Benefits of Honey

A toast with honey. That's a perfect way to start your day. Apart from its great taste, honey has lots of health and nutrition benefits. Honey is a great natural source of carbohydrates which provide strength and energy to our bodies. If you are suffering from fatigue, then honey can help you a lot. Honey is known for its effectiveness in instantly boosting the performance, endurance and reduce muscle fatigue of athletes. The glucose in honey is absorbed by the body quickly and gives an immediate energy boost. It is known that honey has also been found to keep levels of blood sugar fairly constant compared to other types of sugar. So, it's time to include honey in your diet.

If you are feeling low and lethargic in the morning, don't try those energy drinks. Instead have a toast with honey or add honey to your corn flakes. It will be refreshing for you.

- One of the better known health benefits of honey is that it is able to help treat sore throats honey not only soothes throats but can also kill certain bacteria that causes the infection.

- Next time before you go for a workout, take a spoon of honey to enable you to go for the extra mile.

- Its antiseptic properties inhibits the growth of certain bacteria and helps keep external wounds clean and free from infection. Honey has been used as a natural cure in first aid treatment for wounds, burns an

d cuts. Its antibacterial properties prevent infection and functions as an anti-inflammatory agent.
1. Honey and Cinnamon: A Perfect Combination

Honey and cinnamon have been curing many diseases and infections since ancient times. Traditional societies have mixed honey and cinnamon from time immemorial to cure people from common cold, sore throat and skin infections. This practice is still followed by alternate medicine practitioners who use it to cure infertility in men and women. The combination of honey and cinnamon cures arthritis pain, cholesterol, hair fall and gastric problems. It also clears stomach ulcers and helps digest the heaviest meals. The most common use of honey and cinnamon is to cure cold and sore throat. Studies show that applying honey and cinnamon on your skin cures pimples and acne.

2. Honey and Immunity

Studies show that honey is an excellent remedy for improving your immunity against allergies and asthma. Honey contains floral flavonoids. When the honey is ingested, they immediately increase the antioxidant levels within the cells of the body and decrease the capillary permeability and fragility. Honey has also shown anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties preventing the risks of cancer in humans. Research by students at the Xavier University in New Orleans showed positive result of local honey and its allergy curing properties. The results say that honey acts as a vaccine for those who are allergic to pollen grains. Honey contains the same kind of pollen grains that cause this allergy. By consuming honey, we make the body accustomed to these pollen grains decrease the chance of the immune response to them like release of histamines. Local honey is said to be the best kind against allergies.

3. Honey and Stamina

Honey helps build stamina in athletes. When athletes take honey drinks before and after important athletic events, it replaces all the carbohydrates and minerals spent during the workout or in extreme conditions. While we are going through workouts, our body sweats and we lose minerals. Honey contains a good amount of all the important minerals and replaces them in the body. It is like an energy drink for the sportsmen and athletes and helps them in muscle building.

4. Honey and Weight Loss

Honey is a natural sweetener that contains 22 amino acids including a variety of minerals, which are important for metabolism and therefore helpful in preventing obesity. Lemon juice with a little honey early morning is believed to be the effective anti-cellulite treatment. This is an effective remedy to speed up shedding pounds from your body. Again, honey and cinnamon is another powerful remedy for effective weight loss. For people who love binge eating, honey can be taken as an effective remedy for digestion later on.

5. Honey and Cosmetics

Honey is widely used in many types of cosmetics like lip balm, face creams and shower gels. The reason behind this is because honey does not spoil due to its high sugar content. It has 50% more density than water. The osmotic property of honey attributes to its anti-bacterial property. Honey is a thick liquid that acts as a perfect skin and hair conditioner. It brings smoothness to the skin and hair. Hence, is used in cosmetics and shampoos.

6. Honey and Antiseptic Properties

Generally in hospitals, doctors prefer Hydrogen peroxide to clean wounds so they heal quickly. The same chemical is present in honey in very good amounts. It is released by diluting honey in water or body fluids. When it is applied on the open wounds, especially burn wounds, the glucose present in honey dilutes gradually releasing Hydrogen peroxide. And due to its viscous constituency, honey prevents wounds from sticking to the dressing and there are little or no scars after healin