Honey May Improve Insulin Sensitivity

United Press International, 1/8/2008

SACRAMENTO, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Findings at the International Symposium on Honey and Human Health in Sacramento, Calif., suggest honey may help against diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

David Baer a research physiologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed how insulin resistance, a sign that glucose metabolism is breaking down, is not only related to diabetes, but also to obesity, cardiovascular disease, stroke and hypertension.

"Controlling blood sugar is critically important for diabetics and maintaining good insulin sensitivity reduces the risk for diabetes in at-risk people," Baer said in a statement.

"Experimental evidence suggests that consumption of honey compared to some other sweeteners may improve blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity."…

Apitherapy Workshop in Chile January 14-18

On January 14-18, 2008, Moises Asis, author of "Apiterapia 101 Para Todos,” will lecture on Apitherapy in a theoretical/practical seminar at the Universidad Catolica de Temuco, Chile.

E-Mail: moisesasis@comcast.net

Rate of Leg Ulcer Healing Similar for Honey, Usual Care

Honey Dressings "Do Not Significantly Improve Healing"
Nursing Practice, 1/9/2008

Treating leg ulcers with honey-impregnated dressings does not seem to speed up the healing process in comparison with usual care, a study shows.

Venous leg ulcers have been treated with compression bandages for years but recently there has been renewed interest in honey as a potential healing agent…

China's Royal Jelly Products Export Value Increases in First Eleven Months

China Industry Daily News, 1/7/2008

China exported 698,198kg of fresh royal jelly in the first eleven months of 2007, down by 0.38% year-on-year, and valued at US$ 12,150,966, up by 6.44%, with the average price increasing by 6.85% to US$ 17.4/kg, according to the latest information released by the General Administration of Customs. China's fresh royal jelly powder exports were 185,605kg in the period, with export value of US$ 9,146,172, surging by 23.35% and 33.76% year-on-year respectively, with the average price rising by 8.43% to US$ 49.27/kg…

Honey Improves Carotene Retention in Fortified Milk Product

Effect of Beet and Honey on Quality Improvement and Carotene Retention in a Carrot Fortified Milk Product
Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies, Volume 9, Issue 1, January 2008, Pages 9-17

Abstract: The effect of beet and honey on quality attributes and carotene retention of carrot fortified milk product during storage at 30 °C were studied…

Addition of beet and honey in both proportion to the product showed synergistic role i.e. they reduced the acidity and free fatty acid formation, pH reduction and carotene degradation. However, regarding sensory evaluation, honey addition to the carrot based milk product showed better result. Equal mixture of carrot, beet and honey was best regarding antioxidant activity and retention of carotene. The study showed in overall that addition of equal mixture of beet and honey along with carrot is effective for quality improvement and carotene retention of carrot fortified milk product.

Industrial relevance: This study is of relevance because it deals with the effectiveness of natural antioxidant sources (beet and honey) in quality improvement and carotene retention of carrot fortified milk product. Fortification of carrot in milk products at higher concentration (1:1) is a new idea. In addition to that, fortification of beet and honey in carrot fortified milk product for quality improvement and carotene retention is an innovative work. The data represented in the work suggest that addition of 1:1 mixture of beet and honey along with carrot is effective for quality improvement and carotene retention of carrot fortified milk product. The use of natural antioxidant sources particularly in food is always recommended as safe and good medicines for health as well as several diseases…

Can Burt’s Bees Turn Clorox Green?

By Louise Story, NYTimes.com, 1/6/2008

In the summer of 1984, Burt Shavitz, a beekeeper in Maine, picked up Roxanne Quimby, a 33-year-old single mother down on her luck, as she hitchhiked to the post office in Dexter, Me. More than a dozen years Ms. Quimby’s senior, the guy locals called “the bee-man” sold honey in pickle jars from the back of his pickup truck. To Ms. Quimby, he seemed to be living an idyllic life in the wilderness (including making his home inside a small turkey coop).

She offered to help Mr. Shavitz tend to his beehives. The two became lovers and eventually birthed Burt’s Bees, a niche company famous for beeswax lip balm, lotions, soaps and shampoos, as well as for its homespun packaging and feel-good, eco-friendly marketing. The bearded man whose image is used to peddle the products is modeled after Mr. Shavitz.

Today, the couple’s quirky enterprise is owned by the Clorox Company, a consumer products giant best known for making bleach, which bought it for $913 million in November. Clorox plans to turn Burt’s Bees into a mainstream American brand sold in big-box stores like Wal-Mart. Along the way, Clorox executives say, they plan to learn from unusual business practices at Burt’s Bees — many centered on environmental sustainability. Clorox, the company promises, is going green…

Apitherapy to be Discussed at U.S. Beekeeping Conference

First National Beekeeping Conference This Week
Everyone Who's Anyone Gathers to Talk Bees, Honey, Etc.
By Kim Flottum, The Daily Green, 1/6/2008

I’m going to be at the First National Beekeeping Conference next week, held at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento, California...

