Abundant Benefits of Pure Honey
Honey is a natural sweetener produced by bees. It tastes sweet, making honey often a substitute for sugar. In addition to its delicious taste, honey is also popular for its nutritional content that nourishes the body. What are the benefits of honey based on its content? Come on, find out the answer here!
Pure nutritional content
Honey is very popular in the world of health, because of its use as a traditional medicine. The potential and benefits of honey in the world of health are obtained from its nutritional content. In 100 grams of honey there are various nutrients, including:
- Protein: 0.3 grams.
- Carbohydrates: 79.5 grams.
- Fiber: 0.2 grams.
- Calcium: 5 mg.
- Phosphorus: 16 mg
- Iron: 0.9 mg
- Sodium: 6 mg
- Potassium: 26.9 mg.
- Copper: 0.04 mg.
- Zinc: 0.2 mg.
- Riboflavin or vitamin B2: 0.04 mg.
- Niacin or vitamin B3: 0.1 mg.
- Vitamin C: 4 mg.
Health benefits of honey
Based on various studies, honey which is rich in nutritional content certainly has the potential for health, the following:
1. Help maintain a healthy digestive system
The antioxidant content in honey can help the body fight free radicals. Free radicals that enter the body can trigger gastric acid reflux because it damages the cells that line the digestive tract. Not only in the stomach, if gastric acid reflux recurs, it can also irritate the esophagus.
Well, the antioxidants in honey provide benefits to overcome these complaints. First, honey which is rich in antioxidants can prevent further damage to the cells around the digestive lining. Second, honey which is soft in texture can also help relieve inflammation in the esophagus as well as coat the mucous membrane of the esophagus.
Because of the efficacy of this honey, many people rely on honey as a home remedy to relieve ulcers (stomach acid rises). Usually, honey is consumed with lemon. In healthy people, this property can help maintain a healthy digestive system.
2. Has the potential to reduce the risk of cancer
Honey has active compounds that are anticancer. Therefore, one study in the journal Pharmacognosy Research states that honey may provide benefits for reducing the risk of various cancers.
Cancer occurs when the body’s cells become abnormal; grow out of control and do not die. As a result, cells accumulate and form tumors. The active compounds in honey can prevent cell proliferation and stimulate apoptosis. Cell proliferation is a cycle of cell division, when a cell divides into two daughter cells. Meanwhile, apoptosis is a program that orders cells to die.
3. Help reduce the risk of heart disease
Antioxidants in honey are quite complete, because they consist of flavonoids, polyphenols, Vitamin C, and monophenols. All of these antioxidants provide protection for heart health.
There are three mechanisms of the benefits of honey on the heart, namely increasing vasodilation (widening) of coronary vessels, decreasing the ability of platelets to clot blood, and inhibiting the oxidation process of bad cholesterol. In addition, the vitamin C in honey is also efficacious in preventing inflammation of the blood vessels around the heart.
4. Lowering blood sugar levels
Preventing diabetes can be done by limiting foods high in sugar, so sufferers are careful in choosing foods that contain sugar. It is important to eat foods with a low glycemic index. That is, foods that do not make blood sugar spike up quickly.
Sugar includes foods with a high glycemic index number. Therefore, people with diabetes can use honey as a sugar substitute. Honey has a low glycemic index number, so it can help diabetic patients keep their blood sugar levels stable.
5. Maintain cholesterol levels and blood pressure
Honey nutrition has benefits for lowering bad cholesterol (LDL), increasing cholesterol (HDL), and increasing NO (nitric oxide).
NO is a gas that plays a role in launching the circulatory system, maintaining heart muscle function, and regulating blood pressure. Overall, this function provides double protection for the heart and surrounding blood vessels. This is because high cholesterol levels and hypertension (high blood pressure) are risk factors for heart disease.
6. Caring for skin to stay young
The presence of free radicals will cause interference with the body’s cells and cause skin aging. The antioxidant content in honey is able to ward off the dangers of these free radicals and prevent various disorders caused by free radicals, including premature aging.
You can also observe the high and low antioxidant content in honey from the color of the honey. The darker the color of the honey, the higher the antioxidant content it contains.
7. Can help wound healing
Honey can actually help wound healing. This is because honey has antibacterial and antiseptic effects thanks to its hydrogen content.
Honey also has anti-inflammatory effects and the ability to lighten scars. This is because honey has the ability to accelerate the repair of blood vessels (due to damage to blood vessels during injury), helps accelerate the growth of damaged skin layers, increases collagen which is very good for helping skin repair, and prevents scars and keloids.
Thanks to the ability of honey, many people use honey for wound healing and it is in the composition of creams to treat wounds caused by burns or scratches.
Tips for safe consumption of honey
Interested in the benefits of honey? Relax, you can get the benefits by enjoying it directly, or on minor wounds by applying it directly to the skin. However, honey consumption should not be excessive. The reason is, excessive consumption of honey can cause side effects such as nausea and vomiting.
Some people may also exhibit an itching reaction or shortness of breath. This may happen if the person has an allergy to honey.
You should also pay attention to the choice of honey. The best honey is pure honey, which is without a mixture of preservatives or coloring.
In addition, you should also choose honey that is packaged in the right way and tightly closed, such as premium honey from Madurasa.
Pure or premium honey products from Madurasa are processed from quality pure honey and are packaged in a hygienic way in tightly closed containers so you don’t have to worry about the quality of the honey that you will consume.