High Praise for Honey in Beauty and Wellness Care

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Honey is a superfood in every way, deserving high honors and praise. Besides being an exquisite-tasting natural alternative for sugar, it offers incredible beauty care, wellness care and even emergency wound care.

Nutrition

Research has shown that honey contains a wide array of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants. Flavonoids and phenolic acids, which act as antioxidants, are found in honey. The amount and type of these compounds depends largely on the floral source.

Wellness

When it comes to healthcare, nobody enjoys having a sore or ticklish throat. Honey offers soothing, effective results.

A study by a Penn State College of Medicine research team found that honey may offer parents an effective and safe alternative. The study found that a small dose of buckwheat honey given before bedtime provided better relief of nighttime cough and sleep difficulty in children than no treatment or dextromethorphan (DM), a cough suppressant found in many over-the-counter cold medications.

The same study found that honey has been used for centuries in some cultures to treat upper respiratory infection symptoms like cough, and is considered to be safe for children over 12 months old. Honey has well-established antioxidant and antimicrobial effects, which could explain its contributions to wound healing.

Because of these properties, I like to blend honey with garlic (known for its powerful immune boosting properties) whenever I feel a cold coming on. I finely chop up a clove of garlic, then merge it into a teaspoon of honey. This was a recipe told to me personally by Jeanne Rose, (herbalist, aromatherapist, and author). It will wake you up. It also wakes up your immune system. I sometimes add various flowers from my herb garden into honey and allow the honey to meld with the flowers for 2-5 days (before they soften too much and are unable to be removed cleanly). Lavender makes for a beautiful scent and taste. Marshmallow is mucilaginous so it further helps to soothe and soften an irritated throat). Thyme and Oregano leaves and flowers are also immune boosters.

Beauty

Nice skin is smooth and hydrated. Honey provides both! Honey is a humectant, which means it attracts water. This makes the skin more plumped out and radiant. It also adds a dewy quality. (Tip: Drinking enough water also helps to hydrate and plump the skin.) Honey is also an emollient, which means that it helps to soothe and soften the outer layer of skin.

In cosmetic formulations, it exerts emollient, humectant, soothing, and hair conditioning effects, keeps the skin juvenile and retards wrinkle formation, regulates pH and prevents pathogen infections. Honey-based cosmetic products include lip ointments, cleansing milks, hydrating creams, after sun, tonic lotions, shampoos, and conditioners.

Using honey yourself at home is as easy as going to your kitchen. The easiest and most effective way is to add it to some yogurt. Mix it well and apply it to your face and neck. Massage well for a few minutes, then soak and gently rub it off using a soft warm washcloth. Your skin will be nice and soft.

We’ve just begun to touch on all of the amazing things honey can do. But on a somber note, the decline of the bee population is a serious issue that needs to be remedied. At the rate things are going, honey could prove to some day be a rare commodity. This delicate botanical substance is precious, for many reasons. Let’s do what we can do to help save the bees and be grateful for what they’ve worked so hard to provide. (Beauty Prepper Tip: Stock up while you can)

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Sources
National Honey Board, “Nutritional Benefits of Honey”
http://honey.com

Penn State University Study https://news.psu.edu/story/192001/2007/12/03/honey-proves-better-option-childhood-cough-otcs

Jeanne Rose
Visit the Jeanne Rose Website

PubMed.gov https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24305429

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