5 Common Myths About Honey

Honey is known to have numerous health benefits and is one of the most talked-about natural substances. As such, many misconceptions surrounding it have sprung up and we are here to clear some up.

Crystallised Honey is Spoiled Honey

Crystallisation is nature’s way of preserving honey and is largely due to its natural composition. Honey contains natural sugars that have been processed by the bees that have the habit of turning into crystals. Considering raw honey has tiny bits of pollen, glucose loves to latch onto these particles, making raw honey naturally crystallise faster than processed honey or raw honey naturally high in fructose. After crystallisation, the honey remains the same and is still rich in nutrients.

Honey that is foamy has gone off

The white “foam” that appears at the top of raw honey is simply air and is a result of tiny air bubbles in the honey escaping to the top of the bottle. The white foam that you see sometimes on the raw honey occurs when pure honey has been sitting a while. In fact, the appearance of foam is an indication that the raw honey is pure and fresh.

Honey is not healthier than brown sugar

Honey is loaded with healthy nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, unlike artificial sugars. Honey contains pure sugar – a combination of fructose and glucose – which helps the body regulate blood sugar levels. Although most honey is sweeter than sugar, you can use less to enjoy the same effect and still have a natural, healthier option.

Local honey is better for allergies

Consuming raw honey can be helpful in reducing the symptoms of allergies, particularly consuming bee pollen as well. However, it’s locality doesn’t really matters, rather the fact that you eat unprocessed honey instead of highly processed commercial honey which has the pollen particles filtered out. But of course, if you have a beekeeper near you and he/she can confirm that the honey is unprocessed it can be a good choice.

So most importantly what matters is that the honey is not processed rather then is local to you. The reason is that the airborne pollens which causing allergy are not necessarily form plants that the bees are pollinating therefore it is unlikely you will find that allergy causing pollen in the honey (exp. grass pollen). Any pollen in honey will help your immune system to learn dealing with allergy causing pollens.

All bees produce honey

There are nearly 20,000 known bee species in the world. From this number, only 5% make edible honey. Only honey bees and sting-less bees produce enough honey to make harvesting worth it. One of the many reasons why we should be more careful about how we treat our precious bees.