Honey. Medicinal properties. Folk recipes. What types of honey are there? Checking the quality of honey. Storing honey. “honey” situation at the state level.

Honey is a sweet and sticky liquid, a gift from bees, produced by nature. It is difficult to find a natural product that contains so many useful benefits. After all, honey contains a whole storehouse of medicinal substances, and its properties are very positive. Our ancestors also used this product for healing. What are the benefits of honey?

First of all, this is an excellent homemade adaptogen that can tone the body in a state of weakness and increased fatigue, as well as strengthen the immune system and other vital functions. It is also an excellent culinary tool, a rich source of glucose and fructose, on the basis of which many dishes and even alcohol are prepared. Anyone who has been drunk on mead knows the wonderful taste properties of this drink.

The beneficial properties of honey are so broad that it has found application not only in folk or alternative medicine, but also in official practice. Thus, any honey preparation can be seen in the list of means for treating diseases of the respiratory tract, digestive tract, nervous diseases, etc.

Many people need to calm down at night because they cannot sleep. A product like honey does this very well. Take a teaspoon before bed with water, milk or tea for a healthy sleep.

What does honey contain?

Natural honey contains quite a lot of useful substances, which together give a very positive effect. Here are just a few of them:

carbohydrates;
a complex of microelements similar in composition to blood plasma (iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium, etc.);
vitamins (group B, C, E, K);
enzymes (catalase, amylase, phosphatase, diastase).

Honey is very sweet, in this respect it is better than sugar, so it can be used for baking in the oven or microwave, for preparing various desserts, drinks, etc.

Calorie content of honey

Good honey has a fairly high calorie content, so it can be used to strengthen the body or, for example, by athletes if they need special nutrition.

The calorie content of this product is 320-360 kcal, of which:

81.5 g - carbohydrates;
0.8 g - proteins;
0 g - fats.

Information for diabetics: the glycemic index of the product is 80-90, which is slightly lower than that of sugar (97-99), but this does not mean that the honey product is not harmful for diabetics.

What kind of honey is there?

There are several classifications of honey, which are listed below.

First of all, there is a distinction between monofloral honey, which is collected from one type of plant, and polyfloral honey. In the first case, the name of the product indicates the plant (hawthorn, blueberry, acacia, hemp, manuka), and in the second - the place of collection (forest, meadow, mountain, etc.). Honey collected in different areas is also distinguished, because depending on the climatic zone and the characteristics of the local flora, the taste of honey also changes (Charysh, Burzyan, Altai, Bashkir, etc.).
According to the production method, a distinction is made between centrifugal honey, pumped out using a honey extractor, and cellular honey, which is more useful due to the admixtures of beeswax and other components that do not end up in a large three-liter jar during the pumping process. As a rule, honey containing various beneficial substances (milk, bee bread, wax) has more pronounced medicinal properties, which makes it possible to separate it into a separate category of bee products.

Types of honey: description and application

There are many types of this product:

Acacia is a honey that has one of the best compositions. It practically does not crystallize and retains a liquid consistency for a long time and does not thicken. It is used to treat hypertension, fight microbial diseases, treat vision and nerves.
Hawthorn honey is a product that can be used to treat the heart, high blood pressure, and also the thyroid gland. The properties of honey are characteristic: it is slightly bitter, has a special smell and is dark in color.
Mountain is popular as a 100% eco-product. It also has a bitter taste and a strong odor.
Honey from Ivan tea differs in color and taste and is used exclusively for medicinal purposes.
Field is an excellent remedy that helps in the treatment of the nervous system (insomnia, headaches), as well as infectious diseases.
Sweet clover honey contains substances that help fight atherosclerosis, heart disease, liver and kidney diseases. The healing properties of honey are quite high, because it allows you to cure many diseases at home. The taste of honey is delicate, the color is light, and the aroma is similar to vanilla.
May is one of the most useful types, which is made by bees from early flowering plants. It has pronounced antibacterial properties, so it should be in the diet of everyone who often suffers from colds and other infections.
Lime. The taste of linden honey is very pleasant, and there are many benefits from it. It is indicated for most heart diseases, and it also has antibacterial properties. If the product is used correctly, it can bring enormous benefits to anyone when treating various diseases with honey at home instead of using official medications.
Forest and meadow honey made from grass, wheat, and flowering trees has the same properties as May honey.
Mint is honey that has a distinct mint smell and is yellow in color. The product contains a lot of ascorbic acid. For such honey, this automatically means a vascular-strengthening, immune-strengthening, and antiseptic effect.
Clover is a colorless and transparent product. The smell of honey is very weak. Not all bees can collect it, but only those with long proboscis, Caucasian ones, for example. But the beneficial properties of clover honey are very pronounced, if not unique. It is used to treat female diseases, which cannot be said about many other bee products.
Raspberry is a very rare product that bees extract from raspberries. It is golden in color, both liquid and solid. Among the medicinal properties of raspberry honey are antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and it can also be used to treat the reproductive system.
Buckwheat. Buckwheat is characterized by high honey productivity, which is why it is the most popular honey on the market. You can get it almost anywhere. The characteristics of the product are very positive. It is used to treat anemia, various vitamin deficiencies, to strengthen cell membranes (has an effect similar to soy lecithin), to treat the heart. The product has a pronounced tart taste and pleasant aroma.
Rapeseed is no different in properties from mustard and other classic ones, just like wings are different from each other. Rarely causes allergies, contains a lot of glucose, which is why it thickens quickly. Recipes based on rapeseed honey in everyday life are useful for treating respiratory diseases.
Chestnut is a dark product with a faint odor of chestnut flowers and a bitter taste. The beneficial properties of honey include the treatment of diabetes, vascular diseases, kidneys, and the digestive tract.
Heather has a rather specific color and tart taste, which is due to the presence of salts and a large amount of protein. This greatly affected the taste of heather honey - it is included in the list of low-quality varieties. But this is the only drop in the ointment. If you ignore it, honey is very useful.

