Read The Healing Powers of Honey Online
Authors: Cal Orey
The Healing Powers of Honey (3 page)
10 HONEY BUZZ-WORTHY BITS
Since the honey bee and mankind are connected because of our food chain, it makes sense to dish out a spoonful of honey trivia to show you just how the honey bee is an un-bee-lievable man's best friend. Take a look at these 10 factoids that'll get you thinking about the amazing small creature and what it can do.
It takes about 2 million flowers for honey bees to tap to make one pound of honey.
2.
Utah is known as the Beehive State.
Utah is known as the Beehive State.
3.
Honey bees communicate by dancing. The waggle dance alerts other bees to where the nectar and pollen are.
Honey bees communicate by dancing. The waggle dance alerts other bees to where the nectar and pollen are.
4.
A honey bee must tap about 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey.
A honey bee must tap about 2 million flowers to make 1 pound of honey.
5.
On average, each person in the United States consumes about 1.31 pounds of honey each year.
On average, each person in the United States consumes about 1.31 pounds of honey each year.
6.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that there are approximately 3 million honey-producing colonies in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that there are approximately 3 million honey-producing colonies in the United States.
7.
It would take about 2 tablespoons of honey to fuel a bee's flight around the world.
It would take about 2 tablespoons of honey to fuel a bee's flight around the world.
8.
A worker bee visits about 50 to 100 flowers during each trip.
A worker bee visits about 50 to 100 flowers during each trip.
9.
A honey bee flies about 15 miles per hour.
A honey bee flies about 15 miles per hour.
10.
A hive of bees flies more than 55,000 miles to bring you one pound of honey.
A hive of bees flies more than 55,000 miles to bring you one pound of honey.
(
Source:
National Honey Board.)
Source:
National Honey Board.)
Â
As you can see, the remarkable honey bee flies the extra mile so it can produce honeyâa superfood (a food that has super health benefits) for people, like you and meâthat can be enjoyed solo or in a cup of tea or both ways. Here is a perfect recipe to whip up and savor with a cup of tea and honey as you fly away with me on a journey into Honeyland.
Honey Tea Bread
8 ounces raisins
3 ounces set honey
½ pint freshly made
strong tea
2 large eggs, lightly
beaten
10 ounces whole-wheat
flour
½ teaspoon ground mixed
spice
1 tablespoon baking
powder
3 ounces set honey
½ pint freshly made
strong tea
2 large eggs, lightly
beaten
10 ounces whole-wheat
flour
½ teaspoon ground mixed
spice
1 tablespoon baking
powder
Â
Place the raisins in a bowl. Stir the honey into the tea and pour this over raisins. Leave to soak for 2 hours. Stir the eggs into the raisin mixture.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix the flour with the spice and baking powder, then mix these dry ingredients into the raisin mixture. Transfer to a greased 2-pound loaf tin and bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes.
Cook on a wire rack and serve sliced and buttered. Makes one 2-pound loaf.
(
Courtesy:
The Honey Association.)
Courtesy:
The Honey Association.)
UN-BEE-LIEVABLE HEALING HINTS TO CATCH
Research, especially in the past decade, shows that quality dark honeys, which are derived from a variety of flowers, trees, and other plants, produce the nectar for the honey around the globeâand may help you to:
lower your risk of heart disease.enhance your immune system.stave off diabetes.treat respiratory diseases.heal wounds.slow the aging process.add years to your life.In this book, I will show you how using honey (paired with other superfoods) is one of the best things you can do for yourselfâand your health. But note, many people will not want to reap the benefits of honey by indulging in the dark stuff by teaspoons (like dark chocolate, it's an acquired taste). But you can get your daily honey dose from a flavorful cup of tea and honey and in cooking and baking. I've included dozens of recipes to pamper your palate and to help heal your body, mind, and spirit. And versatile honey in foods, cosmetics, soaps, and lotions, medicinal dressings, candles, and furniture polish can do so much more for both the inside and outside of your body and your household.
But first, let's go way, way back into the past. Take a honey bee'sâeye view of why and how honey is one of the ancient world's firstâand most remarkableânatural medicines.
CHAPTER 2
An Ancient Essential Elixir
The secret of my health is applying honey inside and oil outside.
âDemocritus, contemporary of Hippocrates
1
1
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My second encounter with honey was when I was a budding tomboy who favored insects and furry creatures, big and small, rather than toys and dolls. My kindergarten fantasy of having a backyard with flowers, plants, trees, and weeds with butterflies and honey bees was no longer a dream. My dad landscaped both our front and backyardâcomplete with a large hour glassâshaped patio. In the spring and summer the backyard was my refuge. I was mesmerized by the long row of tall bright red bottlebrush plantsâan attraction to active honey bees. Listening to the sound of daily buzzing was like watching
The Sound of Music
âan escape from the everyday world.
