Honey for Healing: Inside and Out

Honey is a complete food from nature, used as far back as ancient Egypt. Now, beehives are disappearing and no one is certain of the cause. Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) wiped out over half of the bee colonies in thirty-five states. A virus is suspected as the cause but some suggest toxins in the environment are to blame.

Hieroglyphs in Egyptian temples picture bees and honey, and demonstrate the significance that honey had in Egyptian daily life. Even the famed Rosetta Stone displayed images of bees, and the founder of the First Dynasty of Egyptian Kings, King Menes (4000-5000 B.C), was given the name “the Beekeeper.” Sealed jars of honey were placed in tombs, used as a sacrifice to the gods. The earliest medical tablets, the Egyptian Papyri, refer to the medicinal value of honey, and most Egyptian medicines used honey combined with wine and milk.

Honey, though sweet, does not harm diabetics or those with blood sugar instability. Honey contains various vitamins and iron in large amounts and can have an impact in healing the body both internally and externally.

• Use of honey strengthens white blood cells and has also been shown to fight viral infections, as well as bacterial diseases.
• A University of California study demonstrated that consuming honey raised the body’s antioxidant levels. Twenty-five participants consumed four to ten tablespoons of honey daily. At the end of one month, their antioxidant blood levels had greatly increased.
• Honey is used by athletes as a quick source of energy, and has also shown to help with memory retention, due to this energy increasing effect. The University of Virginia is conducting research on this phenomenon.
• Combined with cinnamon, honey has shown additional health benefits. At Copenhagen University, 200 patients were given a mixture of one tablespoon of honey and half teaspoon of cinnamon at breakfast. Within one week, 73 reported no arthritis pain, and after one month, most of the patients were ambulatory and walking without pain.
• Honey and cinnamon has also been used to treat bladder infections. Two tablespoons of cinnamon and one teaspoon of honey in a cup of water is said to destroy germs in the bladder.
• One of the most common folk medicine uses for honey is as a cough syrup. A spoon of honey with lemon can be used to treat a sore throat or soothe a stubborn cough.
• It is said that tea made with three teaspoons of cinnamon and two tablespoons of honey has an immediate effects on reducing cholesterol-—up to ten percent within a few hours.
• A tablespoon of honey mixed with a quarter spoon of cinnamon can help reduce the duration of a common cold and clear the sinuses.
• Honey can also be used to treat burns. This was one of the folklore uses for honey but science has now proven that honey has an additional antibacterial effect when used topically. It can be used to treat wounds, burns, and skin ulcers. Honey can also reduce inflammation, pain, and scarring.
• Honey can be used as a beauty aid as well. It can reduce skin eruptions, from blemishes to excema. And gargling with honey freshens the breath.

Honey sustained ancient civilizations. This whole food has shown great healing effects on the entire body. Science hopes to find the cause of the bee colony demise to restore the collaboration between humans and bees that has existed for millenia.

NOTE: Raw honey that has not been heated provides the greatest health benefits, but should not be given to children under the age of five.