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Nutrient Reference Values
Honey is one of our most natural, tasty foods, enjoyed by consumers around the world for many centuries. There are many positive reasons to eat honey as part of your everyday diet - honey has no fat, no additives and is 100% natural.Honey is considered the food of foods,the drink of drinks and the drug of drugs.it is used for creating appetite,strenghening the stomach and eliminating phlegm,as a meat preservative,hair conditioner,eye save,and mouthwash.Various ingredients of honey have helped it to become not only a sweet liquid but also a natural product with high nutritional and medicinal value .
The ingredients of honey are:
1. Sugars like fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, lactose and other disaccharides and trisaccharides.
2. Proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and amino acids,
3. Volatile aromatic substances.
4. Ashes and water etc.
It is savored by all due to its taste as well as health benefits. What make honey so popular is its nutritional benefits.one can eat honey directly, or put it on bread like a jam. You can mix it with juice or any drink instead of sugar. Alternatively, mix it with warm water, lime juice, cinnamon and other herbs to make a medicine.
So, what exactly does honey contain that make it such a healthful beverage?
Honey Nutrition #1:Complex Sugar and Carbohydrates
Honey is made up of both simple sugars (called monosaccharides) such as glucose and fructose, and complex sugars (called oligosaccharides).Complex sugars are present in all life forms and particularly in cell membranes and cell secretions.
Honey Nutrition #2:Complex Carbohydrates
The complex carbohydrates found in honey are made up of complex sugars.
These complex carbohydrates are non digestible, but by consuming them you encourage the growth of friendly intestinal bacteria in the body, which helps you digest food more easily.
Honey Nutrition #3:Vitamins and Minerals
It may come as a surprise to many people, but honey is an excellent source of vitamins. This is not equally true of vegetables and fruits. For example, spinach loses 50% of its vitamin C content within 24 hours after being picked. Fruits lose some of their vitamin content during storage. In contrast, honey keeps well. In fact, it is probably the only food that never expires!
Honey contains a variety of vitamins and minerals. The vitamin and mineral content of honey depends on the type of flowers used for agriculture. When bees are allowed free forage, the honey blend is higher in a wider variety of vitamins and minerals.
Honey is high in vitamin C, a variety of B vitamins such as niacin, riboflavin, and pantothenic acid, as well as, minerals such as potassium.
Honey Nutrition #4:Amino Acids
All varieties of honey are rich in amino acids. One study has found that the level of amino acids present in honey is a reliable indicator of the honey's antioxidant capacity.Amino acids are the basic building blocks of life, essential to our very existence. Such as Tryptophan, a natural relaxant, it helps alleviate insomnia by inducing normal sleep. It reduces anxiety and depression, relieves migraine headaches, boosts immune system, reduces the risk of artery and heart spasms, and works with Lysine to reduce cholesterol levels.
Honey Nutrition #5:Antioxidants
Honey contains powerful antioxidants which fight free radicals and reverse aging.
Free radicals are everywhere - in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and even the sunlight we love so much. Every moment, the body absorbs oxygen and turns it into energy in a process called oxidation. This process also releases free radicals.
Antioxidants slow down aging by neutralizing these free radicals. They perform healing at the deepest cellular level, allowing the benefits to manifest in a myriad of different ways.
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