The Benefits of Eating Honey After Meals

In my own opinion, honey is perhaps the oldest known type of food ever. There are records that date back to the Stone Age, where cave men would carry sticks in order to drive away the wild bees from attacking them when they try to harvest honey. Back in the old days, there are records of the ancient Greeks recommending honey as a staple diet for people who want to be healthy at all times. Even the Romans recognized the importance of eating honey and it became a commodity for the noble classes, most especially for the Roman leaders. Thousands of years have passed and yet honey, one of the most valuable agricultural products known in the market, is still being sought at as an important part of an everyday meal.

How is Honey Made Anyway?

Everyone knows that honey is the produce made by honeybees as a food source for their young. In the wild, honeybees collect nectar from different species of plants and flowers which becomes honey when they bring it back inside their hive. All the honey is collected inside a chamber of cells called honeycombs. Surprisingly, only a few people know that honey is actually made through regurgitation. That's right, the honey that you find inside supermarkets and convenience stores are actually the product of a thousand honey bees sucking and regurgitating the nectar collected from neighboring plants and animals.

In the past, people would actually have to find a beehive within the wild in order to get a good taste of honey. Unfortunately, the wild honeybees were vicious and territorial against would-be predators, which includes people. As the years go by, improvements within the agricultural sect allowed people to semi-domesticate the wild honeybees, which resulted to the bee farms that exists right now. Bee farmers just had to make sure that the honeybees have finished feeding their young before harvesting the left-overs from the honey comb. This is very important because if the bee farmer gets too greedy and

Honey as a Healthy Alternative

Honey has high level of fructose, which is a very important type of sugar that we humans need in order for our body to function normally and properly. People use honey as a sweetener and is an excellent alternative to commercial sugar, which is harmful for your teeth and for people who has diabetes. And since it has fructose, it's a good pick me up for anyone who lacks energy.
Did you know that a single tablespoon of honey actually has 64 calories of energy? The carbohydrates that are stored inside the honey can be quickly broken down into another type of sugar, which is glucose. Glucose provides the body with the energy it needs, especially during certain movements that drain energy, like running or jogging. This is the reason why a lot of bodybuilders and athletes make it a habit of including honey during breakfast. There's a research indicating that honey can actually help in controlling body weight. Honey actually absorbs the extra fat that is placed within the body, thus helping in controlling the excess weight of a person.
Honey is also a source of important vitamins and minerals, but it is usually dependent on the types of flowers where the bees gather nectar. These vitamins and minerals help in making your body's immune system stronger and it also keeps your skin healthy and beautiful. It's no wonder that some skin products actually use honey in some of their skin products.
Eating honey is also a good source of vitamins for your body or to enhance your immune system. It's far cheaper compared to buying drugs and medicine that you see inside shopping centers or drug stores. It's more natural and does not have any dangerous chemicals mixed in. Live green and healthy. Make it a habit of eating honey after breakfast!

Jessica Greenberg is an avid blogger from San Diego, California. She's active in educating people the value of eating honey and spends most of her time helping locals become acquainted with better bee farming.

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Tips on How to Purchase Quality Honey

We reside in a tech world, but there are so many things we tend to forget. We buy expensive medicines, not knowing that there are cheap natural alternatives. I am going to talk about one of the oldest food harvested by men: bio honey. Honey contains certain types of wax, vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that give it amazing therapeutic value. But not every type of honey is natural. In order to be sure that you will benefit from its exceptional qualities, you need to understand and learn how to choose natural, pure bio honey. Judging by the way honey is presented and by the way it looks and tastes, you can see if the bees were fed with sugar or treated with antibiotics. Another important aspect is the temperature. If it's heated above 40 degrees C honey loses its therapeutic value and in some cases can be toxic for your body.
From ancient times, honey and bees related products have been used not only as food but also as a remedy. To qualify for its qualities, it is important to know where you buy it and how to identify counterfeit honey and natural honey.

Known as the "food of Gods", it's the first sweet substance used by humans. The extraordinary qualities of honey have important applications in artificial diet, the pre and post-operative diet and pediatrics. The honey is classified in floral honey, nectar and pollen.
Tips you need to use in order to purchase quality honey
Natural honey gets crystallized after a certain period of time, except of locust honey, which crystallizes very late or not at all. Crystallized natural honey has fine crystals which melts quickly in the mouth, while honey that is forged with sugar crystals will dissolve more slowly and rude.
Honey tampered with saccharin has a pronounced sweet taste, almost fainted. Natural honey always contains suspended solids and colloidal materials, so if it's placed in a transparent vessel has a cloudy aspect.

If it features a slightly caramelised taste, it means that it was heated directly on the flame in order to make it fluid or get it mixed with burnt sugar.
If it does not have a specific flavor, it can be assumed that it has been overheated for smoothness, or that it was obtained from processed sugar or that the honey is very old. In all cases you will get no therapeutic value.
If the bees are fed with sugar or glucose, the final product is less sweet than natural floral honey. If it's falsified with saccharin mixed with glycerine, though it's sweet, the honey has an alkaline reaction.

