail about raw honey enzymes this offers a great deal of information and explains what each added enzyme is responsible for.
Along with these enzymes raw honey also contains B-complex vitamins, protein-building amino acids, and vitamins C, D, and E. plant pigments, proteins, and healthy acids like citric acid.
The simple and natural sugars it contains are glucose and fructose. All essential ingredients we need to keep our bodies fully functioning giving it a chance to heal naturally too.
Our honey bees pollinate most of our food and many people these days are choosing the benefits of a raw food diet.
Vegans do not eat honey but most vegetarians do. How do I know this for sure? I decided to ask a vegetarian in the form of an interview. Here is our interview: Do vegetarians eat honey?
And whether they do or they don’t, they are very much dependent on most forms of Honey bee plants which also provide most of their food.
Organic Raw Honey
This is slightly different, all honey is raw to begin with but Organic honey has usually been strained removing any “debris” however it will not have been overheated, this is what destroys its medicinal healing abilities.
A really good example would be Manuka honey which just about everyone has heard of. An incredible amount of research has been conducted into this remarkable product and this quite simply is the reason we know of its existence.
There are other types of organic honey such as Ulmo honey and Jarrah Honey both with incredible if not equal amounts of high antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. Both of these have been researched and tested with amazing results.
Many Organic honey producers will add “royal jelly” to their products believing this will get them the sale they are looking for.
Royal jelly is fed to the Queen bee her entire lifetime. Because she outlives all other bees there are some people who strongly believe they too can enjoy the benefits of royal jelly believing it will help them stay younger for longer. There may be something in that theory.
What Does Raw Honey Look Like?
Strange question you may think! Everyone appears to think of it as “golden and runny”, most of the time it is whilst it is still capped in its natural state. You may be quite taken aback to discover that once removed from the hive its “appearance can change”!
There are many types of honey ranging in color and texture from almost white to very dark brown, “even grey”.
Some of these are called “set honeys” because they have a crystallized and creamy looking texture. A fossilized type of honey was once discovered in a Chinese back street which was hard as a rock!
The general rule is the higher the fructose content the more runny it will appear. Acacia and Black Locust are prime examples of this.
However you prefer your raw honey there are a huge amount of Honey Varieties and Kinds of Honey is it any wonder we have such a choice which makes it so choose!
Raw Honey Health Benefits
Interestingly, researchers who carried out studies in Europe only a few years ago discovered that beekeepers in that chosen area were living very long healthy lives without ever having to see a doctor for any health or medical problems. That says an awful lot about its health benefits.
Even though there are many types of honey, people do tend to seek out local raw honey as both prevention and as a cure for their seasonal allergies such as hay fever and respiratory diseases.
Because there appears to be many of us who dread the lovely long summer months which can bring the streaming eyes and noses due to pollen spores in the air, it has been recommended we eat our own locally produced honey on a daily basis. By doing this we can actually desensitize ourselves from these irritations.
If you, you poor thing are one of these people who suffer with hay fever, it would benefit you greatly to buy some local honey if there is a supply near you. If you are lucky enough to have a local farmers market near you this would be an excellent source to seek it out. Honey for Allergies has been researched and scientifically proven.
An Oklahoma allergist once informed a meeting of 150 beekeepers that raw honey is an effective treatment for 90 per cent of all allergies. Dr. William G. Peterson, an allergist from Ada in the 1950s, said he now has well in excess of 22,000 patients across the nation who are using honey to relieve their allergy symptoms.
He and the many doctors at his clinic advise a daily teaspoon of honey. The honey treatment can continue even after the allergy is under control.
This can also be applied to surface skin wounds, including cuts and abrasions for super quick healing. Pretty impressive don’t you think!
A famous physician by the name of Dr. Schacht, of Wiesbaden, has cured many gastric and intestinal ulcers with honey without the use of surgery. He has the courage and conviction to praise the health benefits of raw honey.
Beekeepers and their close friends and family have always known that honey will cure these conditions which can be quite dangerous even leading to cancer in some cases. However, there is still wariness amongst some in the medical profession.
Many physicians, who are aware of raw honey benefits, are afraid to make such suggestions for fear of being laughed at by their colleagues and scientifically inclined patients.
One such company do have the courage of their beliefs and convictions having invented a “Super Raw Honey” with the brand name of Medihoney it has shown to be very useful in combating some of the symptoms derived from some cancers.
Who First Discovered and Used Raw Honey?
This as far as we know can be attributed to Preadamatic man who were probably very curious at this food source and this is no doubt where our friendship was first bonded with the little honey bees.
The Ancient Egyptians were very partial to raw honey quickly recognizing its benefits. It has been discovered in ancient Egyptian tombs, buried there for thousands of years and is still edible, it just never goes off.
I wonder if it still tastes nice…….now that is really raw honey! The ancients would also embalm the bodies of their loved ones and bury it with their deceased for use in the afterlife.
Whoever first tasted it must have been in honey heaven! Unfortunately we will never know their name but they were quick to realize that fresh raw honey would be an important part of their lives.
Should I refrigerate Raw Honey?
Only if you want to, there is no need at all to do this honey shelf life is extensive, just keep it in the cupboard, but never, ever heat your honey with a high temperature.
This will ruin an amazing product which will help you achieve peak health, something we all hope to achieve.
