Medicinal properties of honey.

"...the fact is that beekeepers generally live longer, or at least that's been the opinion for almost millennia. The oldest written document that has survived, describing the healing properties of honey, comes from around 4000-5000 years ago." –  Irena Gumowska "Bees and people" (original title: “Ludzie i pszczoły”), p. 15.

Germs don’t develop in honey, which is why it was used as a medicine in ancient times. The ancient Egyptians used honey for healing purposes and the Greeks and Romans took over that knowledge from them. This natural medicine was mainly used to relieve digestive problems and cough, as well as a means of strengthening blood vessels and helping in the treatment of wounds.

As I described in part one, honey has many nutrients. The main benefit are inhibins, which destroy gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Researches have shown that honey added to bacterial food kills it. Particularly, honey is hated by Staphylococcus aureus, which should be good news at a time when this bacteria practically became resistant to existing pharmacological antibiotics. The most effective antibacterial effect have honeydew, lime and buckwheat honeys.

When it comes to vitamins, buckwheat flowers are the richest in routine (vitamin P). This vitamin has a supporting effect in the absorption of vitamin C (more on this vitamin you may found in the article The role of vitamins in the proper functioning of the immune system) and also prevents atherosclerosis. No wonder that in natural medicine, buckwheat honey has the reputation of “prolonging life".

A teaspoon of honey dissolved in water is recommended to boost the mind but also to soothe the nerves and improve the quality of sleep. "Dr Jarvis recommends eating a teaspoon of honey for supper. If this doesn’t help, he advises to mix two teaspoons of honey with a glass of apple cider vinegar and drink 2 teaspoons of that mixture just before sleeping." - Irena Gumowska–  Irena Gumowska "Bees and people" (original title: “Ludzie i pszczoły”), p. 21. We shouldn’t be afraid of the negative impact of honey concerning the sugar level in blood. Remember, if the older and the riper the honey is, the more simple sugars it has. It is easily digestible. Honey glucose is absorbed immediately, while the breakdown of other sugars in the body takes about 2 hours (in comparison, it takes 4 hours to digest ham).

Honey - as a remedy for cough and infections of the respiratory system.

Home remedies recommend drinking a linden flowers brew sweetened with honey. It warms up our body and makes it easier to cough up. Dr. Jarvis recommends the following recipe for cough syrup: "squeeze the juice of one large lemon into a glass, add 2 teaspoons of glycerin (food grade - author's note), mix and top up the glass with honey" - Irena Gumowska "Bees and people" (original title: “Ludzie i pszczoły”), page 21. Apply 1 teaspoon 3 times a day.

Treating a runny nose requires more trouble. Dr Jarvis recommends chewing the honeycomb. Apparently, the effects are visible after a few minutes. In sick sinuses, the treatment requires chewing a honeycomb every hour for 15 minutes. The first effects of the treatment are noticeable after a day but when the condition is more serious - after a week. According to dr Jarvis, chewing a honeycomb will also help with hay fever. However, in that case, appears one problem; chewing the honeycomb preventably for the two months preceding the occurrence of allergy-simptoms (e.g. pollen allergy). When hay fever attacks, chew the honeycomb 5 times a day for the first two days and then reduce the frequency of chewing to 3 times a day until the symptoms disappear or decrease.

Nevertheless, honeycombs are not easy to get. Even beekeepers don’t have them in the winter season, which is why dr Jarvis allows the consumption of fresh, liquid honey, which is again difficult to get in winter and early spring. Nonetheless, if someone has such opportunity, you should use that method, at least try to relieve yourself in adversity without having to pop yourself with chemical antiallergic drugs. Such treatment won’t certainly be bad and if it helps, we will save our livers from the alien pharmaceutical baggage.

Honey - as an aid in the treatment of the digestive system.

Warm (not cold) water with honey supports digestion and reduces stomach acidity. It also supports the treatment of ulcers (especially stomach and duodenum) and alleviates related symptoms such as heartburn, nausea or pains.

For liver and biliary problems, Russian doctors recommend drinking honey with lemon juice and olive oil, and then lying on the right side for about half an hour.

This menu is also good for kidney diseases and helps to rinse sand out of the urinary system. You should take a teaspoon of this medicine three times a day. The mix of wild rose and honey or cranberry and honey works well in urinary tract diseases, e.g. wild rose tea sweetened with honey drunk 2 cups one time a day warmed up.

Like "balm to a heart".

That gift of nature is probably best known for. Honey nourishes and strengthens the heart, as well as increases hemoglobin count in the blood. For that reason it’s crucial in helping anemia problems.

Honey may also be used externally in the form of compresses as a medicine for wounds, ulcers, skin changes and even rheumatism.

Can honey impair you?

When we overdose it, we may have symptoms as in any other case of gluttony, i.e. stomach upset. Honey may cause allergic reactions. Scientists argue whether to blame the honey alone or the primary product (pollen of the plant) from which it is produced.

Due to major content of simple sugars in it, ripe honey shouldn’t be dangerous for diabetics.

The text was written on the basis of my own experience (I come from the family with really long (several generations) tradition in beekeeping and the book by Irena Gumowska „People and bees” (org. "Pszczoły i ludzie"), WATRA Publishing House, 1985.

Related articles: 

HONEY PART 1

Propolis

Bee pollen

Royal jelly

Beeswax