Old honey, just like honey forged with artificial inverted sugar, has acidity that is higher than normal, while the honey obtained from non-inverted sugar is very low in acid.
If it's heated aggressively, you can observe an increase of its acidity due to decomposition of formic acid fructose.

It's important to find a trusted bio honey brand that provides quality honey.

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Bee Stings - 7 Tips For Immediate Care When Stung By A Bee

Ouch! I just got stung by a bee!
You may not have actually seen the bee sting you but boy you can sure feel it and there is no mistaking what it was. Most of the time there are clues around you like bees flying out of a nest or around an open soda can that will give you some idea what just happened.

Bees can go through clothing so don't be fooled about that. I recently had a bee sting my ankle through a sock while I was sweeping grass clippings. Any threat to the nest or around it will active them into action and protection mode.
Here are some tips on what to do if you get stung by a bee:

1. Run out of the way of other bees: Try not to aggravate a swarm of bees. Running in the opposite direction will decrease the chances of multiple bee stings. Go indoors or jump in water if you have to.
2. Call for help if you need it and have someone stay with the person: Many adults as well as children panic when stung. Call for assistance to minimize trauma and to expedite care and support.
3. Take the stinger out immediately: As the stinger is barbed it will continue to pump venom into the skin through the sac attached to the stinger. By taking out the stinger within 15 seconds it will dramatically reduced the reaction. Venom continues to enter the body for 45-60 seconds after being stung. Flick out the stinger with a credit card or blunt knife. Tweezers may force more venom into the skin. Wash area.
4. Apply ice immediately: There will be a histamine reaction to the sting immediately as the body tries to react to the foreign substance. Inflammation and swelling will be minimized with the immediate application of ice.
5. Wash the area with soap and water
6. Call 911 if you start to have difficulty breathing: A small percentage of people will be allergic to bee stings and have an anaphylactic response. If you notice you are having trouble breathing after the bee sting call 911 for an Emergency Response Team. Most anaphylactic reactions occur within the first 15-30 minutes. Carry an Epi-pen with you if you know you are severely allergic. Always call 911 after the administration of an Epi-pen.
7. Avoid itching area: Apply a cool compress, ice, antihistamine lotions or if needed take a systemic over-the-counter antihistamine. Natural remedies like making a paste of baking soda and water, meat tenderizer with Papain (1part: 4 parts water), Lavandin or Idaho tansy essential oils may be helpful. Use only 100% therapeutic grade essential oils.

If you develop nausea, vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea or swelling in other areas of your body, you may be having a systemic reaction and you need to contact your doctor.
Common sense and prevention is the best treatment for avoiding getting stung. The best advice is not to get the bees angry. Come to think of it, that advice is not only good for the Apidae family but for Homo sapiens as well!

And now you are invited to receive 3 free body/mind/spirit tips on boosting your immune system at http://www.creatingbalanceinyourlife.com You can visit her humor blog at: http://www.healingwithhumor.blogspot.com
Donna Marie Laino is a nurse, humorist, motivational speaker and success coach. She also uses humor as a holistic practitioner and Certified Laughter Leader to deal with life stress and health.

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The Bee Venom Therapy For Positive Health

  People have been using the Bee Venom Therapy for ages and the ancient Egyptians and Chinese have been taking advantage of the different benefits of honey and the bee therapy. This is the reason that they have been using honey, pollen and royal jelly in the treatment of different diseases. There are many benefits of using these products and are known to cure a lot of health related problems.

In traditional treatment methods the bees were allowed to sting at the specific body part that needs to be treated. The medical assistant tries to hold the bee with a pair of tweezers and lets the bee leave its sting at the particular area. Some homeopathic doctors also make a solution that works just like a bee sting and is injected under the skin there are also many cosmetic creams and other products that contain it as well.

The venom in honeybee contains pharmaceutical properties and this has made people realize its importance and because of it more people are adopting this beneficial way of treatment. More and more people have realized the importance of this way of positive treatment. The adrenal glands are activated due to the melittin which helps in increasing the immune system and also boosts up the natural healing process. It sure is more effective then the Hydrocortisone's that are used.

People should be careful before trying out the Bee Venom Therapy as they need to make sure that the patient is not allergic to the substance so that the necessary precautions can be taken. The effect of the bee venom can be desensitized for people who are more sensitive to bee stings and are also allergic to it.

The duration time and the quantity of the bee venom is determined according to the severity of the condition that has to be treated. The venom is injected two or three times a week according to individual requirement .At time's people who are not allergic to bee venom develops a type of allergic reaction and so the patient and therapist should be ready with precautionary measures to resolve the problems.

If the bee sting results in a red swollen bump this shows that the bee venom therapy is effective and the stingy effect is very short lived and can easily be relieved by blowing a fan. The bee venom has qualities to boost your energy level and also create a feeling of well being.

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