From sweetening tea to helping a sore throat, honey has been food and medicine since prehistoric times. Honey, the sweet liquid produced by bees, actually has many uses that not everyone is aware of. It has many purposes in nutrition, health, skincare, and more.
Let’s start from the very beginning when honey was first used. The first appearance of honey was in cave paintings in Spain in 7000 B.C., even though fossils of honey bees date back about 150 million years ago. The Ancient Egyptians used honey as a sweetener while the Greeks as a medicine. Doctors even used the natural antibiotic properties of honey to produce salves for healing wounds. Plus, they both used honey as a gift to worship their gods. But what made it so great?
First, you need to know how honey is made. Bees collect nectar from flowers, ripen it to make honey, then store it in their hives to keep for food in case of an emergency where there aren’t any more flowers to get nectar from. Honey can be a really good way to overcome allergies. Eating even just a spoonful of local honey a day can build a sort of immunity against the flowers near you. Therefore, you’ll be less allergic next spring.
Honey also has many medical properties. As the Mayo Clinic states, “Honey is used as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial agent.” It even helps with digestive issues. Many studies have shown that honey can promote wound healing, especially in burns. This unique liquid is only produced by bees. Its “magical” properties even help fade dark spots on your skin. It’s used as a natural exfoliator and can be used as an ingredient for anti-aging. Next time you see a bee, I hope you’ll remember all that they’re doing for us.