Monday, October 22, 2012

Here Comes Honey, Boo Boo!


Honey, the natural amber-colored sweetener that lends a moistness and rich flavor to cakes and cookies, provides many benefits to the body in a few different ways.  I guess we all know that honey is great for healing sore throats, coughs and general cold symptoms, but did you know that the vitamins, minerals and amino acids found in honey make it a wonderful chemical-free skincare product?

One tablespoon of honey a day can do wonders to your body and soul. Although honey is pretty high in calories, when consumed with hot water, it can work as a good weight loss agent by burning the fat stored in our body. Honey raises our protective antioxidant levels which will help in removing these free radicals and build the immunity of the body. Honey's natural antioxidant and anti-fungal properties help disinfect and speed the repair of wounds, damaged tissue and burns, protect the skin from the damage of the sun's rays, supports the skin's ability to rejuvenate and refresh depleted skin; leaving it feeling silky soft, supple and a reduction of wrinkles.

Photo courtesy of The New Zealand Honey Shop
Honey as a wound dressing can help promote healing and prevent infection due to its natural antimicrobial properties. The sugars interact with water in a way that microorganisms cannot develop. When the sweetener comes in contact with wounds, hydrogen peroxide is produced. The creation of the hydrogen peroxide can provide antibacterial benefits to ulcerated areas, which speeds healing and prevents infections.

Honey's ability to absorb impurities from the pores on the skin and retain moisture make it an ideal part of a dry skin regimen.  Using a honey-based facial mask is beneficial to areas of skin that tend to become dry or itchy because it lends moisture to those areas. People have oily skin can also benefit from honey.  The sweetener can help your skin retain moisture and elasticity without drying it out, as some conventional facial washes do.  With the wide-ranging of natural skin care recipes, there's no wonder that you can find a huge number of honey products in the market for hair care, baby care, skin care for sunscreen, hand lotions, facial scrubs and moisturizers.  Honey is the key ingredient in a lot of cosmetics because it helps keep the skin hydrated and fresh and prevents drying. 

There are two primary things to keep in mind when purchasing honey for nutritional purposes. First, dark colored honey, is generally thought to contain higher levels of antioxidants than the lighter colored varieties. Second, raw or unprocessed honey contains the widest variety of health-supportive substances.

Stay Sweet, Honey!

Kisses!

4 comments:

  1. I have heard so much about Honey and its benefits to us. I will stock honey from now on.

    ReplyDelete
  2. An additional extremely well-liked recipe linked with honey and weight loss is a drink that uses honey and cinnamon as ingredients.
    Mix together one tbsp. of cinnamon and 1 tbsp. dissolve half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder in a cup of boiling water.

    ReplyDelete

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