Coming together at this meeting is absolutely, and I mean absolutely everybody who has anything to do with bees, beekeeping, honey, apitherapy, honey bee science, honey bee laws and regulations, growers of crops that need honey bee pollination, manufacturers and sellers of beekeeping equipment, books, supplies and related items, and of course regular beekeepers.

Starting off, there’s a one-day symposium on using honey for health with a host of international speakers attending to tell the us (and you, if you want to attend) why honey is good for you (according to them I should live to be about 250-years-old for all the honey I eat); another group will be here to discuss the health benefits of all the hive products including honey ... pollen (eat it on your cereal in the morning), propolis (a resin than bees collect, then add their own enzymes to for antimicrobial benefits in the hive) and all the things people are finding out about this magical substance (skin salves, sore throat lozenges, wound dressings, and more), and other medical properties of honey (wound dressings primarily, but other benefits too)...

Study Explains Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Propolis Component

Differential Regulation of c-jun N-Terminal Kinase and NF-kappaB Pathway by Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester in Astroglial and Monocytic Cells
Journal of Neurochemistry, Online Accepted Articles

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), an active component of propolis extracts, has been known for its specific inhibition of nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) and subsequent anti-inflammatory activity.

In this study, we report that (1) CAPE exerts its anti-inflammatory action (inhibition of tumor necrosis factor-induced expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and CC chemokine ligand-2) via NF-kappaB inhibition by two distinct molecular mechanisms in a cell-specific manner: CAPE inhibited downstream pathways of inhibitor kappaB (IkappaB) degradation in monocytic cells, while activation of upstream IkappaB kinase was suppressed by CAPE pretreatment in astroglial cells; and (2) CAPE paradoxically activates the c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway, which might be responsible for its pro-apoptotic action and divergent regulation of proinflammatory mediators such as CXC chemokine ligand-8.

International Heritage Site Tag Sought for Indian Bee Tree

A Tree Full of Honey
The Hindu (India), 1/4/2007

…A unique banyan tree near Nandagudi in Hoskote taluk that has the “world’s largest number of beehives” — as many as 600 — is being pegged for an International Heritage Site tag.

The Institute for Natural Resources Conservation, Education, Research and Training (INCERT) is making efforts to get this matchless tree get recognised as an International Heritage Site so as to create awareness about the importance of this bee colony.

Speaking to The Hindu, M.S. Reddy, Reader, Department of Zoology, Bangalore University, said that the banyan tree was being monitored by apiculturists for more than a decade, and their records show that there were approximately 625 bee colonies around November 2005.

A survey conducted in October 2007 revealed the number of hives in the tree to be around 575. Dr. Reddy said: “The effort to recognise this tree as an International Heritage Site will not only help horticulture prosperity, but also play a vital role in protection of the environment and maintaining the ecological balance as bees, through pollination, help increase the biodiversity.”

The banyan tree is largely surrounded by eucalyptus trees whose flowers are a major source of nectar to the bees…

Study: Honey is a ‘Living’ Food, Refined Sugar is Biologically ‘Dead’

Analysis of Honey Quality Through ‘Sensitive Crystallization’
Cristina Cîmpean – M.D., Apiphytotherapy, Raphael Medica, Bucharest, Romania; National Association for Promoting Nonconventional Medicines (e-mail: cimpean_cristina@yahoo.com)
Cornel Hoţiu - ITC technician, Natural Products Santo Raphael Laboratories, Bucharest, Romania (e-mail: corneliushermes@yahoo.com)

[Note: The following paper was presented at the First International Symposium of the Romanian Apitherapy Society, December 7-9, 2007, in Cluj-Napoca.]

Abstract: Our purpose was to find out if the sensitive crystallization method makes evident the differences of biological quality between:

• honey and sugar,
• honey and honey mixed with sugar syrup in different proportions (10%, 20%, 50% and 70%),
• liquid all flower honey and natural sugared all flower honey,
• some kinds of honey (all flower honey, sugared all flower honey, sugared rape honey, sugared lime honey, acacia honey and forest honey).

Any kind of honey (all flower, rape, acacia, lime, forest), liquid or sugared, has a specific sensitive crystallization mark completely different from the refined white sugar. The specific honey images show that honey has vitality, complexity and a high nutritive value. The images for sugar show that this food, because of the industrial refinement has become biologically completely inert (dull), almost identically with a synthetic chemical substance.

Our comparative study of sensitive crystallization marks prove that every kind of honey has:

• a high biologically nutritional value and a special vital charge;
• the specific honey's sensible crystallization images are very similar with the herbal plant's sensible crystallization images; this fact suggest a sui-generis “transfer” of vitality from herbal plant visited by bees to honey; as the honey is fresher the sensible crystallization images are more complex, reflecting in this way the high biologically value of the fresh honey;
• honey is a "living" food compared with refined sugar, which is biologically "dead.”

[Editor’s Note: The “sensitive crystallization” method studies the forms resulting through evaporation of a water solution of cupric chlorine that has added to it an extremely small quantity of the substance to be analyzed. The method was originally developed by Dr. Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and outlined in his book "Sensitive Crystallization Processes.”]