There are also fruit, maple, cornflower, apple, sage and other bee products. It is quite typical for honey to have many different species, because there are many plants on the planet, and they can form vast thickets, where it is enough to set up an apiary to collect a monofloral product.

Artificial honey

How to cook honey? To do this, you just need to take sugar beets, melon and watermelon juices, corn and carry out acid hydrolysis or evaporate them. The result is a mixture of glucose and fructose, but does not contain useful enzymes. It is diluted with a natural product and thus counterfeited.

Therefore, it is better to buy beekeeping products from trusted beekeepers and companies such as Tentorium, or ask for a quality certificate. Thanks to these measures, the likelihood of buying a fake will decrease significantly, although it cannot be completely excluded.

What are the benefits of honey?

This beekeeping product has quite a lot of phytoncides - natural antibiotics that have a bactericidal effect. It also exhibits the following properties:

anti-inflammatory;
regenerating;
tonic;
normalizing the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and nervous system;
immunostimulating;
anti-sclerotic, etc.

It can also benefit those who want to overcome alcoholism. It is enough just to give the drinker a tablespoon of honey every 30 minutes until an aversion to alcohol appears. The product is also an excellent energy drink; it is useful for athletes, students and people with intense workload.

Honey can also be used externally, because in this case it has an antimicrobial, disinfecting effect, for example, treats cataracts when applied topically, and cleanses. Since it contains many calories, it will be useful for recovery after surgery.

Use in cosmetology

Bee products and sugar with honey are widely used in cosmetology, especially at home. So, you can make a mask with them:

take 1 tbsp. a spoonful of dried chamomile and pour half a glass of boiling water;
leave for half an hour, then add tbsp to the mixture. a spoonful of honey;
moisten the hair with the resulting preparation and wrap it for half an hour;
After treatment, the head is washed with plain water without using shampoo.

The mask can be used to treat dry (2 times a month) and oily hair (once a week).

You can also simply rub about 10-15 g of the product into clean and wet hair for half an hour, then remove everything with water.

Treats the product and problematic facial skin. To do this, take it in the amount of one tablespoon, add an egg yolk and a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Mix everything and apply it to the face gradually, in layers. The mask is removed from the face after 20 minutes. The procedure will promote good mood and skin rejuvenation.

Bee products and weight loss

Bee nectar is such a healthy type of food that it can be used for dietary purposes to combat excess weight. And this despite the high calorie content of the substance. To do this, drink a mixture of 1 tsp 15 minutes before meals. substances and 0.5 glasses of water, which will dull hunger and allow you to eat less food.

Use in cooking

Who doesn't have such things as a honey spoon or honey container made of ceramic or wood? This is such a popular product that it has been used by everyone at least once, except perhaps those with allergies. Cupcakes, gingerbread cookies, cakes, creams, cookies, desserts - all this is made with it.

In addition, everyone knows boiled mead, which is made from stored honey. There are many recipes for this alcoholic product: with turmeric, not with honey, but with other types, with different technologies, for example, in some places it is customary not to dissolve in hot water, but to leave for a longer time at natural temperature, etc.

Use during pregnancy

Many people believe that pregnant women should abstain from a number of non-standard foods, but bees are clearly not included here. If you use them wisely, without excess, there will only be benefits. If an overdose occurs, the child may be born with a congenital allergy. When use will be useful:

to improve immunity;
to normalize blood circulation, including that of the fetus;
to relax the uterine muscles (prevent miscarriage);
to combat various types of inflammation.

Also, the bee product effectively eliminates the effects of toxicosis and fights vomiting if eaten in small quantities every day. It can be used externally to eliminate stretch marks. Therefore, in the early stages it is recommended to take it every day, either alone or in a mixture with other beneficial substances.

