Benefits of honey, its components, types of honey, and other names for honey and its uses
How is the food? Honey, what do you think of the trip?
Honey, where did you disappear to?
I went on a honeymoon, and many people have the right to use the word honey in their conversations to denote the best, the most beautiful, and the highest of things.
This substance contains countless healing and cosmetic benefits, and many others, it contains fructose and Claus in abundance.
And for its use since ancient times in wedding ceremonies and ritual worship is another word.
Honey is also mentioned in the heavenly books and the hadiths of the prophets, due to its many benefits.
Scientifically Proven Benefits of Honey
In the coming lines, we will highlight the latest scientifically proven studies on the benefits and uses of honey:
First: the benefits and medicinal uses of honey
1- Honey to relieve cough in children
In an Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine study, researchers reported that honey can be used to relieve coughing in children.
Giving them a teaspoon before bedtime, because it relieves their suffocation during the night, and the sweet taste of honey increases saliva secretion, reduces the proportion of mucous secretions, and reduces the excitability of coughing.
2- Honey is an antioxidant
The antioxidants contained in honey help the body in repelling virulent germs, and in this way, it contributes to alleviating the symptoms of colds.
3- Honey to treat diarrhea
Because honey has a balancing effect on the digestive process, it is useful for treating both diarrhea and constipation.
4- Honey supports the body’s immunity
Daily intake of honey strengthens and supports the immunity of the human body because it increases the numbers of (B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes), two types of white blood cells that are useful for increasing immunity.
5- Honey helps you relax before bed
If you suffer from insomnia and lack of sleep, take a spoonful of honey before going to bed, as it helps you relax and get a peaceful sleep.
6- The benefits of steaming honey with water for nasal congestion
If we inhale water vapor mixed with honey or apply honey to the areas of the nasal cavity, the nasal congestion will disappear quickly.
7- Honey helps treat gastric ulcers
Honey suppresses H. pylori, which is responsible for most ulcers that infect humans, so it is recommended to take a small amount of honey three times a day for three months to get rid of gastric ulcers.
8- The benefits of honey to treat leg cramps
Honey contributes to the treatment of leg cramps if they are rubbed with a mixture of honey and lavender.
9- Honey is an important source of natural sugars
Athletes are advised to eat sugars before doing any exercise, and pure honey is one of the best sugars because it increases energy levels in humans.
A spoon of honey weighing 17 grams of it provides the body with 64 calories, in addition to sodium, cholesterol, and fat, according to the National Honey Board.
It is also recommended to add honey to fruits or to the water that the athlete drinks.
10- Honey is useful on an empty stomach
Learn about the benefits of eating honey in the morning on an empty stomach from here.
Second: the cosmetic benefits and uses of honey
- We will never be surprised if we know that honey has cosmetic uses for the skin and hair because it contains multiple antioxidants and enzymes, including:
- Honey Moisturizing Mask: where honey pulls moisture from the air and enters it into the layers of the skin, and if you want to try it, you can put honey on the skin and leave it for between 15 and 20 minutes and then wash it with lukewarm water, according to a research article published on the Women’s Health website (Women's Health).
- Purifying and cleaning the skin: The enzymes in pure honey filter the skin and keep it clean and pure, and the anti-bacterial found in honey, jojoba, and coconut oil prevents the spread of germs on the skin.
- Wet facial skin after cleaning it, and we massage in a circular motion, taking care to avoid the eyes, after that we wash the face with lukewarm water.
- Honey mask to repair damaged hair and make it shiny: Mix one tablespoon of pure honey with two tablespoons of coconut oil, and wash the hair from the roots to the ends Repeat the process two or three times and leave the hair for 20 minutes and then wash it with water.
- Honey shampoo: To get it, mix a spoonful of honey with your favorite type of shampoo and wash your hair with it.
- This recipe strengthens the hair and helps its growth, and it is suitable for both males and females.
- Honey is good for the skin, learn about the benefits of honey for the skin and face.
The composition and useful components of honey
I asked myself this question several times... Why does this substance have all these countless benefits and uses?!
Why did scientists, religious people, and ordinary people care about it as well? What is the secret, and what hides honey behind the sweetness of its taste and the viscosity of its texture?
The answers are summarized in the following: Honey is a rich source of carbohydrates (Carbohydrate) such as fructose and glucose, which constitute 97% of the composition of honey.
In addition to vitamins B2, B6, and some other nutrients and minerals, such as manganese, zinc, iron, phosphorous, potassium, and sodium, it also contains antioxidants and anti-bacterial, which makes honey full of health benefits and benefits for the human body.
Types of bees and honey
In the beehive, we have the queen, female and male workers. Some use the term “Queen Bee” because it denotes a strong woman. In the beehive, you can know the queen from her large size and lack of movement, as the workers provide food for her.
It is responsible for the eggs until the new generation hatching season. As for the female workers, they do most of the tasks inside and outside the hive, from taking flower nectar to packing honey inside, etc
Laya will clean up the big hive and secure the queen's food.
As for the males, they are in a constant race to be chosen by the queen, and they are a group of large bees that do not carry any needles.
If you think that traffic congestion at peak times is too big, you should think again, one beehive may contain (10 thousand to 60 thousand) bees, and these numbers vary depending on the age and location of the hive.
Honey varies according to the type of flower nectar used in making it, and therefore the quantities and types of vitamins and minerals it contains vary. We find lavender honey, thyme, rosemary, Manuka honey, lemon honey, anise, and other types of honey.
Honey propolis and beeswax are other useful products for the beehive.
