While nutrient-rich honey is known to boost and safeguard the respiratory, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and nervous systems, the jar sitting in the back of your cupboard may not be delivering on these advantages.
Fabián Torres, Director of Business Development at SICPA and honey specialist, as reported by El Espanol, claimed up to 80% of honey sold in Spain is actually blended, containing only a small amount of genuine honey and supplemented with additives such as sugar.
Torres cautioned: “These ‘fake’ and poor quality honey, with additives, are more like syrups than honey as such. In the best case, they add sugar, which makes them very harmful caloric bombs for children or elderly people.”
The expert highlighted this issue is especially prevalent in baked goods and processed products containing honey, as it’s “more difficult to know” the real origin of the honey used in these products.
Even if you manage to get genuine nutritious honey, the health benefits may still make it to your body, depending on how you eat it.
A common practice is adding honey to hot beverages, often replacing sugar with the assumption that you’re getting a health boost and reducing calorie intake.
However, this method may not be as effective as you think as one beekeeper has warned AS, that heat is in fact “the greatest enemy” of honey.
Beekeeping expert Giorgio Poeta elucidated that when honey’s temperature soars to 50°C, it loses its nutritious attributes, therefore stripping it of its healthful advantages.
Immediately after brewing, the average cup of tea sits between 60 to 65°C. Poeta advised taking a pause and allowing your cuppa to cool for a few minutes prior to mixing in the honey in order to avoid this dilemma.
Furthermore, he also raised concerns about pasteurised honey, which undergoes heating to approximately 78°C as a means to prolong its shelf life.
The NHS points out that while unpasteurised honey is normally safe for adults, it should not be offered to infants under the age of one.
