Warning: Not All Honey Is Natural And Healthy

Bees make honey in the most extraordinary way, and it is considered by many people to be the most amazing survival food. It also has outstanding medicinal value and is known to be a broad-spectrum healing agent. But instead of keeping it the way it was made, man has found ways to filter honey and heat it to temperatures that destroy much of its goodness.

Raw Organic Honey

Raw organic honey is packed with antioxidants and probiotics, as well as vitamins and minerals, specifically vitamin B, vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, and iron. Widely considered to be a “superfood,” it is commonly used to support and boost the immune system and keep it healthy, particularly for those suffering from high cholesterol and diabetes because it doesn’t “spike” blood sugar levels the way refined cane or corn sugar does. It can be fed as a home remedy for colds and flu, and even used to treat wounds and infection.

Manuka honey from New Zealand is considered to have even more potent antibacterial and antiviral properties, and is added to some skincare products to help improve cell renewal and heal damaged skin. While the antimicrobial activity in other types of honey is due to enzymes producing hydrogen peroxide, manuka honey is different and does not produce peroxide. 

In a research paper titled Honey: its medicinal property and antibacterial activity published in the Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine (APJTB) and online by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), authors Manisha Deb Mandal and Shyamapada Mandal noted that honey has generally been utilized as a “last-resort medication.” However, they found that it is a “promising topical antimicrobial agent” that can be used to treat chronic wound infections (including burns) that don’t respond to antibiotics. They also found that it isn’t only manuka honey that has antibacterial activity, and that other types of so-called medical grade honey seem to improve and speed up recovery from gastric infections when taken orally.  

In another research paper, Traditional and Modern Uses of Natural Honey in Human Diseases: A Review published in the Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences (IJBMS) and by the NIH, Tahereh Eteraf-Oskouei and Moslem Najafi noted that in addition to the importance of honey in traditional medicines, modern-day scientists recognize that natural honey is “a new effective medicine for many kinds of diseases.” In the paper they list the importance of natural honey in modern medicine, citing more than 120 references, including other studies. These include:

• Its antioxidant activity, antimicrobial properties and anti-inflammatory effects
• Its ability to heal wounds – even ulcerations following particularly radical surgery for varicose veins and breast cancer, hysterectomies and caesarian sections
• Its use as a source of carbohydrate especially for athletes doing endurance exercise and resistance training
• Its use to lower the glycemic index of those suffering from diabetes
• Treatment of diarrhea and gastrointestinal tract diseases
• Treatment of fungal infections
• Treatment of certain viruses
• Treatment of a number of ophthalmological conditions as well as injuries of the cornea and both thermal and chemical burns to the eyes

READ The Surprising Power Of Medicinal Honey For Skin Infections

They also noted that natural honey has huge benefits for those suffering from cardiovascular diseases, and that it has been found to be an effective anti-carcinogenic agent.

But not all honey is raw, natural or indeed as healthy as we might imagine.

What Happens When Man Alters The Makeup of Raw Natural Honey

Raw honey is harvested from beehives and eaten or used as it is. But when honey is mass-produced for commercial sale, it is generally processed. The two most common processes are irradiation (which involves radical heating) and filtering.

Effects Of Gamma Irradiation On Honey

Gamma irradiation is just one of several forms of irradiation which basically involves “nuking foods.” Various processes have been used for more than half a century, with the US government continually insisting that all food treated is safe to eat.

The argument for irradiation of honey is that it is essential to sterilize it. Further, those who believe in the irradiation process for honey cite studies that show it doesn’t affect its antibacterial properties. They also argue that for honey to be beneficial, it needs to be free of anything that might contaminate it, including pollen and nectar.

Wound care is seen to be the most exciting element of natural honey, and this is where most research studies are focused. So if the antibacterial properties aren’t affected, concern lessens – just a little.

Nevertheless, irradiation remains a controversial issue, with researchers finding that animals given irradiated food often suffer from cancer, chromosomal abnormalities, reproductive dysfunctions, vitamin deficiencies and premature death. This is generally why those in the know avoid processed foods in general, wherever possible, choosing local sources where organic food is produced, rather than mass-produced commercial foods. Honey is no different.

Gamma irradiation is a food preservation technique that was designed to protect food from contamination, particularly when it is being stored over time. While there are undoubtedly good commercial reasons for irradiation, which many countries insist is declared on labels, even the most positive research findings show that irradiation does affect the properties of honey.

For instance, one academic study undertaken in Malaysia and Turkey last year (2014) – Does Gamma Irradiation Affect Physiochemical Properties of Honey? – found that the vitamin E content of the honey tested decreased significantly, as did its moisture content, which can lead to fermentation. They maintained that the vitamin C content and color intensity were increased, implying this was a positive factor.

At the same time, many scientists remain opposed to irradiation in general, For instance:

• George L Tritsch, Ph D of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York warns that irradiation will become expensive in terms of health care costs and human life, because it undoubtedly increases levels of carcinogens and mutagens in food that has been irradiated.
• Samuel S Epstein, MD, professor of occupational and environmental medicine at the University of Illinois has labeled large-scale irradiation of food a “toxicological experiment in human populations.”
• John W Gofman, MD, Ph D, from the University of California, Berkeley notes that irradiation definitely cases many unnatural and sometimes identifiable chemicals to be formed in food that has been irradiated. He maintains that it is a violation of human rights to “trick” people into buying any type of food that has been irradiated.

Filtering Of Honey

When we filter things we generally do it to clarify and purify the product. But when it comes to honey, it isn’t just impurities that are filtered to extend its shelf life. Instead, the accusation is that all pollen is removed primarily to hide the origin of the honey. This happens even though the World Health Organization (WHO) and other bodies have stated that without pollen in honey, there is no way to ensure that it originated from a safe and legitimate source.

While pollen is commonly filtered out of honey, it doesn’t make sense to filter out all the pollen. As the president of the American Honey Producers Association, Mark Jensen says, all ultra-filtration of honey to get rid of pollen does is to “diminish the quality of the honey” and add to its cost. The only rational explanation is that the pollen has been removed as part of the honey laundering system, so people don’t realize they are buying cheap honey from China.

READ How To Recognize Real Honey

If you care about the quality of honey you use, buy raw, organic honey made by bees in your part of the country.