The Sound of Music
âan escape from the everyday world.
Not only did the sound and sight of bees in our yard captivate me, but on summer nights honey-glazed chicken sizzling on the barbeque pit was an attraction, too. The scent of a fresh-baked apple pie sweetened with clover honeyâcooling on the kitchen counterâwasn't to be ignored, either. After dinner, I'd take a dip in the next-door neighbor's swimming pool. It may not have been Greece, but it was home. My dad sold insurance, not bees or honey. But honey bees in the suburbs were part of my life, as they were noticed in other people's worlds in the 20th century and long ago.
Back in the days of the ancient past, benefits of honey used for medicinal purposes varied from physical stamina to mental well-being. The versatile healing powers of honey were put to work by Egyptian physicians as far as 5,000 years ago, and its medical uses have also been noted in the Old World from traditional Chinese medicine to Indian Ayurveda.
2
2
HOLY HONEY HISTORY TIDBITS
Honey is mentioned countless times in the Bible. The phrase “milk and honey” was used at least 21 different places to describe the fertility and prosperity of the Promised Land, in contrast to the desert, which did not flow with water, milk, or honey.
Honey is one of the Bible's good-for-you healing foods. Here are some interesting biblical references to honeyâand what they may mean. These were gleaned from a variety of sources, all leading to the Bible:
Honey as in the Land of Milk and Honey
⢠“Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you.” (Exodus 33:3, New International Version)
⢠“If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.” (Numbers 14:8)
Honey, a Healing Gift
Not only will you find passages of the Holy Bible with references to the Promised Land, but in Genesis 43:11 Jacob sends honey as a gift to Joseph, the governor of Egypt. And in Kings 14:3 Jeroboam requests his spouse to give the gift of honey to the prophet Ahijah, with promise of its healing powers for their son who was allegedly blind.
3
3
Honey, the Symbol of Good Health
⢠“Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies! So none of the troops tasted food. The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. When they went into the woods, they saw honey oozing out, yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reaches out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened” (1 Samuel 14:24â27).
Honey, the Ultimate Food
⢠“Butter and honey shall he eat” (Isaiah 7:15).
⢠“The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey” (Exodus 16:31).
⢠“The day Christ rose from the dead and appeared before His Disciples, He asked for food. They gave him broiled fish and a honeycomb” (Luke 24:42).
⢠“My son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste” (Proverbs 24:13).
With all of this being put on today's kitchen table how can you go wrong by adding a little honey in your diet? Honey is praised by people during the ups and downs of biblical times, but the golden nectar doesn't end there....
ODE TO THE SWEET GIFT OF HONEY
Not only is golden honey found in the Old Testament, but it's noted in Greek mythology, too. Remember, Zeus, the legendary son of Cronos, in Greece? Zeus was an almighty god of the sky and king of the gods. Enter Melissaâthe meaning is “honey bee”âwho nurtured Zeus during the time he was estranged from his father. Melissa fed Zeus honey that she borrowed from beehives. This good feat, in turn, ended up in an evil punishment for the caring woman. Cronos transformed her into a worm. The end result: Zeus was thankful for Melissa's help with the golden nectar and like a good warlock he turned her into a queen bee.
4
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Honey is also known as the nectar of Aphroditeâthe Greek goddess of love and beauty. As mythology and folklore enthusiasts tell it, she allegedly pacified Cerberus, the three-headed dog, with a sweet honey cake and paid Charon to take her to Hades. En route, she saw hands reaching out of the water. A voice told her to toss a honey cake to them. She tossed the cake out to the hands and gave one to Cerberus. The sweet gift of honey got the goddess to where she wanted to be.
THE EGYPTIAN SEED OF HONEY . . .
While myths and legends are mind-boggling, inscriptions on Sumerian tables are more believable and hint that the Sumerians were the world's first beekeepers. But it is believed it was
really
the ancient Egyptians who started the craft of tending to bees and reaping rewards. Wild bee swarms were lured into containers and taken back to the temples and the priests were given the job of tending to the bees.
really
the ancient Egyptians who started the craft of tending to bees and reaping rewards. Wild bee swarms were lured into containers and taken back to the temples and the priests were given the job of tending to the bees.
By 2600 B.C., beekeeping was happening and honey was being praised for its versatile uses in medicine, beauty preparations, and trade.