But you should not make the decision to take it on your own, since honey products are not always safe. It is better to ask your doctor and follow the recommended dosage - no more than a teaspoon per day.

Harm of honey and contraindications for use

Although this is a very useful product, sometimes there are conditions in which the harm of honey is obvious. These are allergies to the product, personal intolerance, increased stomach acidity, as well as children under 3 years of age.

The harm of honey can still be felt when using a low-quality product, for example, if it is heated or drunk with hot tea. Diabetes, stomach diseases, and caries are possible. In other cases, this substance will only be useful and will not cause significant harm, so the majority of the population may not worry and use it regularly.

How to choose a quality product

Bee products are often counterfeited. But fortunately, there are quite a few ways to check how much natural honey is in a jar. These include photographs of the real product, the use of improvised means, inspection by external signs, and even laboratory control.

The natural substance is 100% nectar from flowers that the bee brought and processed. There is also honeydew, which resembles a natural product in properties, but is considered only partially natural. It has many beneficial properties, some of which even surpass classic honey. But its disadvantage is that it quickly turns sour, has worse taste, ferments, is poorly stored, and has no aroma.

Also on the market you can find artificial (mentioned above), sugar (obtained by bees from sugar syrup) and diluted product, as well as heated (the thickened substance is turned into liquid), sick (when the bees are sick and stuffed with drugs), with various kinds of additives and environmentally dirty.

General principles for choosing a quality product from a beekeeper

Find yourself a reliable supplier who is guaranteed to produce high-quality and natural products.
If you need to change the beekeeper to a new one, you should take only a small amount to check the products. After all, not everything can be checked on the spot, and throwing a lot of money down the drain is not the wisest decision.
If the quality of honey is very important, it is better to order a professional analysis in a laboratory to get a guaranteed result.

Take a small amount of liquid honey on a stick and watch it flow. If it stretches continuously and springs, then everything is fine, but if it drips, it is diluted or fake.
The consistency of the substance should be soft, not rough, without any kind of inclusions; it can be easily rubbed with your fingers and absorbed.
In this product, a piece of bread hardens.
If the product in the jar is stratified in color, consistency or crystal size, it is unnatural, because honey does not stratify.
It should also be uniform, without spots, and of the same degree of thickness.
To simply test the product, just dilute it in milk - it should not curdle.
The smell of the product should be pleasant, fragrant, and not have any foreign impurities.
Real honey does not react with iodine.
Also, no sediment should form when mixed with an equal amount of water.
If you turn the jar over, no more than one air bubble should float to the surface.
If the real product is rubbed over the surface, the chemical pencil will leave a normal mark without any color reactions.
Paper smeared with bee nectar will not burn, but will only melt.
When adding a natural product, the tea will darken slightly, but there will be no sediment.
There should be no foam or bubbles on the surface of liquid honey, as these indicate fermentation.
Also, nectar crystals should be star-shaped or needle-shaped and as small as possible. If they are large, these may be impurities of sugar or other components.
Well, the weight of the real product should be at least 1.4 kg, excluding glass.

In stores, as a rule, the product is heated, stuffed with preservatives, and in general, under the guise of natural, they can sell something artificial. In addition, due to the sale in a packaged state, it is impossible to check its condition before purchasing.

Principles of storing natural honey

How to store bee products so that they retain their quality as much as possible over time? This is not so easy to do. To do this, standard storage in the refrigerator must be excluded, and the storage location should not be in constant sunlight, in humidity, and should not be too warm.

It is better to store the product for no more than a year at 5-10 degrees Celsius and a humidity of no more than 65%. Failure to comply with the conditions will lead to fermentation and other undesirable processes.

For dishes, it is better to choose something made of clay, glass, or better yet, something made of wood (linden), but in no case metal, as it will further promote fermentation. You can’t heat the product, because all the beneficial properties disappear, and the risk of fermentation increases. The maximum recommended temperature is 40 degrees.

Honey that has begun to ferment is heated, converted into liquid, and used as soon as possible. Also, it is strictly forbidden to mix different varieties, types of honey, as well as products of different harvest times.

1. What is sugar?
2. Why is honey sweet?
2.1. Sucrose
3. What is the difference between granulated sugar and natural honey?

Natural honey is an extremely controversial product and not everyone knows what it is. Scientific research indicates that it contains more than three hundred biologically active compounds in its composition, although not all of them have been studied.

In everyday life, honey processed by bees has been used for a long time: it is one of the pillars of traditional medicine, an exquisite delicious dessert and an indispensable component for home care for the face, hair and body.

A healthy lifestyle and concern for proper nutrition these days dictate certain requirements for food, including honey. Its usefulness is related to its nutritional value, and its sweetness is related to sugar.

