The Truth about Honey
- Honey is the only natural sweetener that does not have to be refined and it is the only one that is not. Therefore, nothing is added or taken away, making it the world’s only perfect sweetener.
- There are as many colors and kinds of honey as there are plants from which the bees make the honey, depending on the kind of flower from which the nectar is taken.
- Honey differs chemically from any other sweetener. Honey contains minerals, nutrients, vitamins, acids and natural sugar, which table sugar or any artificial sweetener does not have.
- Honey is one of the only food products that will not spoil. It has been found some of the Egyptian pyriamid tombs.
- Honey has no “empty” calories only “natural” calories, everything the body needs to build and rebuild itself without adding weight.
- Honey is nature’s mystery. Bees do not make the honey from the nectar they gather by any chemical action. It is transformed into honey by enzymes produced in the honey sac, which converts the natural sucrose into honey.
- No person has ever identified all the ingredients of honey or knows exactly how it is made. Medical scientists have found that bacteria can not live in honey, while sugar breeds bacteria. Agricultural scientists have tested honey produced from plants heavily sprayed with pesticides and found that it never contains even a trace of any foreign chemical.
From absolutelydelightfulazhoney.com
Honey Beneficial Facts:
Functional properties and health related applications
Antioxidant Activity: Known antioxidant compounds in natural sweetener to preserve food retarding deterioration, rancidity, and discoloration. The levels of antioxidants found in honey are similar to some fruits and vegetables weight for weight.
Athletic Performance: Honey is a great pre-workout energy source, aiding an athlete's endurance and helping the athlete's muscles recuperate following a race or workout.
Beauty Treatments: Honey is a natural humectant, which means it has the ability to attract and retain moisture. Try using Raw honey in facial masks, bath oils, hair conditioners and more.
Prebiotic Properties: Helps promote the growth and activity of friendly bacteria.
Why is Raw Honey is Kosher?
The rabbis of the Talmud discuss this question.1 The Mishnah states "that which comes from something which is not kosher is not kosher, and that which comes from something which is kosher is kosher." So, for example, the milk of a camel or the eggs of a vulture are just as unkosher as the camel and the vulture.
Why then, since bees are not kosher, is the honey of a bee permitted?
Honey consists of nectar, which bees gather, store and transport to their honeycombs. While in the bee, the nectar is broken down and transformed into honey by enzymes in the bee. But it is not actually digested by the bee. So the honey is not a product of the bee itself--as is milk.
One hundred percent pure, raw honey is kosher. When purchasing honey, be sure to check that it is certified as kosher by a reliable kosher agency, since non-kosher foods may have been processed on the same equipment, and non-kosher flavorings may have been added.
We have an interesting article on honey and its role in Judaism here: Honey. Let me know if this is helpful and if I can be of any further assistance.
Mrs. Rochel Chein
FOOTNOTES 1. Bechorot 7b
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/712032/jewish/Why-Is-honey-kosher.htm
Parve Kosher Foods Honey