5
5
The ancient Egyptians were also known to include honey in cooking, especially for honey cakes, and as offerings to the gods. Jars of honeyâwhich is an excellent preserverâwere buried with the pharaohs to sustain them in the afterlife, a practice that was also common in Mesopotamia, where honey was used for its healing health powers.
6
6
Sweet Honey Wine of Ancient Myths
The history of mead (honey made into wine) is worth a mention, since its roots go back to rituals of the Celts, Anglo-Saxons, and Vikings. As the legend goes, mead was touted to have healing power. The word “honeymoon” stems from the time when newlyweds indulged in mead for one month following the wedding. As legend has it, if the mead was “proper,” a son would be the end result within nine months.
The art of making mead, including adding herbs, began in the Middle Ages. Mixing grape and other fruit wines with this sweet beverage can be traced back to Roman times. As time passed, mead was replaced by beverages such as wine made from grapes or other fruits.
(
Source:
National Honey Board.)
Source:
National Honey Board.)
. . . BLOSSOMED TO ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME
Once Egypt paved the way for beekeeping, Greece and Rome were next in line. Aristotle, Hippocrates, and Dioscorides touted honey's magic, noting its amazing remedies, including as a wound salve, a cough medicine, an aid to rid one of body lice, and a cure for earache, ulcers, and even hemorrhoids.
In Greek mythology there are references to honey, with the moniker “the nectar of the gods.” After all, it was the Greeks who first noted the flavors of honeys and potpourri of nectar sources. The most beloved honey, from the perspective of the Greeks, was honey that came from thymeâgrowing on the slopes near Athens. Honey was the only sweetener available in Europe at the time, aside from syrups made from dried fruits, and herbs such as cicely.
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The ancient Romans put honey on a pedestal, as the Greeks did. Apicius, a famous gourmand, praised honey in more than half of his recipes, including one for roast dormouse (brushed with honey) and another for honey-baked ham. Both Egyptians and Greeks prized honey as a remarkable food preservative.
8
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The Old Philosopher and the Honey
As the tale goes, Democritus, a Greek philosopher, set his mind on dying at age 110. To achieve this goal he resisted food, day by day. His idea was to limit his food intake until he perished. The glitch was, a festive event was coming and the women in his household coaxed him not to leave Earth until this celebration ended. A translation of the Greet text
Deipnosophistae II
noted: “He was persuaded and ordered a vessel full of honey to be set near him, and in this way he lived for many days with no other support, than the honey; and then some days afterwards when the honey had been taken away, he died.”
9
Deipnosophistae II
noted: “He was persuaded and ordered a vessel full of honey to be set near him, and in this way he lived for many days with no other support, than the honey; and then some days afterwards when the honey had been taken away, he died.”
9
HONEY SWEETENS UP BRITAIN AND AMERICA
So, there is a trail of evidence that hints that
exactly
when honey made its move from Greece and Rome to the British Isles it was wild bees that deserved credit. Clues have been found on Neolithic pottery remains around 5,000 years backâand beekeeping was likely practiced in England before the Roman invasion. By the 11th century
A.D.
, beekeeping was noted in the Domesday Book list noting the number of hives each landholder ownedâto show how important these insects were to mankind.
10
exactly
when honey made its move from Greece and Rome to the British Isles it was wild bees that deserved credit. Clues have been found on Neolithic pottery remains around 5,000 years backâand beekeeping was likely practiced in England before the Roman invasion. By the 11th century
A.D.
, beekeeping was noted in the Domesday Book list noting the number of hives each landholder ownedâto show how important these insects were to mankind.
10
HONEY SWEETENS THE USA
The European honey bee was brought by man (they did not make the flight themselves) to New England in about 1638. North American natives called these honey bees the white man's flies. Honey was used to prepare food and beverages, to make cement, to preserve fruits, and for medicinal purposes. But tending to honey bees and gathering honey was not perfected as a fine art because of the challenges of beekeeping. Simply put, the intricate extraction of honey was not an easy process for beekeepers or bees.
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By the 18th century, however, thanks to the box hive, bees could attach to their honeycombs. But it still wasn't a finished fine art for bees or beekeepers until later in the century. That's when inventors finetuned hives so bees could build wax cells and raise their young and store pollen and honey. For centuries honey was eaten as honeycomb, since it was a task to extract the liquid sealed in the cells. This problem was solved when Franz Edler von Hruschka invented the honey extractor.
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In the 21st century, beekeeping continued to be an art in itself and the attraction was a mainstay around the globe after its historical roots spread. Major producers of honey include Argentina, China, Mexico, Turkey, the United States, and the Ukraine. These days, much like yesterday, honey, with its healing powers and interest as a natural sweetener and superfood, is in demand by beekeepers and other consumers around the world.