To answer the question about the similarities and differences between sugar and honey, first of all, you need to understand what sugar is and what is included in the natural bee product.

What is sugar?

One of the most common products in everyday life is sugar. Cooking is practically impossible without it. It is added to sweets, baked goods, marinades, sauces, used for cooking meat, and even for first courses.

In the wake of the passion for proper nutrition, they are trying to eliminate sugar from life altogether, considering it harmful to the body, which needs natural sources of energy.

So, sugar is usually called sucrose, which is most often obtained from sugar beets or cane - a complex carbohydrate, 99.98% consisting of two monosaccharides, namely glucose and fructose.

In the body, sucrose is broken down into its component parts and serves as a source of quick energy; its glycemic index is 70 and its calorie content is 398 (beet sugar). In terms of its effect on the body, ordinary granulated sugar can be compared with an effect equal to half glucose and half fructose.

The harm of sugar is that it is present almost everywhere. Therefore, it is impossible to control its amount: in small doses it does not pose a threat, but it is rarely possible to achieve the recommended 15% of total carbohydrates per day.

Often the norm is exceeded several times and the body experiences problems with excess weight, blood pressure, insulin production, immunity, and brain activity. In addition, sugar is “empty” pure carbohydrates that do not have beneficial additives in the form of minerals or vitamins.

That is why it is not considered useful and for health, sometimes there is a need to strictly limit its quantity or the question arises of what to replace it with.

Why is honey sweet?

In the complex composition of natural honey, the largest share is occupied by carbohydrates - they can be more than 86%. Moreover, depending on the variety, these can be carbohydrates of more than 40 types.

The most basic of them are monosaccharides: glucose and fructose. They occupy up to 90% of the total weight of all carbohydrates. The rest are complex oligo- and disaccharides, including the already known sucrose. On average, it contains about 3% in honey.

Sucrose

Speaking about the fact that natural honey processed by bees contains sugar, it should be noted:

the specific gravity of sucrose in freshly pumped honey is higher than in matured honey: under the influence of enzymes and amino acids it is destroyed over time;
sucrose is of natural origin;
in some varieties there may not even be traces of it at all.

And considering that all carbohydrates are usually called sugar, honey contains a lot of them. Only their quality and nature of impact on the human body differs.

Natural nectar processed by bees contains the most fructose. In some varieties its content reaches 50%, and sometimes higher. Fructose is a monosaccharide. It is found in large quantities in fruits, nectar, berries, and fruits.

A distinctive feature of this particular carbohydrate is that it serves as a source of “slow” energy. When fructose enters the body, it does not cause a sharp surge in blood sugar levels; it is absorbed gradually and, most importantly, this process does not require the participation of insulin.

That is why it has become the most famous sugar substitute: if you have diabetes, it is impossible to imagine a single dessert without it.

Glucose is in second place in terms of content in natural honey; different varieties contain no more than 45%. It is the standard for determining the glycemic index of any food and serves as a source of “fast” energy for the body.

Glucose is absorbed almost instantly, but insulin is actively involved in the process of its metabolism, while fructose directly affects liver cells. They are the ones who process it and facilitate its absorption.

Considering that carbohydrates of different nature trigger different metabolic mechanisms, it is quite difficult to figure out which one is better.

What is the difference between granulated sugar and natural honey?

Understanding that sugar, when entering the body, is broken down into glucose and fructose, and knowing that natural honey processed by bees is predominantly glucose and fructose, the question arises of what is healthier and what is the difference between these products.

Strictly speaking, the use of sugar is intended to compensate for the body’s growing needs for quick energy. Once in the body, it gives a powerful energy impulse, sends a signal to the brain about saturation and becomes a driver of activity.

However, side effects from its excess are not long in coming: problems with metabolism, excess weight, disruptions in the functioning of the pancreas, even diabetes and other troubles. Increased attention to these problems has forced us to look for opportunities to replace sugar with other carbohydrates.

Fructose was proposed to replace sugar. A natural carbohydrate, “slow”, beneficial for the pancreas, many times sweeter than glucose.

However, it cannot be said that fructose is better than sugar. The liver participates in its metabolism, which converts it into fatty acids and thereby provokes the risk of vascular pathologies, the same obesity and heart disease.

If we consider the question of which is healthier in terms of sugar and natural honey, there cannot be a clear answer.

Of course, honey is full of useful substances and has a huge impact on immune processes, but this is why it cannot replace sugar in everyday life. After all, active compounds can provoke allergies - it is not recommended for use by children under three years of age, pregnant and nursing mothers.

On August 14, Rus' celebrated the First Savior, which was also called Honey Day. By this day, the honeycombs should be filled, and beekeepers begin to take out the contents. In churches, from that day on, it was allowed to eat it - they made honey gingerbreads, pancakes with poppy seeds and honey, gingerbread cookies and other baked goods. Honey fairs in Russia begin in May, when beekeepers begin to extract the first honey. On beautiful counters lined with a variety of jars, you can find honey for any, even the most demanding taste. True, sometimes buyers are faced with the fact that for a lot of money they bought not a “natural product”, but a natural product, and they can only hope that this honey is not dangerous to health.