Honey

Refined Sugar

Saharan Honey Shows Higher Antibacterial Potency

Sahara Honey Shows Higher Potency Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Compared to North Algerian Types of Honey
Journal of Medicinal Food, 2007, 10(4): 712-714

Six varieties of honey from different regions in Algeria were used to determine their potency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Four varieties originated from northern Algeria, and two from the Sahara. Three types of media were used…

The botanic flora of Sahara is known in Algeria for its medicinal uses, and thus the higher potency of the Sahara honey is most probably due to antibacterial substances in its plant derivates. These findings suggest that Sahara honey could be used for managing wounds and burns, which are mostly infected by P. aeruginosa.

Antibiotics Detected in Macau Honey Samples

Honey Collected from Supermarket Shelves
Macau Daily Times, 1/2/2008

The Consumer Council detected a high amount of level of antibiotics in honey samples from the mainland which were on sale in Macau.

This antibiotic, according to Alexandre Ho Si Him, president of the Consumer Council can be harmful to pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding, and hence the products have already been taken from the shelves.

During the past two months the Consumer Council tested samples of honey bought at local supermarkets and grocery stores in Macau, to test the products' hygiene as well as food safety patterns.

Mr Ho said that six of the 30 honey samples tested failed to pass the quality test, because in four of the samples from the mainland, levels of antibiotics detected are higher than that permitted in the mainland, as well as that permitted in the United States and in Europe…

Study: Honey Helps Prevent Liver Damage

The Ultrastructural Research of Liver in Experimental Obstructive Jaundice and Effect of Honey
The American Journal of Surgery, Dec 14, 2007

Background: To examine the effects of honey on oxidative stress and apoptosis in experimental obstructive jaundice model.

Method: Thirty rats were divided into 3 groups: group I, sham-operated; group II, ligation and division of the common bile duct (BDL); group III, BDL followed by oral supplementation of honey 10 g/kg/d. Liver samples were examined under light microscope and transmission electron microscope. Hepatocyte apoptosis was quantitated using the terminal deoxy-nucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay. Plasma and blood malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutation activities were measured for determining the oxidative stress.

Results: The liver levels of MDA and GSH were significantly different between the honey and BDL groups (P = .006 and .001, respectively). However, there was no significant difference between the plasma MDA and GSH levels of these groups (P > .05). In group III, significant reductions in the size of enlarged hepatocytes and the edema were demonstrated. The dilatation of the bile canaliculi dramatically turned to original dimention. By TUNEL assay, it was shown that administration of honey decreased the number of apoptotic cells.

Conclusions: In the present study, we found that honey diminished the negative effects of BDL on the hepatic ultrastructure. We conclude that this effect might be due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.

Honey Helps Treat Girl’s Seasonal Allergies

Honey Has Health Benefits, Experts Say
By Moina Noor, Stamford Advocate (USA), 1/1/2008

Shelley Burr's daughter, Emily, suffers from seasonal allergies. Burr, a Weston resident, was reluctant to give her 3-year-old strong medication and nasal sprays, so she asked her pediatrician for a homeopathic remedy. He suggested honey.

So for the past year, Burr has given Emily a heaping teaspoon of honey, on toast with butter and cinnamon or in her oatmeal, every morning. She has noticed a visible difference in her daughter's health.

"Her allergy shiners, those dark sunken eyes, have disappeared," she says. "Overall, her health has improved. She was on antibiotics so many times last year for ear infections, but this year, touch wood, she hasn't had any."…

Leukemia Survivor Credits Honey for Recovery

Miraculous Recovery Sweet Tale
By Mindelle Jacobs, Edmonton Sun (Canada), 1/1/2008

It was an emotional New Year's Eve celebration for Dr. Heime Geffen and his family last night -- a toast not only to 2008 but to Geffen's mysterious survival.

They also raised their glasses to a special honey from the Holy Land that Geffen believes helped bring him back from the brink of death.

He should have been dead months ago from acute myelocytic leukemia -- a usually fatal condition caused by malignant stem cells in bone marrow.

In October 2006, Geffen, who had been treated over the years for a low-grade cancer of the lymph glands, went for a routine blood test and discovered that his white blood cell counts had dropped to perilously low levels…

The diagnosis was essentially a death sentence. Geffen's oncologist sent him home to put his affairs in order…

Then fate took a strange turn. His daughter, who was vacationing in Israel, heard about specially cultivated Israeli honey that boosts the white blood cell counts of chemo patients.

One small study on Life Mel Honey, published in the journal Medical Oncology in 2006 found that 40% of the chemo patients given the honey didn't suffer the typical drop in white blood cell counts.

Geffen's daughter sent him six bottles of Life Mel and Geffen began taking a teaspoon of the honey twice a day.

"I was skeptical," says Geffen who used to get requests from his palliative care patients for sharks' teeth and other purported cures. "I've seen these fads come and go."

Within 10 days after he began taking Life Mel, his white blood cell count began climbing. By June, his counts were normal. He was playing golf…