Some Fascinating Facts About Honey

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Some Fascinating Facts About Honey
By. Gillian Stell

You might not fancy having something that has been produced by insects. These swarms of insects produce honey using a very simple process and it is one of the most amazing foods on our palette. Baffled scientists are trying to determine more uses of this wondrous food in everyday life.

We are certainly not the first civilization to recognize honey as a truly marvelous food with many redeeming qualities. The Romans actually used honey to pay their taxes instead of gold. While this did not happen during the entire 1,000 year reign of the Roman Empire, it nonetheless remains true that honey was used to pay taxes.

The history of humans and honey predates even the mighty Roman Empire. Paintings have been found in caves dating back over 9,000 years that have honey depicted in them. This is not really surprising since honey was probably the only means of sweetening food up until the time of refined sugar and molasses.

The flowers, which the bees select to get the nectar from, are decisive in determining the taste and color of honey. Thus, you can easily get honey in different varieties having different taste and color. It is amazing to know that there are over 300 different types of honey available in the market.

Chemically speaking, honey is essentially naturally refined sugar. Although there is some variance, honey is basically: 38 percent fructose, 31 percent glucose, 1 percent sucrose, and 9 percent other sugars. The remainder is made up of vitamins, minerals, water, and various amino acids. It is in these vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that have scientists most interested in the possible medical benefits of honey.

What's absolutely fascinating about honey is that it does not rot. People have found honey with mummies, which was still perfectly safe to eat. Honey does not spoil because it has bioactive agents that keep germs and bacteria away. No wonder, honey has been used as a topical treatment for burns and other wounds. It prevents the injury from becoming infected. However, honey should be stored in a cool dark place to retain its bacteria-repelling properties because if it is exposed to light and heat the bioactive agents will begin to disintegrate.

Honey is available in different varieties but the kind that we are most familiar with is liquid honey. This is the type we use on pancakes and in tea and it is removed from the comb using a centrifuge, straining, or just simple gravity. A person may get it "filtered" so that all of the impurities and air bubbles have been removed or they may have it "strained" where most of the impurities have been removed but some of the smaller particles and air bubbles remain.

Honey has a history as old as man himself, and is still the only naturally refined sugar available to us. It is a wonder food as it can repel bacteria and remain edible after centuries of being buried with mummies. We have still not discovered all the benefits and secrets of honey. Who knows, it may have some medical miracles waiting to be discovered in future. Even if we know all about honey there is no denying the fact that it remains one of the sweetest substances on earth.

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About The Author, Gillian Stell

Gillian Stell is the owner of F honey, a fantastic resource for information about honey . For more articles on honey why not visit: http://www.flahoney.com/articles

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