For an unscrupulous manufacturer, the most important thing is to increase the mass of the product or even mix in some substance that should resemble honey as closely as possible. Most often, sugar syrup is added to honey. In this way, you can increase the mass and make unripe honey sweet. In addition, you can add starch, beet or starch syrup, invert sugar, sucrose - as much as your imagination allows. We have collected tips on how to distinguish real honey from fake honey at home.

1) Test for ductility Natural honey is by no means watery. It should be viscous. Warm the honey to about 20 degrees, stirring with a spoon. Then take out the spoon and start swirling it - if it is a normal consistency, it should curl onto the spoon and not run off. Then watch how the honey flows back into the container - it should slowly form a slide, forming bubbles on the surface.

2) Check with a newspaper Drop a little honey on a piece of paper (a piece of newspaper or toilet paper) - the paper should remain dry. If the honey spreads and forms a wet trail, it means there is water in it.

3) Test on bread Another test for the presence of water that should not be there can be done using a piece of bread. You just need to dip it in honey for 10 minutes and then remove it. In natural high-quality honey, the bread should harden, but in fake honey it will soften.

4) Iodine test In order to detect impurities in honey, you will need to conduct a simple experiment. Dilute a little honey with water and add a drop of iodine. If the liquid turns blue, then it contains starch or flour.

5) Check with vinegar essence To do this, you also need to make a honey solution using warm water. If the solution sizzles when adding vinegar essence, it contains chalk.

6) Checking with lapis pencil For the next experiment you will need a lapis pencil, which can be bought at a pharmacy for less than 150 rubles. Make a 5-10% solution of honey and immerse a pencil in it. If a white precipitate forms, sugar has been added to the honey.

7) Check with a chemical pencil To determine whether there are foreign liquids in honey, take a chemistry pencil and paper with you to the fair. Smear a small amount of honey on the paper and try to write something through the layer of honey with a pencil. If after a few seconds you see an inscription or streaks of blue-violet color, it means that water or syrup has been added to the treat.

8) Wire test Take a stainless steel wire, heat it on fire (you can use a regular lighter) and immerse it in honey. If the adhesive mass sticks to the wire, then it is a fake. If the honey is natural, the wire will remain clean. And in general, as in the sensational case with flammable cottage cheese in St. Petersburg (journalists checked the quality of “natural” cottage cheese bought in a store and found that it could burn for more than 10 minutes), honey can be tasted and set on fire - you never know what it was made from . Good honey simply will not burn. Counterfeits may change color, such as turning brown, melting, or emitting a caramel or chemical smell.

8) Check for sediment Stir a spoonful of honey in a glass of warm tea and leave for an hour. If after this there is sediment left at the bottom of the glass or on the surface, the quality of your purchase leaves much to be desired.

9) Check with ammonia Mix a little honey with water in a ratio of one to two. Then add a few drops of ammonia there and shake the resulting solution. If it turns brown, it means that starch syrup was mixed into the honey.

10) Smell test Natural honey is always very fragrant. If it has no smell, then most likely it is not natural.

Before you go shopping for honey for the whole year, take a moment to find out what varieties there are and what color they differ in - this can also play into your hands in your search for natural honey. For example, buckwheat honey should be brown, floral honey should be golden yellow, linden honey should be amber, and mustard honey should be creamy yellow. The unnaturally white color of honey is a cause for concern, because some producers do not take out bees to collect nectar, but simply feed the unfortunate creatures sugar. The resulting honey, of course, does not have any valuable properties.

HOW NOT TO SPOILE HONEY

When shopping is done, remember that honey should not be stored in metal containers. The fact is that the acids contained in honey can oxidize and cause the valuable product to lose some of its beneficial properties and can even lead to poisoning.

If you like to drink tea with honey, do not add honey to boiling water. Already at 60 degrees, the structure of honey disintegrates and it loses its properties. Over time, honey inevitably becomes thick and cloudy, so if honey purchased in the summer remains liquid and transparent until winter, it is not natural. If the honey thickens at the bottom but remains liquid at the top, this means that the honey was collected immature, and such honey can be stored for only a few months.

HEALING PROPERTIES OF DIFFERENT HONEY

Linden honey used as an antipyretic, it has diaphoretic properties. In addition, it is bactericidal and promotes expectoration of sputum.

Buckwheat honey It is especially valued in the treatment and prevention of anemia, with hypo- and avitaminosis, and is useful for people predisposed to cardiovascular diseases. This honey has a beneficial effect on blood quality and restores the body well after blood loss.