We should avoid eating honey sometimes!
Do not give honey to children under the age of one year, because it causes, in rare cases, food poisoning in the child.
Honey is dangerous for the infant, according to the Mayo Clinic, because it leads to breathing problems and sometimes weakness in the baby's muscles.
It is advised to wait until the age of 12 months. Older children can take it as their digestive system becomes more mature and can handle the sugars in honey.
Do not mix honey with tea, boiled liquid, or very hot, as the composition of honey changes and loses many of its benefits.
honey nutritional facts
Honey has a lot of nutrients necessary for humans, as we all know the importance of honey to maintain the health of the body and the quality of the performance of its organs, so we will learn the following about the nutrients in honey and their quantity:
Other names for honey
There is a lot of difference in the dialects spoken in the Arab world, and the biggest evidence of this difference is the multiplicity and diversity of the names of things from one country to another.
Even honey did not survive this difference. Despite its many uses, and the use of the name “honey” to denote it, there are some exceptions; In Iraq, honey is called in some areas "molasses", and in Morocco, it is called "king", but it is also known in all countries of the Arab world, including Morocco and Iraq, like honey.
Discovering honey and its historical uses
The first indications of the presence of honey were drawings on the walls of an ancient cave in Valencia - Spain showing a woman collecting honey from a wild bee's nest in a tree. The history of these drawings dates back to 7-10 thousand years.
Paleontologists also found honey bee fossils dating back 150 million years in Georgia. The Chinese have used honey since ancient times and bee needles to treat many diseases.
In ancient Greece (currently Greece), there was a daily meal dedicated to soldiers, with honey included in its ingredients, because of their belief that it gives soldiers strength and courage. Olympic athletes also used it to improve their physical fitness.
Honey also occupied a prominent place on the tables of Greek scientists, including the mathematician Pythagoras, who lived 500 years before AD.
He was convinced that honey was the reason behind his living for longer years, while Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used it for healing purposes, such as treating liver and stomach disorders, ulcers, and some wounds. In addition to making some medicinal ointments, the Greeks used them for cosmetic purposes as well.
The clay tablets discovered in Mesopotamia included information about the Babylonians' use of honey in medicine. Honey and beeswax were also used in the Assyrian Empire to embalm the dead of the nobility only in (2000 BC).
In ancient Egypt, it was used by students because it helps in accelerating the process of their physical and mental development and also contributes to the manifestation of their talents. The ancient Indians also considered honey to be one of the elements of the elixir of immortality that achieves eternal youth.
The connection of honey with the heavenly religions
In some parts of Europe, people thought that bees were a messenger from God to them, as one of the Egyptian legends says that the origin of bees goes back to the sun god (Shepherd), in addition to the link of bees with the Hindu deities Krishna Indira and Vishnu.
The benefits and importance of honey appeared in many texts from the heavenly books such as the Holy Qur’an, the Bible, and the Torah, among which we mention that the Holy Qur’an includes a whole chapter called An-Nahl in which the verse:
“There comes out of their bellies a drink of different colors in which there is a cure for people.”
Here, God Almighty confirms in the precise revelation that honey contains a cure for many diseases, and in another place in Surat Muhammad he mentions that the paradise in which believers enjoy several rivers such as milk, water, and honey, in the Almighty’s saying:
"and rivers of filtered honey"
In Jewish traditions, honey is associated with the New Year, and the Jews make apple pies with honey on New Year's Eve, hoping that the new year will be as sweet as honey.
In the New Testament of Christianity (the Gospel of Matthew), it was mentioned that John the Baptist lived for a long time in the wilderness because of his diet of locusts and wild honey.
Conclusion and summary
Finally. In this article, we learned about the properties of honey and many of its medicinal and therapeutic properties, the most important of which are:
The history of the appearance of honey dates back to drawings on the walls of a cave in Valencia, Spain, about 15,000 years ago.
Greek scientists were eating honey because they were convinced that it was the reason for living longer years, including Pythagoras and Hippocrates, the father of medicine.
2000 BC Honey was used in the Assyrian Empire to embalm the dead and preserve the remains of people from the nobility.
Indians consider it one of the five elements of the elixir of immortality and the ancient Egyptians used it to improve students' physical and mental development.
Religiously, honey was mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and was expressing the New Year in Judaism and in Christianity, John the Baptist relied on it as food when he was in the wilderness, as mentioned in the New Testament (the Gospel of Matthew).
In the beehive, we have the queen, female workers, and males, and their number sometimes reaches 60,000, and the number varies
Honey according to the type of flowers from which the nectar is taken, and therefore the benefits vary according to the different vitamins and mineral elements such as thyme honey, lemon, and others.
Fructose and glucose constitute 97% of the components of honey, in addition to vitamins B2 and B6, potassium, sodium, zinc, iron, and other elements.
Daily intake of honey strengthens and supports the immunity of the human body because it increases the numbers of (B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes), which are two types of white blood cells.
Honey provides the body with large amounts of energy, so athletes use it before doing any activity.
It contains antioxidants and is anti-bacterial.
It is used to relieve cough in children, by eating a spoon before bedtime, according to a study published in (Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine), but honey should be avoided for infants under the age of 12 months.
Eating it before bed helps to relax during the night hours, especially for those who suffer from insomnia.
One teaspoon of honey contains 64 calories in addition to sodium and cholesterol, and it can be eaten with fruits or mixed with water.
It should not be given to children under one year of age because it causes breathing problems, muscle weakness, and in rare cases, food poisoning.