Honey

Honey is golden, sticky and sweet. Its produced by honey bees and has been used as a natural sweetener for thousands of years. It can be used in baking, cooking and it can be added to drinks like coffee and smoothies! Honey is usually sold in glass jars or plastic squeezable bottles.

It can also be used as a preservative, a pot of honey was discovered in an ancient Egyptian toom – it was estimated to be about 3,000 years old and it is still perfectly edible!

Honey can also be added to salad dressings and marinades. Honey also makes a wonderful glaze for vegetables like carrots and meats like salmon and chicken.

Types of honey

There are many different types of honey. The colour, flavour and texture all depend on which type of flower the bees collect nectar from. It is important to add most honey you find in the supermarket hat been heat treated and filtered (pasteurised). This helps the honey stay liquid but it can remove natural benefits.

• Manuka Honey – is widely know for vitamins and minerals and its nutritional benefits. It gets its name from the Mauka tree from which the bees collect the pollen. The Manuka tree only grows in New Zealand and parts of South Australia making this honey quite exclusive. It has a dark colour and a strong unique taste.
• Acacia Honey – has a light colour it can sometimes be clear. It has a mild, delicate taste with hints of vanilla.
• Wildflower honey – is a golden colour and has a distinct floral taste. It’s made by bees that have collected nectar from a mix of wildflowers.
• Lavender honey – has light opaque amber colour, it has a faint floral aroma the taste is soft with some slightly sour notes.

Nutritional information of honey

As mentioned before most honey is pasteurised which kills many of the nutrients. Raw unpasteurised honey can be bought from a local producer, local health food shops and even online.

Honey is considered vegetarian but not vegan-friendly.

There are about 304 calories per 100g of honey.

Honey is a good source of antioxidants which can help your body protect against free radicals. Free radicals attack cells in your body which can lead to the development of diseased like cancer and heart disease.

Honey is also an effective natural remedy for a cough. Mix some honey with hot water and lemon juice, this hot drink can soothe a cough and what’s more, it’s really delicious and comforting.