Chestnut honey good for disorders of the digestive system and, like buckwheat, for problems with the cardiovascular system. In addition, it has an antimicrobial effect.

Fireweed honey useful for the prevention and treatment of colds. It contains a lot of vitamin C.

Flower honey women need to eat. It is useful for the female reproductive system and is used for the prevention and treatment of gynecological diseases. For erosion, women are recommended to use sainfoin honey. And during the period of breastfeeding, breastfeeding is useful sweet clover honey, which promotes milk production. This type of honey also has anti-inflammatory, soothing and analgesic effects.

Chestnut honey useful for men with potency problems. In general, men are advised to buy dark and bitter varieties of honey, for example, buckwheat.

Honey with beebread (pollen compacted by bees) has a pronounced immunostimulating effect. It restores immunity well, including after illnesses and operations.

Meadow herb honey helps with insomnia and headaches.

Maria Al-Salkhani

The beneficial properties of honey are widely known. It is used not only as a sweetener, but also as a treatment for colds. It has antibacterial, antiviral, soothing and healing effects, it helps strengthen the immune system and increase vitality.

The high cost of a natural product is a direct consequence of the complexity of its production. But even after paying a considerable price for this product, you cannot always be sure of its quality. Counterfeiting is not a new phenomenon.

Mention of unscrupulous traders is contained in the Encyclopedia of Beekeeping, published by the American entrepreneur and great enthusiast of this field of agriculture Amos Root in 1876.

Unnatural honey

Current fakes can be divided into three groups:

Natural with addition foreign substances designed to increase the total volume and density of the mass;
Products, obtained from a mixture sugar and water, with added colors and flavors;
Sugar.

The falsification method described by Root back in the 19th century is still used today.

A mixture of sugar and water is boiled to a thick syrup, after which flavors and dyes are added to it. To enhance the effect, the final product can be mixed with a small amount of real honey.

Since the time of Amos Root, honey adulteration technologies have improved. Now artificial mixtures are prepared from invert sugar and sucrose and thickeners are added to them, among which you can find corn and potato starch. High-quality counterfeits can be difficult to identify even with the help of professional expertise. Fortunately, they are rare.

Another method of obtaining honey is used by unscrupulous beekeepers. Instead of waiting for the bees to collect flower nectar, the insects are fed regular sugar syrup. Sugar honey obtained in this way has no beneficial properties.

How to distinguish a quality product from an artificial one

Good taste

Jar of honey

The taste of natural honey is sweet with a tart note, which is especially noticeable in buckwheat and chestnut honey. This product leaves behind a pleasant aftertaste. Counterfeits will have an unremarkable sweet taste, in some cases a little cloying.

Natural color

Color can vary from white to dark brown. Each variety has its own characteristic color. Honey collected from white acacia flowers is almost transparent in its liquid state.

Buckwheat honey has a rich brown color with a reddish tint. The white product may well not be from plant pollen, but from sugar syrup.

Before purchasing, you should find out exactly what type of honey is in front of you. This will make it easier to relate the description to the product being offered to you.

Correct consistency

The structure of natural and artificial honey is strikingly different. By rubbing a drop of it with your fingers, you will notice that it has disappeared without a trace, quickly being absorbed into the skin. After doing the same with the fake, you will feel that there are small lumps left on the skin.

Honey tends to crystallize after several months of storage. If they try to sell you a liquid product in the middle of winter, then this is an alarming sign. Such a product was either made from sugar syrup or was heated before sale. Honey heated above a temperature of 40 degrees loses its beneficial qualities.

Viscosity check

Real honey should be sticky

An important indicator and condition when determining the authenticity of naturalness is its viscosity. Dip a clean spoon into the container with honey, and then slowly remove it. The real product should follow the spoon continuous thread. As the substance drips off the spoon, it forms a visible trace on the surface that slowly dissolves.

Aroma

Smell is the hardest thing to fake. The aroma of the natural product is thick and fragrant; notes of honey plants can be distinguished in it. A product made from sugar does not have a distinct aroma. How to check? If you find it difficult to detect the smell, then this is a fake.

Determine sugar

Whether there is sugar in a product can be determined using thin paper. To do this, place a drop of honey on a paper napkin or sheet of blotting paper.

The appearance of wet spots will indicate that the product is artificial.

The natural product can remain on the paper surface for several minutes without bleeding onto the back of the sheet. The longer a mark does not appear on the paper, the better quality it is.

How to test real honey at home?

Whether you have any natural honey left or not, you can dispel it using a few simple procedures. How can you distinguish honey and find out its quality?

Drop of iodine

Iodine

Dilute a small amount of honey with water and add a drop of iodine to the resulting mixture. If after this the solution turns blue, this means that it contains starch or flour.

With bread

Place a piece of bread in a container and leave for 5-10 minutes. If after this time the bread has retained its shape, then this is a natural product. If the bread has softened and spread, then this is a clear sign that the product was made on the basis of sugar syrup.

