Honey, the Gift of Nature to Mankind

Honey is a thick, golden colored, and sugary liquid produced by honey bees. Honey bees collect pollen and nectar when most flowers are in bloom during spring season. They use their long, tube-like tongue like structures called proboscis to suck the nectar out of the flowers. They store it in their stomachs and carry it to the beehive. Inside the bee's stomach for about half an hour, the nectar mixes with the proteins and enzymes produced by the bees, converting the nectar into honey.

The honey bees then drop the honey into the bee hive. The bee hive is made of hexagonal cells that are made of wax produced by the bees. The honey bees go on dropping the honey in the cells of the bee hive until all the cells are full. The honey bees fan their wings to evaporate and thicken the honey so that the honey can be stored and used for long term. 

Honey bees store the honey in the cells of their bee hive as a perfect food source for cold winter months for the young bees, queen bee and sick bees. Honey can be stored indefinitely in the bee hive by honey bees as the cells are away from air and water. The color of honey, taste, aroma and texture vary greatly depending on the type of flower the bees frequently visit.

The nectar of the flowers mixes with the enzymes present in the stomach of the honey bees so that the chemical composition and pH is transformed. Hence, honey is more suitable for long-term storage. The honey we use is not just the flower nectar that honey bees have collected, but it is the regurgitated and dehydrated substance with enhanced nutritional properties. 

Nutritional values of Honey:

Honey is derived from the nectar of different colorful flowers. The main constituent of nectar of flowers is sucrose and water. Honey bees suck the nectar and enzymes are added in their stomach. The enzymatic addition will convert sucrose to fructose and glucose. Honey bees evaporate the water content in their hive. Evaporating the water content prevent the spoiling of honey.

Honey is a rich source of carbohydrates. Therefore honey is 80% natural sugar. Due to the high level of fructose, honey is sweeter than sugar. Honey contains 18% of water. If the honey contain lesser percentage of water, then it is more pure. The remaining 2% is minerals, vitamins, pollen and proteins.

The vitamins present in honey are B6, thiamine, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and certain amino acids. The minerals found in honey include calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. Honey is a natural sweetener, rich with antioxidants and free from fat and cholesterol. One tablespoon of honey contains 64 calories.

Honey contain natural minerals and vitamins. They help in the metabolism of fats. They prevent the formation plaque in the arteries. They also minimize the elevation of cholesterol and fatty acids on the organs and tissues into the system. Hence honey prevent obesity and promote better health. 

Both honey and sugar are simple sugars. Once they enter our body, they absorb quickly and work quickly to elevate our blood sugar. Honey is sweeter than sugar, so use less of it, but it has more calories per teaspoon so it is better use a small quantity. Honey has a lower Glycaemic Index value than sugar, meaning that it does not raise blood sugar levels quickly.

If honey is preferred over sugar, then use the darker varieties or the raw varieties of honey. Because, they are rich in flavonoids, which are reported to have antibacterial, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic properties. Due to the flavonoid content, some view honey as a healthier alternative to sugar and a source of antioxidants.

Is honey allowed in Diabetic diet? Diabetes is malfunctioning of the pancreas where insulin is either not produced sufficiently or utilised properly. It is a carbohydrate metabolic disorder. The ingested sugars and starches cannot be distributed, and hence, eliminated in the urine. There are 2 types of diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the body doesn't produce any insulin, whereas, people with type 2 diabetes either don't produce enough insulin or their cells resist the insulin.

Doctors do not suggest a diabetic patient to include honey in their diet. We should remember that honey is a carbohydrate just like rice or potatoes. One tablespoon of honey has approximately 17 grams of carbohydrate.  The diabetic patient should reduce 17 grams of carbohydrate from their diet to include honey. They should also monitor blood glucose levels before and after taking honey. Purest form of honey should be included in their diet.

How can we differentiate between pure honey and adulterated honey?

Pure honey is directly from the bee hive. All commercial honey comes with the label pure honey.  But the label does not guarantee “pure honey”. Honey is adulterated with glucose, dextrose, molasses, corn syrup, sugar syrup, flour, starch, jaggery etc. There are no sure methods available for testing the purity of honey. Take a glass of water and add a drop of honey into the glass of water. If the honey is pure, it will not readily dissolve in water. We have to stir it in the glass of water to dissolve the lumpy bits of honey. Those who have tasted pure honey will be able to identify the pure form and the adulterated one.

Honey is a super saturated sugar solution. All types of honey available crystallize. Crystallized or granulated honey is the semi-solid state of honey. This natural phenomenon happens when glucose, one of three main sugars in honey, spontaneously precipitates out of the supersaturated honey solution. Glucose loses water and is converted into glucose mono hydrate and takes the form of a crystal. The crystals form a lattice which immobilizes other components of honey in a suspension thus creating the semi-solid state.

Honey crystallizes because it is a supersaturated solution. This supersaturated state occurs because honey contains more than 70% sugar relative to the water content which is less than 20%. Glucose tends to precipitate out of solution and the solution changes to the more stable saturated state.

Honey is the gift of Nature to Mankind because it is rich with several medicinal properties. It is used for curing many ailments.  Honey is rich with several minerals but it is free from sodium. It is also cholesterol free and fat free healthy substitute for white sugar. Honey should be included in our diet so that we can reduce the intake of white sugar which is harmful for our life. Honey is called the Liquid Gold as it is a treasure house of nutritional and medicinal values essential for healthy human life.