Local, Raw Honey Offers a Host of Health Benefits

So often "eating right" is framed as a sacrifice—giving up tasty foods for the sake of health. Well it turns out those of us with a sweet tooth may have a good reason to indulge. A growing body of research is demonstrating that honey — and in particular raw, local honey — has a whole host of health benefits.

The antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of honey are well-established. Honey is rich in cholesterol-fighting polyphenols, although they are by no means the only active antioxidant ingredient. Dark buckwheat honey in particular has been found to have exceptionally high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Honey has historically been used to heal wounds, and more and more modern scientific research strongly supports this idea.

However, the heating and filtering process that honey typically goes through damages many of the useful compounds and enzymes that make honey so unique, which is why it's so important to seek out raw honey.

There's a general cultural wisdom that honey is good for a sore throat, but one often wonders how much of a placebo effect is at work with such ideas. But for this folk remedy at least, the science backs up tradition. Honey has been found to be quite successful in treating upper respiratory infections. The Penn State College of Medicine published a study in 2007 comparing the efficacy of buckwheat honey, honey-flavored over-the-counter medication, and no treatment at all on alleviating symptoms in coughing children. The over-the-counter cough syrup provided only negligible improvement, but the real honey noticeably reduced nighttime coughing. This is especially encouraging given the FDA's recommendation that children under six not be given cold medicine. I'm sure the kids will be all too happy to have a spoonful of honey instead of a mouthful of caustic cough medicine.

Honey is widely believed to help prevent and treat allergies, but so far most research has not supported this idea. However, in 2008 scientists at the Juntendo University School of Medicine in Tokyo conducted a study showing that bee pollen did work to inhibit allergic reactions. And numerous folks swear that eating a teaspoon of local honey every day alleviates allergy symptoms when allergy season does roll around. We'll have to wait for more research on this one, though.

Even putting aside this multitude of healing properties, it's hard to beat honey as a mere sugar substitute. It has few of the pitfalls of other sweeteners. Unlike high fructose corn syrup or refined sugar, honey contains a wide variety of helpful vitamins, minerals, and amino acids; these are no empty calories. Honey also has a mild affect on blood sugar, so swapping it for refined sugars may help prevent diabetes and other related problems. Even your teeth, the first casualty of a sugar-loaded diet, could be better off: Some evidence suggests that honey may actually help to fight cavities, ironically enough.

The number of studies out there demonstrating honey's health benefits is actually quite overwhelming. It seems the more one looks, the more perks one finds buried in the medical literature. So fear not, dessert lovers. Just swap honey for sugar in your recipes, and as long as those calories aren't replacing your fruits and veggies, you can enjoy your sweetener guilt-free.

Finally, given the threat of Colony Collapse Disorder, we would do well to support local beekeepers who don't subject their bees to a stressful life serving the big, conventional farms. Not only will we be making our food supply more secure and supporting our local economies, but local honeys have a whole buffet of unique flavors to explore. How sweet it is.

Photo credit: David Blaikie