Honey
Honey often gets touted as a holistic remedy. If you want my unsolicited opinion, I think honey is incredibly understudied and underutilized – because where it has been studied, honey has proven to have some amazing health benefits.
When to eat or use: Daily
I am not overly intentional about forcing honey into my daily diet, but because I avoid refined sugar whenever possible, honey makes its way into my baked goods, dressings, marinades, tea, hair and skincare regularly, which means it’s part of my lifestyle most days.
Classification: Raw or organic, and always local for your regular dose
There aren’t currently strict regulations on honey, but raw or organic honey is going to be much closer to the source (the hive!), and both raw and organic honey are minimally processed – meaning they haven’t hit pasteurization so retain a lot more of their nutritional potency. Highly processed honey is effectively void of many of its most valuable nutrients so don’t compromise on choosing raw or organic for this ingredient.
I also recommend using local honey for most of your honey consumption (read: from somewhere nearby, ideally within a few zip-codes of you, and at least within your state of residence.) That’s because your local bees pollinate local flowers, so the quercetin in local honey might help reduce your allergy symptoms.
Now, there is one type of honey that deserves a very special shout-out: Manuka honey. Manuka honey comes from pollen of manuka flowers in New Zealand, and it boasts some superhero powers. It’s been demonstrated in studies to support wound healing and treat MRSA infections – what!? Now, you want to verify authenticity and potency of manuka if you’re going to invest in this liquid gold. The higher the UMF factor of manuka, the more potent it is as an antibacterial.
A minimum rating of 10 UMF is needed to get these benefits (and you’ll be hard pressed to find higher than 20 UMF). The UMF rating correlates to how much methylglyoxal (MG) it contains, which is the potent healing stuff of manuka. MG exists in small quantities in other honey, but nothing like this. For reference, manuka with a UMF of 10 equates to an MG content of 250+, UMF of 20 yields MG of 800+. The higher the UMF, the more expensive it’ll be.
Where to store: Cool, dark pantry
Wholeness factor: Best
Honey is a powerful prebiotic that gives your body insoluble fiber for probiotics to feed on, supporting a healthy gut flora. Raw honey boosts the immune system, is a powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial, antibacterial and antifungal, and it may help build immunity to allergens.
How I eat and use honey
- Baked goods. I replace white sugar with local honey 1:1 in muffins, quick breads, cookies and cake (note: honey cannot replace brown sugar – but coconut sugar SURE can!)
- Dressings & marinades. Literally, any marinade or dressing you make, replace the sugar it calls for with local honey. I clued into this over years of seeing that honey is already a staple ingredient in Thai sauces. In addition to being way better for you, honey is also SO much tastier than white sugar in oil and vinegar-based dressings.
- In tea. I swirl ½ teaspoon of local honey into my tea almost every night. If I have a cold or feel like my digestion is off, I’ll swap in manuka honey for a few days and I swear by it. I’ve read a ton of stories about the regular use of manuka helping to clear up digestive issues like leaky gut and C-diff…it’s unsubstantiated by studies, but if you’re looking for a holistic helper for antibiotic-resistant or pesky gut-related conditions, try manuka.
- Hair & skincare.
- I use manuka honey on cuts, burns and pesky breakouts – remember, it’s potently antibacterial! Manuka will clear your blemishes in a day. I actually store manuka in my medicine cabinet instead of my pantry so I can use it sparingly.
- I love making a biweekly moisturizing hair mask with 2T of local honey, ½ c organic pureed pumpkin and ¼ c melted coconut oil. Apply to damp hair, wrap in a warm towel for 20 min, rinse, shampoo and condition as usual.