OTHER PAST MEDICAL USES OF HONEY
| Historical Users | Ingredients | Uses |
|---|---|---|
| Sumerians | River dust mixed with honey and oil | To treat skin ulcers |
| Egyptians | Honey | To treat open wounds; also used to feed sacred animals |
| Greeks | Honey | As an offering to the gods and the spirits of the dead |
| Babylonians | Honey | In medicine (referred to in the Code of Hammurabi) |
| Sushrutra, a surgeon from India | Honey varietals | For medicinal properties |
| Charak, another Indian physician | Honey | As tonic and mild laxative |
| Athenaeus | Honey and bread | To make who ate this for breakfast “free from disease all their lives” |
| Ibn Magih, from Arab-Muslim culture | Honey | As a remedy for every illness |
| Chinese | Honey mixed with opium | A therapeutic relief for pain |
(
Source: The Honey Revolution.
)
13
Source: The Honey Revolution.
)
13
HONEY MILESTONES
| Year | What Happened | What It Did |
|---|---|---|
| 6000 B.C. | Cave paintings were made in Spain that showed men collecting honey from a bee colony. | They proved honey goes back to ancient times. |
| 2600 B.C. | Beekeeping was established. | Honey began to be used as medicine and for beauty and trade. |
| 30th century B.C. | Honey was used in most households as a sweetening agent. | This showed how much Egyptians valued honey, as it was often used as payment. |
| 1500s | A book on Chinese medicine, published during the Qin dynasty, touted medicinal uses of honey. | It heightened awareness of honey and health. |
| 1500s | Ibn Magih, prophet, wrote a book, The Sacred Bee , discussing honey as a remedy for illness. | It taught people about the healing powers of honey. |
| 1600s | European honey bees were introduced to New England by European settlers. | This encouraged use of honey to prepare food and beverages, to preserve fruits, and for medicinal purposes. |
| 1759 | The first English book about honey by John Hill, was published. | This recognized the healing powers of honey. |
| Year | What Happened | What It Did |
| 1950s | Folk Medicine , by D. C. Jarvis, a Vermont doctor, was published. | It would make honey popular in the following decades. |
| 1970sâ1980s | Books on beekeeping and honey were published by Dr. Eva Crane, beekeeper and researcher. | They heightened awareness of honey bees and honey health. |
(
Sources:
National Honey Board and South Staffordshire Beekeepers Association.)
Sources:
National Honey Board and South Staffordshire Beekeepers Association.)
Â
I've searched for an all-natural and simple-to-bake cheesecake recipeâand it found me. This is a sweet cheesecake from the Old World, made with five basic, no-nonsense ingredients: plain flour, ricotta cheese, an egg, bay leaves, and clear honey, which was popular in ancient Roman times. I recommend using a different honey varietal each time you make it and every time your Ancient Roman Cheesecake will taste like a first sweet kiss.
Ancient Roman Cheesecake
4.2 ounces plain flour
4.4 ounces ricotta cheese
1 beaten egg
Bay leaves
16 teaspoons clear
honey
4.4 ounces ricotta cheese
1 beaten egg
Bay leaves
16 teaspoons clear
honey
Sieve the flour into a fairly large bowl.
Beat the cheese until it is soft and stir it into the flour along with the egg. Form a soft dough and divide into four. Form each into a bun and place them on a greased baking tray with a fresh bay leaf underneath each.
Heat the oven to 425°F. Bake for 35â40 minutes until they are golden brown. Warm the honey and place the warm cakes into it [4 teaspoons each] so that they absorb the liquid fully. Allow the cheesecakes to stand for 30 minutes before serving.
(
Source:
Courtesy of Delicious Italy.)
Source:
Courtesy of Delicious Italy.)
I baked this cheesecake and it's not your typical New York treatâit has a simple, old-world taste. My recommendation is to give it a new-world twist by adding ½ teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, using whole ricotta cheese, adding 1 teaspoon lemon rind, and using your favorite honey typeâorange blossom gave it a nice citrusy flavorâand serving it with fresh seasonal berries or dark chocolate curls.
Honey's remarkable powers, from eating to medicinal uses, from biblical times throughout century after century, were touted to have health attributes. Despite the bad rap it has received in the 20th century by nutritionists claiming “it's still a sugar,” it's made a turnaround in its acceptance, especially in the past two decades.
Honey, now dubbed as a superfood, has received a thumbs-up by scientists and medical doctors around the globe. In the next chapter, “A Historical Testimony,” I'll show you exactly how honey deserves kudos and why it's good enough to snag from the hive like Winnie the Pooh, the storybook bear, did.
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