By Eva Sacchi Hunter, Nutritionist
Honeydew honey, or simply honeydew, is a very special and precious substance that is collected from the leaves of trees instead of being produced from nectars. With antibiotic properties, it is rich in iron and an excellent natural supplement of mineral and oligomineral salts. Let's find out better.
What is honeydew honey
Honeydew honey it is a very special substance that is collected from the leaves of trees. Aphids and other insects that suck the sap of plant leaves engrave the leaves and their petioles and from here a very sugary liquid with a low protein content is released.
To get the proteins needed to grow these insects must ingest significant amounts of liquid and exude excess sugary fluid. Ants and bees collect and process it, and it is thanks to their work that this liquid is transformed into honeydew honey.
Most come from trees that grow in temperate climates. For example, the famous German Black Forest honey is, in fact, honeydew honey.
This healthy "relative" of honey has a very dark color, sometimes almost black, has a very dense consistency that does not crystallize. The taste is less sweet than that of nectar honeys and has a particular earthy and bark aftertaste, sweet and bitter at the same time. It is purchased both in herbal medicine and in stores of bee products and natural food.
Properties and benefits of honeydew honey
Recent research has confirmed the antibacterial properties of honey against various microbes and in particular it has been found that the variety of chestnut honey, eucalyptus and fir honeydew are more effective in fighting pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, often resistant to antibiotics .
The particular characteristics of honeydew honey recommend it as a 100% natural antibiotic food to always have at home.
But the therapeutic properties of honeydew honey do not end there: it is an excellent source of iron, useful for those who follow vegetarian or vegan diets, and can be used as a light sweetener thanks to its lower content of simple sugars that guarantee an index lower glycemic more suitable for diabetics and for people on slimming or low-glycemic impact diets.
However it is important to try to buy a quality organic honeydew honey, which preserves all its beneficial properties, in order to limit the contamination from chemicals and antibiotics used in conventional beekeeping practices.
Since the raw material collected by the bees comes from the leaves of the trees, the collection area is extremely important, in fact in honeydew honey higher concentrations of chemicals and heavy metals can be revealed compared to other honeys which, in most cases, come from industrial, urban and road pollution.
Discover also the properties and characteristics of chestnut honey
Ally of
Honeydew honey is also an important ally of the nervous system and helps repair and nourish it, supporting its various functions.
Like royal jelly, honeydew can also help regulate neurological tone, assisting memory and concentration and stimulating the appetite; thanks to the richness of polyphenols it is also an effective natural and energetic restorative.
To keep in mind are also the disinfectant and antiseptic action of this honey: up to the last century, in fact, the honeydew was used in surgery to disinfect ulcerations, wounds and lesions. Thanks to its antiseptic role the honeydew is a valid support for the respiratory tract, as a cough soothing, and to fight bronchitis and pharyngitis, especially in children.
Thanks to the content of oligosaccharides (complex sugars) that assist the growth of beneficial bacteria in the intestine, honeydew plays a regulatory action on the intestinal flora and. In our intestines live about 100 trillion bacteria, some benefits and others potentially harmful, and the proper functioning of our digestive system depends on the balance between the two.
Even when we follow a balanced diet, this balance can easily be disturbed by stress, antibiotics, or the natural aging process. The honeydew oligosaccharides survive the journey through the stomach and exert their beneficial effect by strengthening the "good" bacteria and promoting the maintenance of a healthy digestive system, avoiding intestinal problems and colitis .
Honeydew honey is also known as the " sportsman's honey " since it is an excellent natural supplement of mineral salts and mineral minerals. It is indicated for anyone who practices physical activity and sports because, thanks to the high content of manganese, potassium and high absorption magnesium, it is very useful in situations of increased need: in situations of dehydration due to excessive sweating, or in cases of vomiting and diarrhea.
Like honeydew honey, royal jelly also helps concentration: discover all the properties
Calories and nutritional values of honeydew honey
100 gr. of honeydew honey provide 300 calories, available immediately.
The honeydew is 75% made up of a mixture of sugars (5% less than the other honeys): glucose, fructose, maltose, sucrose; from numerous other nutrients (minerals, organic acids, vitamins etc.), and water for 17-18%.
The remaining substances in the order of 5% are the most relevant: amino acids, proteins, organic acids, mineral salts (calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium) and essential trace elements (iron, copper, chromium) essential for the body; and finally traces of pollen, aromas, enzymes and pigments.
How to use it in the kitchen
Instead of the ordinary supplements of mineral salts it is possible to take one or two tablespoons of honeydew melted in half a liter of water with half a lemon.
To appreciate the properties of digestive tonic, just taste the honeydew with a natural yogurt, or on a slice of toasted bread, in drinks or with a cup of cereal or muesli in the morning. In short, a real super food for every age that can be consumed daily.
