BENEFITS OF USING HONEY AS A NATURAL SUGAR
BENEFITS OF USING HONEY AS A NATURAL SUGAR
Honey is greatly used in diversified ways in food industry as it is a natural product. Its widely used as an additive and a preservative in food production. From ancient days’ honey has also been used as a medicine to treat various sicknesses like coughs, diarrhea, colds, sore throat, among others. Apart from this it is also known for its goodness in other aspects which I will take you through in this article. But before there, let me take you through the uses of honey in diversified in general.
I) Uses of honey in food industry
Honey is used in many ways in food production industry as a sweetener, an additive and as a preservative. It is commonly used in preparation of many foods used for breakfast.
Delicious Breakfast with Honey.
Breakfast being the very first meal of the day, it is advised that you make it a heavier meal compared to lunch and supper. This is because ideally from nutritional aspect you need to start the day with enough energy to enable you undertake daily chores effectively. So, this makes you think of how to make your breakfast energy dense and more appetizing at the same time. One way of doing this is adopting the culture of using honey in your morning meal, it could be as simple as smearing a slice of bread with two spoons of honey.
· Smearing your bread and buns with honey
Here I will give you the some eyeopeners you might not have known regarding honey that I have used over time and it has been working amazingly after realizing them. 1 tablespoon of honey has 64 calories, 16g of sugar which are fructose and sucrose and some minerals like riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, potassium, calcium and zinc.
Honey spread on bread, buns, pancakes makes it better, sweeter and healthier than jams and or saturated fats advertised every early morning in TV and radio stations. My kids always eat the bread without smearing it with honey and they love it that way.
· Honey Used as a sugar substitute
You can avoid sugar during the breakfast by adding honey into your cup of tea, be it white or even black tea. You can also add this into your glass of milk or yoghurt. This will not only enhance the flavor of your drink but also helps in controlling your weight due to its ability to lower bad cholesterol that builds in your body.
· Toast with banana and honey
Make your toast of bread then cut small pieces of banana and smear honey on top. This brings an appetizing finish into your toast making it even sweeter.
· Honey richness for your fruit juices
You can add honey to your fruit juices. Prepare your juice and instead of using sugars add 2 teaspoons of honey in 1 cup of juice. This will make your smoothie so sweet and will not avoid taking little more sips.
· Mixing honey with cereals
Honey can be mixed with cereals like groundnuts which not only boosts stamina for you but also brings some tasty flavour, thus making you to eat more of these cereals. My favourite in this is “njugu karanga” which I prefer to soak them in honey jar over the night and take them in the morning. This makes them bring about satiety which keeps you feeling satisfied for longer hours with lots of energy, and what you will need is to sip water always.
· Using honey as a food preservative
Honey since ancient times has being used as a food preservative. It works as a preservative due to its sugars which are very concentrated. These sugars draw water from bacteria and fungi through osmosis making the microbes which make food spoil dry up and not being able to cause food spoilage. However, when water is added to the honey it dilutes these sugars making them not effective to stop microbial growth due to reduction in osmotic pressure thus allowing the bacteria to thrive and cause fermentation or food spoilage.
II) Using Honey as a Medicine
From ancient times honey has been used as a remedy for:
Sore throat or cold
Honey contains antibacterial and antifungal components which makes it a good medicine. If you have sore throat or cold add 1-2teaspoons of honey to your cup of hot tea, then mix with lemon. This will heal the sore throat and running nose ceases.
Honey also has antibacterial action
Bacterial action is good in wound healing and prevention of infections. It is also an effective germ killer and aids in tissue regeneration. Therefore, people apply it on open cuts and small wounds.
Honey is also a good cough suppressant.
For many years’ honey has been used to treat coughs especially in children giving 1-2 teaspoons of honey would suppress the cough.
Honey plays a role in your digestive system.
In cases where one has acute diarrhea honey is known to stop that by taking 2 teaspoons of it. It also treats Pylori which leads to ulcers of the stomach. Honey is also best in the digestive system as it nourishes good bacteria in the intestines.
Honey has been linked to boost your memory.
Honey has antioxidants like the flavonoid called pinocembrin which is known to improve brain function by protecting the nerve cells from damage. This flavonoid can improve cognition by protecting the cell structure of the brain. The antioxidants in honey helps prevent oxidation from free radicals. These free radicals lead to oxidative stress accumulation in the cells which inhibits the cells from functioning well. Research shows that this helps improve memory in people with poor memory. Study is still on going to establish the relationship of honey and the brain.
Honey as a good remedy for people with poor sleeping conditions
If you find it hard to gasp some sleep during the night, try taking 1-2 teaspoon of honey and will improve your sleep patterns.
Honey Strengthens your immune system.
Honey contains antioxidants which help to prevent the effect of free radicals which brings about oxidative stress to the cells making them not function properly. Preventing this oxidative stress makes the cells healthier with improved cell structure, it also has anti-inflammatory properties that helps prevent inflammation in your body.
Honey as an antioxidant
Study has shown that honey contains antioxidants like phytochemicals, flavonoids and ascorbic acid. These compounds help protect your body from cell damage by preventing free radicals. This aspect helps nourish your skin and face giving it a smooth touch.