Some Fascinating facts About Honey

Honey is one of the mysterious foods that have tickled the imagination of tech savvy people in this age. It is difficult for them to fathom how hordes of nondescript insects can produce such an amazing product. This wonder food is fascinating for more reasons than one, and scientists are trying to find out more uses of honey than those known so far.

Honey's life-enhancing properties and its position of a wonder food is not by any chance our discovery. We are not the first to know its benefits. There were Romans who paid their taxes through pure honey rather than gold. This did not happen in the entire 1,000-year regime of Roman empire but is still a fact.

Honey was a part of the human culture even before the Roman Empire existed. Not surprisingly, it was the only sweetening agent used in cooking until the usage of the refined sugar and molasses began. Even 9,000 years old cave paintings have been found to depict honey in them.

You can choose from nearly 300 different varieties of honey. It is also available in a wide assortment of colors and flavors. By the color and taste of honey you can know what flowers the bees collected the nectar from to make the honey.

The chemical composition of honey is nothing but that of a naturally refined sugar. But there is a slight difference. It has 38 percent fructose, 31 percent glucose, 1 percent sucrose, and 9 percent other sugars. It also has essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, water and small amounts of amino acids. These nutrients namely, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids make honey particularly interesting for the scientists trying to find its medicinal benefits.

You would be surprised to know that the honey found beside the mummies had not spoilt and was absolutely safe to eat. The reason this honey did not spoil is because honey is known to have a bioactive agent in it that inhibits the action of germs and bacteria on it. This also makes honey a very good topical treatment in case of burns and other wounds. It can prevent the wound or burn from becoming infected. However a thing to be remembered here is that the bioactive agent of honey breaks down in heat and light. So honey should always be preserved in a cool, dark place if you wish to retain its ability to repel bacteria.

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 remains the only naturally refined sugar available and it has been part of human history since before recorded time. Able to repel bacteria and still be edible after centuries of being buried with mummies, honey truly is a remarkable food. The benefits and secrets of honey are still being revealed by scientists today and there may still be some medical miracles waiting to be discovered in honey that could really benefit all of humanity. Even if not, honey is still one of the sweetest substances on earth that is just a treat to eat.

Article Source: http://www.articles.ask-me-about.com

Gillian Stell is the webmaster for F honey, the #1 source on the internet for information about honey. For more articles on honey visit: www.flahoney.com/articles
Click here to get your own unique version of this article from the Unique Articles Submissions Service