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By Root 619 0

foods we eat are presweetened with white sugar, which is now one of the top three ingredients in most packaged foods. Most of us don’t realize how much sugar we’re are actually consuming every day because so much of it is hidden in other foods, and its presence is buried in long ingredient lists. A twelve-ounce can of a typical soft drink, for example, contains about nine teaspoons of refined sugar. White sugar is overprocessed and composed of sucrose, a white granular crystal refined from cane or beet juice by stripping away all its vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, and water. It contains very little nutritional value and promotes the growth of bacteria that cause disease and deplete your body of necessary nutrients. Organic and brown sugars have no more nutritional value than white granulated sugar. I am particularly sensitive to white sugar. It tends to give me a headache, causes me to feel fatigued, and seems to trigger mood swings. Honey does not have the same effect on my body as plain white sugar, and substituting honey for sugar has helped me eliminate processed sugars from my diet almost entirely. Unfortunately, most people assume that honey is just another type of white sugar, and some folks think all honey is homogeneous. I am certain they think this way because the only honey they’ve ever tasted is from a squeezable bear or the plastic honey packets found in diners.

The United States National Honey Board defines honey as a pure product that does not allow for the addition of any other substance, such as water or other sweeteners. Pure honey is not the same as cane or beet sugar. It is not refined. Honey is a natural sweetener made from the nectar of flowers. It is made up of carbohydrates and water, yet it also contains amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, like calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, niacin, pantothenic acid, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin, and zinc. Honey is sweet; it does contain fructose, sucrose, and glucose, as well as small quantities of other sugars. Glucose and fructose are simple sugars converted from sucrose by the bees. Fructose is also found in fruit and converts to energy more efficiently than white sugar. Honey will not make your blood sugar rise or fall as rapidly as processed sugar. Pure, wild honey is considered a living, raw food, which means it is uncooked, unheated, and commonly, unpasteurized. So, if you have a sweet tooth, you should give honey a try.

RAW HONEY VS. HEATED HONEYS

The freshest honey, in my opinion, is honey taken straight from the honeycomb. Most beekeepers or honey connoisseurs would agree. The honey inside honeycomb is raw honey. Untouched by human hands, it is still in its original state, exactly as the honeybees made it. However, is not uncommon to find jars of liquid honey that is called raw even though the honey has been partially extracted from the beeswax comb. Liquid honey that is designated as “raw” often contains cappings and even bee parts.

Many larger honey packers or importers will filter honey until it is completely clear, so there is less chance of crystallization while it is on the shelf at your grocery store. These manufacturers know that most Americans will not buy honey that is granulated, because granulated honey is commonly thought of as outdated or spoiled. But this is actually not true.

Honey that is heat-treated to delay crystallization cannot be considered to be truly raw. Commercial producers often raise the temperature of the honey to 170°F (77°C) for two minutes, then rapidly cool it to 130°F (54°C). Other heat treatments include heating honey to 140°F (60°C) for thirty minutes, or 160°F (71°C) for one minute, or some straight-line gradient between those two temperatures. Any more heating is considered pasteurization. I believe that heating honey to a temperature higher than what naturally occurs inside the beehive, 90° to 95°F (32° to 35°C), compromises the quality of the honey, destroying valuable enzymes and flavors. A burned flavor can occur when a honey has been overheated to kill the yeast in it or simply to