Pencil

Place a drop of honey on the back of your hand or a piece of paper and spread it in a thin layer. Run a regular chemical pencil over the surface. A thick line will indicate the presence of water in the product. The absence of a noticeable trace will mean that this is undiluted honey.

Vinegar

Dissolve a teaspoon of honey in water and add a few drops of vinegar to the resulting mixture. If this is followed by hissing, then this is a sure sign that the product contains chalk.

Identify counterfeit using water

Place a spoon in a clear glass of warm water and stir. The natural product will dissolve without residue, slightly coloring the water. If there are foreign impurities in the product, they will either precipitate or float to the surface.

Buckwheat honey

The best way to protect yourself from counterfeits is to purchase homemade honey from a beekeeper you know. In order to choose a person worthy of trust, ask if he sells honeycombs.

If the answer is yes, you will know for sure that the seller has access to natural honey. Such people value their reputation highly and will not risk it by offering counterfeits.

Buy honey in season, because real beekeepers sell it as it is produced. If you purchase honey in a store, check and pay attention to the correct label. A counterfeit product can be harmful to your health.

Honey- the most famous beekeeping product. In addition to being used as a sweet for tea, honey is widely used in treatment. Honey normalizes the functioning of many internal organs, improves blood composition, is a powerful source of energy, protects the body from premature aging, and improves immunity (read more about immunity in the topic).

The beneficial properties of honey are due to the biological nature of honey and its complex chemical composition. The main properties of honey include crystallization, fermentation, hygroscopicity, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, viscosity, density, optical activity, thixotropy and others. In addition, honey has bactericidal, medicinal and dietary properties. Due to its medicinal properties, honey is widely used in folk and traditional medicine, used to treat ailments and prevent diseases.

Honey has antibacterial, bactericidal, anti-inflammatory and antiallergic properties. The healing effect of honey is facilitated by its rich composition: honey contains minerals, trace elements, vitamins, enzymes, biologically active substances, vitamins, chlorine, zinc, aluminum, boron, silicon, chromium, lithium, nickel, lead, tin, titanium, osmium, etc. necessary for the body. Of the vitamins, honey contains relatively large amounts of vitamin B2 (0.05 mg%), PP (0.02 mg%), C (2 mg%). According to the latest data, vitamins B8 (pyridoxine), pantothenic acid, vitamin H (bnotin), folic acid, vitamin K and E were also found in it.
Honey is used as a tonic, restorative and restorative. Honey is an excellent medicine; it is used to treat wounds and burns, for diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidneys, liver, bile ducts, and gastrointestinal tract.
Natural honey has unique taste properties.
Honey is often used in cosmetic preparations, as it softens the skin, improves its tone, and eliminates dryness and flaking.

Honey is a good nutrient. The main nutrients of honey are carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, etc. When glucose and fructose are broken down, a large amount of energy is released, which is necessary for the vital processes of the body. Daily consumption of 20-50 grams of honey for a year significantly improves blood composition and metabolism. Read more about blood in the topic Honey contains mainly fructose, as well as minerals such as potassium, magnesium, proteins and vitamins, which are very rarely found in other products. These components of honey strengthen the walls of blood vessels and the heart muscle.
Honey has a beneficial effect on the course of inflammatory processes in the large intestine, in the treatment of some forms of gastric and duodenal ulcers, hemorrhoids, read more about hemorrhoids in the topic. The antibacterial properties of honey are explained by the presence of specific substances in it - inhibitors. There are more of them in light varieties of honey than in dark ones. This beneficial property of honey does not depend on the duration of its storage under optimal conditions.
For hemorrhoids, insert a candle made of candied honey into the anus.

For medicinal purposes, honey is generally recommended to be taken dissolved, since in this form it is easier for its components to penetrate the bloodstream, and then into the cells and tissues of the body. When prescribing treatment with honey, a strictly individual approach to each patient is required, selection of the appropriate type of honey and its strict individual dosage in order to avoid the adverse effect of a large amount of easily digestible carbohydrates on the autonomic nervous system and general metabolism.
The dose is individual (from 50 to 100 g per day). Buckwheat honey is especially useful for anemia. It should be taken for therapeutic purposes for 2 months. Improves blood composition, headaches, dizziness, fatigue disappear, and well-being improves.
Rinsing the mouth and throat with a solution of water and honey relieves inflammation of the tonsils, in addition, cleanses the teeth, making them white: 1 tbsp. Dilute a spoonful of honey in 1 glass of warm water.
The beneficial properties of honey make it possible to use it as an excellent harmless sleeping pill. Honey has a calming effect, causes sound sleep, regulates intestinal functions: 1 tbsp. Dilute a spoonful of honey in 1 glass of warm water. Drink at night. Give your child 1 teaspoon of honey at night. Honey strengthens the child's nervous system and retains moisture in the body during night sleep.
For consumption, prolonged cough, pneumonia, bronchitis: honey (preferably linden) - 1300 g, finely chopped aloe leaves - 1 glass, olive oil - 200 g, birch buds - 150 g, linden blossom. Before cooking, place the aloe leaves, picked and washed with boiled water, in a cold and dark place for 10 days. Melt honey and add crushed aloe leaves, steam the mixture well. Separately, brew birch buds and linden blossom in 2 glasses of water, boil for 1-2 minutes, pour the strained and squeezed broth into the cooled honey. Stir and pour into 2 bottles, adding olive oil to each equally. Store in a cool place. Take 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day. Shake before use.
For constipation: 1 tbsp. thoroughly mix a spoonful of olive or linseed oil with egg yolk and 1 tbsp. spoon of honey and dilute with 3/4 cup of water. Take 1 tbsp. spoon every 2 hours.

