Honey is an antibacterial food and antibiotic ally of the immune system, widely used not only for natural health but also in cosmetics. Let's find out better.
Description of honey
The word honey seems to derive from the Hittite melit, a neutral form which is linked to the Latin word mel from which in turn also the figurative use of the term melle is used. Many believe that sugar and honey are equally nutritious. Yet the latter has many virtues that are lacking in sugar.
Peter Molan, professor of biochemistry and director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand, has been studying the beneficial virtues of honey for over 15 years. In one of his experiments in the laboratory, Dr. Dr. Molan sprinkled honey with seven types of bacteria usually responsible for wound infections.
All seven types of bacteria have been neutralized by the precious bee product. In France, as early as 1984, the scientist Bernard Descottes, head of the Department of Internal Surgery and Transplantation of the Limoges Hospital, started using honey to treat some healing problems and to treat sores, with extremely positive results. which led him to Descottes has a formulator a real "honey-based therapy", which he renamed as "apitherapy".
Properties and benefits of honey
One of the most important functions of honey is antibacterial and antibiotic : many types of honey contain significant amounts of hydrogen peroxide, ie hydrogen peroxide, the same that is usually used to disinfect wounds. The high temperatures to which honey is subjected during pasteurization neutralize some beneficial substances: to obtain the maximum bactericidal effect, the ideal is raw, untreated honey.
In addition to stopping superficial infections, honey attenuates the symptoms of gastric ulcers and is used to treat diarrhea which, especially in children, can be dangerous because it causes dehydration. The honey is then effective against constipation, since it contains large amounts of fructose, a sugar capable of reaching the large intestine without having been digested. Fructose also gives a particular sweetening power and a prolonged energetic effect because, while glucose is burned immediately, fructose has emollient properties thanks to which it remains "available" for the body longer.
The calories in honey are 304 kcal per 100g of product
Depending on the type of honey, the therapeutic properties also change: acacia honey has a positive effect on the digestive system, forest honey is indicated in flu states, orange honey has healing properties, sunflower honey is antineuralgic, febrifuge, recommended against cholesterol. Still, the heather honey has an antirheumatic, antianemic action, the linden honey settles the menstrual pains, it is calming, diuretic and digestive, while the millefiori honey has a detoxifying action on the liver .
Honey, ally of
Immune system, digestive system, liver, skin
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A recipe up your sleeve
Along with tea it is sometimes nice to serve something that comes directly from your hands. Here is the recipe for simple and excellent honey biscuits . Ingredients
- 100 grams of butter,
- 1 packet of yeast,
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder,
- ½ teaspoon of ground cloves,
- about 300 g of "0" type flour,
- 150 g of raw cane sugar,
- 2 eggs,
- 50 g of honey.
Method
Place in a large bowl (or on a pastry board), the flour, the sugar, the butter, the honey (better of a more compact type), the two eggs and the spices; mix the ingredients well until you get a smooth and homogeneous mixture. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
After the necessary time, take the dough and spread it on a pastry board, giving it a thickness of about half a centimeter; with molds of various shapes, obtained various shapes from the dough, which you gradually lay on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, distancing them 2-3 cm from each other.
You can choose the most imaginative shapes or give free rein to your own imagination, venturing into the most unlikely forms. When you have filled the first pan, put it in the oven at 180 ° for about 15 minutes (or as soon as the edges of the cookies begin to color slightly).
In the meantime prepare the icing (or the icings) by mixing sugar with the veil together with any food coloring and a little boiling water: add the water in very small doses (half a teaspoon at a time), and stir vigorously until the mixture is creamy and very dense.
If the mixture is too liquid, add more sugar to the veil, if it is too thick, other hot water. Freshly baked, brush the cookies with the icing. If you keep them in a tin box, they will last longer.
Curiosity about honey
- Zeus, the mythological father of gods and men, as a child got his first nourishment from the honey of Panacrid, a bee that lived on the Ida, near the mountains that have the name of Panacri. Callimaco tells it in his Hymns.
- Miele is also the name of a character of Milo Manara who made his debut in 1986: it is an unprejudiced and captivating, fascinating journalist.
