The Benefits of Honey and Its Use in Traditional Medicine

• Honey, one of the primary products of beekeeping, is widely used in traditional medicine to treat various ailments. Other beekeeping products include bee subpestilence, wax moth, drone brood, royal jelly, propolis, bee bread, pollen, venom, and beeswax. Welcome, friends and guests, to the Narmedblog.ru medical blog!

Honey – Beneficial Properties

• Worker bees produce honey from the nectar of flowering plants. A brief description of honey-making technology: a honeybee uses its proboscis to suck nectar from flowers, brings it to the hive, and transfers it to another bee, the receiver. The receiving bee repeatedly (up to 200 times) expels the delivered nectar onto its proboscis and then re-ingests it. This meticulous process helps evaporate water from the nectar and introduce the necessary enzymes for its further maturation.
• Once this procedure is completed, the bee places a portion of honey into a cell of the comb. Another group of bees repeatedly transfers the honey from one cell to another. These manipulations reduce the water content in the honey from 80% to 18%. When the cells are filled to two-thirds of their capacity, the bees seal them with wax. At this stage, the honey contains 75% sugars, primarily glucose and fructose, which are highly beneficial. Over time, the honey matures.
• A strong, healthy bee colony can produce 80–100 kilograms of beneficial honey during the summer-autumn season. Honey has a rich composition of sugars and biologically active compounds (amino acids, enzymes, etc.). Bees utilize not only honey for their survival. The main advantage and benefit of honey lie in its sugar content, particularly in the form of fructose and glucose. Unlike the sucrose found predominantly in fruits and vegetables, honey’s sugars are readily absorbable.
• When consuming fruits and vegetables, the human body must break down sucrose into fructose and glucose, as only in this form can the body absorb it. This process requires significant energy. In honey, this work is done by the bees. This is particularly crucial for brain nutrition, as during cerebral circulation disorders (e.g., stroke), the brain relies on glucose.
• The beneficial properties of honey significantly depend on the plants from which the nectar is harvested, including medicinal plants. The final honey retains the healing properties of the plants from which the nectar was collected. In traditional medicine, honey is used both internally and externally.

Honey – Beneficial Properties and Folk Medicine Recipes

1. Treating Pharyngitis (Inflammation of the Upper Respiratory Tract)
   • Take a portion of honey into your mouth, hold it for a while, and spread it across the walls of your oral cavity with your tongue before swallowing.
2. Digestive System Treatment
   • To treat gastrointestinal disorders, consume a 12% honey solution. The remedy is effective for both low and high stomach acidity. Dissolved honey in cold water increases gastric secretion, while in warm water or protein broth, it reduces secretion. Consume it two hours before meals for the latter effect.
   • Honey is highly beneficial for stomach and duodenal ulcers due to its healing and anti-inflammatory properties.
   • Regular consumption of honey is recommended for elderly individuals suffering from constipation. Honey enhances intestinal motility, eases bowel movements, and helps with hemorrhoids.
   • The recommended daily intake of honey is 100–120 grams, equivalent to 3–4 tablespoons.
3. Treatment of Inflammations, Burns, and Slow-Healing Wounds
   • Boil 50 grams of eucalyptus leaves in half a liter of water for three minutes, strain, and let cool to 40°C. Add two tablespoons of honey to the decoction. Use the solution as a compress for affected areas.
4. Healing Long-Lasting Wounds
   • Mix 80 grams of honey with 20 grams of fish oil and 3 grams of xeroform. Apply the ointment to the wounds.
5. Treating Stomatitis and Tonsillitis
   • Infuse one tablespoon of chamomile flowers in a small amount of boiling water (half a cup) for 20 minutes. Strain and add two teaspoons of honey. Use the solution to rinse the mouth and throat.
6. Hypertension Treatment
   • Similar to the previous recipe, infuse one tablespoon of linden flowers, but also add the juice of half a lemon and honey. Consume one tablespoon 2–3 times daily and before bed for two weeks.
7. Treating Epidemic Influenza
   • Mix equal parts of crushed garlic and honey. Consume one teaspoon of the garlic-honey mixture in the evening with a cup of warm tea or boiled water.
8. Honey Remedy for Weak, Exhausted Patients Who Have Lost Appetite
   • Mix equal parts of powdered dried herbs of centaury, St. John’s wort, and yarrow. Add one teaspoon of crushed rose hips, 250 grams of honey, 150 grams of walnut kernels, and 250 grams of high-quality butter. Thoroughly mix all ingredients. Consume one tablespoon three times daily before meals.