Contents:
- Where does honey come from?
- Pure honey content
- What are the benefits of honey for health?
- Benefits of honey to treat skin to stay young
- Get to know the benefits of honey to heal wounds
Honey is a natural sweetener produced by bees. However, did you know that honey turns out to have many uses for health? Actually what are the benefits of honey purely for health? Consider the following review.
Where does honey come from?
Honey is a natural product that comes from a combination of nectar and deposits from plants which are then converted and stored in a honeycomb. Honey was first used as a medicine in health in 2000 BC. The use of honey was initially used by a doctor as a traditional medicine in China, then the use of honey continued to be developed to other countries.
Pure honey content
Actually honey has a main composition consisting of water and sugar. However, it turns out besides these two compositions, honey also has various other nutrients. Honey also contains amino acids, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
In addition, the sugar content in honey, which is dominated by the type of fructose (natural sugar commonly found in fruits) has a sweeter taste than artificial sweeteners and provides more energy.
What are the benefits of honey for health?
Pure honey contains nutrients that are very useful for the body. In the human digestive tract, there are good bacteria that are beneficial. Among them are Bifidobakteria and Lactobacilli which can improve the health of the human digestive system.
Consumption of foods that contain natural prebiotics such as honey, can actually increase this bacterial population so that it can provide beneficial effects on health. In addition, honey also has the effect of slowing down your stomach emptying. This makes honey often used for therapeutic treatment and prevention of ulcer disease or stomach acid.
Honey also has calcium content of 3-31 mg / 100 grams of sugar. Calcium is certainly very good for bone growth in children and prevention of ostoporosis in those who are elderly.
Besides having a good effect on bone, honey also has the ability to reduce levels of bad cholesterol (LDL), increase cholesterol (HDL), and increase NO (nitric oxide). NO is a gas that plays a role in promoting blood circulation, maintaining the function of the heart muscle, and regulating blood pressure. This makes honey a good friend to prevent heart disease or stroke.
In addition, honey can also be used as a natural sweetener and as an energy source. This is because in one teaspoon of pure honey, it contains 17 grams of carbohydrate with a low glycemic index level compared to artificial sweeteners. Honey has a glycemic index value of around 35-48, while white sugar which is commonly used as a sweetener contains 58-65. Based on the research conducted, consumption of honey while exercising can increase the body's stamina and energy.
Benefits of honey to treat skin to stay young
The presence of free radicals will cause interference with the body's cells and cause aging of the skin. The antioxidant content in honey is able to ward off these free radicals and prevent various disorders caused by free radicals, including premature aging.
You can also observe the high antioxidant content in honey from the color of honey. It is estimated that the darker the color of honey, the higher the antioxidant content contained in it.
Get to know the benefits of honey to heal wounds
Honey can actually help wound healing. This is because honey contains an antibacterial and antiseptic effect thanks to the content of hydrogen peroxide. In addition, the pH of acidic honey (between 3.2-4.5) can inhibit bacterial growth.
Honey also has anti-inflammatory effects and the ability to disguise scars. This is because honey has the ability to accelerate repair of blood vessels (due to damage to blood vessels during wounds), helps accelerate the growth of damaged skin layers, increases collagen which is very good to help repair skin, and prevent scars and keloids.
Because of these unique abilities, honey is often used as a therapy to help heal wounds and is often contained in cream compositions to treat wounds caused by burning or injury from scratching.
