Articles Promote Health Benefits of Honey

Honey Good for Your Health, Skin and Treats
By Jennifer Babulsky, Altoona Mirror (USA), 8/2/2006

Sweet and yellow accurately describes honey, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

Just talk to area beekeepers and experts on honey and they’ll say much more, from the potential health benefits of eating even small amounts of honey to the uses for the sticky substance some may have never considered.

“I’ve heard people being told local honey with pollen prevents allergy outbreaks,” Ted Kaminski of Hastings said. “Many people also use it as their main source of sugar as a sweetener because simple sugar is more able to be absorbed by the human body and it’s better digested.”…

He said local honey has benefits compared to mass-produced honey.

“I’ve been through where they process honey and they super heat the honey, which breaks down enzymes and takes out pollen,” he said. “It destroys most of the nutrients and when you buy (commercial) honey, you’re basically buying it as a sweetener.”

Kaminski and others advocate the benefits of local honey over mass-produced honey, but the National Honey Board, which is based in Longmont, Colo., said science doesn’t back up the claims.

“There has been very little conclusive research to show local honey is better,” Bruce Wolk, director of marketing for the board, said. “I wish I could say ‘Great, this is substantiated by scientific research,’ but I can’t. The results of studies (on local honey being beneficial with allergies) have (been) inconclusive, meaning it can help some people and not help others at all.”

That’s not to say people with allergies shouldn’t try honey.

“It’s only honey and provided you’re not a diabetic, it’s worth a try,” Wolk said. “It’s a lot safer to ingest honey than to down a lot of pills.”

Research is under way to try to substantiate the theory that when you have a common cold and take a teaspoon of honey, it’s as effective as over-the-counter medications.

“If we can prove that, I’d sure rather take a teaspoon of honey than a bunch of chemicals,” Wolk said…

-----

Busy Bees Hard at Work Making Life a Little Sweeter for Us
By Diane Stoneback, The Morning Call (USA), 8/2/2006

"Honey's role in health and nutrition keeps expanding, too," observes Dr. Robert Roeshman, an Allentown, Pa., neurologist who also is a master beekeeper and tends 20 hives as a hobby.

"Eating a teaspoon of honey a day can help ease allergies," Roeshman says. "Just make sure you buy a local honey (not processed honey) containing local pollens or buy some pollen from an area beekeeper." He explains, "Eating either will desensitize a person to local pollens."

Roeshman considers a bee sting to be good luck and adds, "Bee venom therapy is used to treat arthritis, multiple sclerosis and pain problems. Some honeys have healing properties. Manuka honey from New Zealand is used to treat peptic ulcer disease and burn patients' ulcers. Honey also helps control bacteria that causes peptic ulcer disease."…