Raw Honey
Alright, you might be wondering what raw honey has to do with bee pollen. (besides the fact that they both come from bees) Well, the truth is that raw, unfiltered, unheated honey actually contains small amounts of bee pollen in it naturally. This would be one of the reasons honey has many of the same benefits as bee pollen. Growing up on a honey farm, my mother never let me or my four siblings eat any sugar. Instead, she used unpasteurized, natural honey. She cooked all her cookies, breads, squares and cakes this way. And while I did my best to sneak in some sugar when I could behind her back, I'm very thankful now for her “rules." What is it?
A lot of people think that just because honey is "natural", any kind of honey is healthy.This is simply not true. Unfortunately, most of the honey eaten today has been heavily processed. Like most foods that have been chemically refined, many of the healthful benefits have been reduced or eliminated. Most commercial and off shore honey is treated with an excessive heating process that can destroy some of the critical natural enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. And many so called 'local' or 'domestic' honeys are in fact small amounts of domestic blended with Chinese or cheap off shore honey. Canadian labeling laws for example allow you to call it 'Canadian' as long as there is some Canadian honey in it. Processing of honey also filters out many vital phytonutrients found in raw honey, products that exist in nature in the hive. Raw Honey Vs Liquid Honey: What is the Difference?So what exactly is the difference between raw honey and the perfectly golden, liquid honey that you see often bottled in a squeezable hive?First of all, raw honey has not been heated excessively through pasteurization. The only way to get that perfectly clear look of most commercial honeys is to heat it and then filter it excessively. The problem with heat is that many nutrients are very sensitive to it and die. You may get strange looks when you tell people your raw honey is 'alive', but you're absolutely correct to a certain extent. It's the beneficial enzymes found in raw honey that make it so digestible to humans. Raw honey is filtered, but very minimally and in a manor not to destroy the health promoting enzymes and other nutrients. You'll also notice raw honey is solid at room temperature (like honey should be) and it also looks almost milky. It is not a golden and perfectly clear liquid. Let that be a sign to you - the mirky look to your honey is assurance that it still contains it bee pollen granules, bee propolis, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and whatever else raw honey contains that we haven't figured out yet! Remember, if it looks to good to be true, it probably is!
Buying Raw Honey: What to Look ForNot all honeys are created equal. Often times less desirable, less nutritious, pasteurized honey is marketed in such a way to lead us to believe it is all the same.Also, it is best to have honey from only one country of origin. A lot of mass honey producers will blend honeys together from a variety of countries. As long as the majority of the honey is from one country, they are allowed to say it is from that particular country on their label depending on labeling laws. For example, Dutchman’s Gold honey is from Canada only. It is 100% pure and true. My dad, the beekeeper, knows of other honey packers who purchase their honey from China and other countries and blend it all together, claiming it is Canadian honey when in fact it is only partially Canadian honey. Why would a honey packer do this? Simple. Off shore honey is cheaper than Canadian honey. In fact, its cheaper than American and New Zealand honey too. So a honey producer is able to claim that the honey is of certain quality and charge the market price for honey of that grade yet he's spent less on it than his competitors. At the end of the day, he's made more profit. Be Sure to Look for the Following on the Label:When selecting a raw honey for you and your family, make sure the word “raw" is on the label.Or "un-pasteurized." 100% Canadian is reassuring as well (or at least know which country the honey is coming from). It is extremely rare to hear of raw honey being blended with cheaper off shore honey so if you stick to raw, you should be safe! Why Raw Honey Is Healthier Than SugarHoney contains fewer calories than sugar. It contains fructose and glucose which are easily assimilated by the body. Glucose and fructose are also called a monosaccharide.These monosaccharides (simple sugars) do not have to be processed by the body – they enter the bloodstream easily and together do not produce as much of a blood sugar rush. Fructose specifically is much more slowly absorbed than glucose. On the other hand, white table sugar is “foreign” to the human body, called a disaccharide. A disaccharide (sucrose) has to be broken into glucose down by the small intestines before entering the bloodstream. So this is more work on the body and more work by the pancreas and causes more of an insulin “rush” or crash after consumption. For the same sweetness, 1 TBSP Honey = 1 ½ to 2 TBSP Sugar. As you can see, using raw honey provides fewer calories but the same sweetness. This is because of the monosaccharide content. How Bees Make HoneyEveryone knows that honeybees make honey. However, the complex formula cannot be re-produced synthetically by man.Here is a bit of what really happens out there in the working world of bees: Honeybees pre-digest the nectar in their bellies before they bring it back to the hive. (this is one of the reasons it is so digestible by us!) In order to make pure honey the honeybee puts its “provis” or long tongue down into the flower and sucks up the nectar as it travels from flower to flower. The bees tongue is built like a straw. When it sucks up the nectar it goes into the honeybee’s sack where it mixes with enzymes (that only the honeybee has) in the honey sack. After the honeybee returns to the hive it passes the nectar from bee to bee and they store the nectar in the honey comb to ripen into the honey we can eat. To produce a single pound of honey, the bees must bring in around 75,000 loads of nectar and then process it. This could take many, many days. Bees are constantly going back and forth from plant to plant and then back to the hive. On their way back they are carrying 85% of their weight in nectar! Many humans can’t even lift themselves out of bed let alone carry 85% of their weight around all day. For one single pound of honey, the worker women of the hive will fly the equivalent of four to six times the circumference of the earth! And amazingly, a busy bee hive can product up to 300 pounds of honey in a single season. Different Varieties of Unpasteurized HoneyThere are also different varieties of honey. This can change the color and the flavor of the honey because the bees get the nectar from specific types of flowers, weeds or blossoms.Here's a good list of honey varieties: • Raw Honey (unpasteurized) • Manuka Honey from New Zealand • Summer Blossom • Wild Flower • Buckwheat • Creamed Honey • Comb Honey • Blueberry Honey Honey TastingSome honeys have a stronger taste. For example, Buckwheat honey. It's great on toast or pancakes.Clover or Summer Blossom honey is much milder and would be considered “regular." It's a great all around honey. You can use it for just about everything! Then there is Wild Flower Honey which has a bit more body or flavour than Summer Blossom. It's great in tea. Creamed Honey is a favorite for those who like to spread their honey without the drip. Comb honey is exactly the way the bees made it and it still in it’s comb and it can be chewed like a chewy candy. You just have to spit out the wax afterwords. It is a favorite for those who like a treat!
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