To lower blood pressure in hypertension:
a) mix 1 glass of honey, carrot juice, horseradish juice with lemon juice. Store in a glass jar with a tight lid in a cool place. Take 1-2 teaspoons 3 times a day 1 hour before meals or 2-3 hours after meals.
b) mix 1 glass of honey, carrot and beet juice, horseradish juice with the juice of one lemon. Take 1 tbsp. spoon 3 times a day an hour before meals. Duration of treatment is 1.5 - 2 months. Pre-infuse the grated horseradish in water for 36 hours.

Which honey to choose?

Linden honey: golden, easily crystallizes, has a characteristic smell. Used for respiratory diseases, including in the form of inhalations. It has a good effect on the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys.

Acacia honey: transparent, light, more liquid, with a faint acacia aroma. Crystallizes slowly. Recommended for diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, and female inflammatory diseases.

Fruit honey: light amber, with a delicate smell and taste. Has exceptional dietary qualities.

Buckwheat honey: bright, almost brown in color, with a characteristic odor and slight bitterness. Used in confectionery products, treats diseases of the stomach, blood and skin.

Dandelion honey: with a characteristic color and smell, slightly bitter, thick. Has wound healing and anti-inflammatory effects.

Honey storage method

Natural honey is stored in glass or plastic containers, tightly closed with a regular plastic lid. In a dark and dry place in such containers, honey can be stored for decades. Direct sunlight is harmful to it. Experts also do not recommend storing honey in the refrigerator. Cooling negatively affects nutrients. You especially shouldn’t believe that honey is most beneficial only for the first year. It has practically no shelf life and does not lose its medicinal and taste qualities.
The environment for honey must be chosen carefully. It quickly absorbs the smells of fish, cheese, and sauerkraut. The container with honey (preferably a dark glass jar) must be hermetically sealed, otherwise it will turn sour. If you keep honey in a wooden barrel made of coniferous trees, it will absorb the smell of resin. In an oak barrel it gets dark. If it’s a barrel, then it’s linden, birch or aspen. Honey can be stored in food-grade plastic containers for no more than a week. All other polymers are strictly prohibited. For metal utensils, nickel-plated and enameled ones are suitable, but without any chips. But galvanized and copper utensils are strictly prohibited. Honey enters into a chemical reaction with zinc and copper, becoming filled with toxic salts.

Which honey is better - mountain or lowland?
DO NOT fall on the hook when they try to convince you that mountain honey is better than the one collected by bees in our open spaces. There are no special advantages of mountain honey over “plain” honey. The quality of honey and the concentration of nutrients in it depends only on the decency and knowledge of the beekeeper, as well as on the environmental condition of the area where honey is collected.

How to spot fake honey?

Add a little of what you bought under the guise of honey to a cup of weak, warm tea. If you were not deceived, the tea will darken, but no sediment will form at the bottom. You can dissolve a little honey in a small amount of distilled water and add 4 to 5 drops of iodine there. If the solution turns blue, it means starch was used to make this product. By sprinkling the same solution instead of iodine with a few drops of vinegar essence, you will check the honey for the presence of chalk. If it is there, the solution hisses.

The most common honey adulterator is sugar syrup. Unripe honey is often diluted with the same syrup to make it sweet. Honey with syrup has high humidity. Dip a piece of bread into honey, and after 8-10 minutes, take it out. High-quality honey will harden the bread. If, on the contrary, you get soggy, then what you see is nothing more than sugar syrup.

If your honey does not thicken over time, it means it contains a large amount of fructose and, alas, does not have healing properties. Sometimes honey during storage is divided into two layers: it thickens only at the bottom, and remains liquid at the top. This indicates that it is immature and should be eaten as quickly as possible - unripe honey only lasts for a few months.

When and how to use honey?

If the acidity in the stomach is normal, you can take honey at any time, but not immediately after eating. If the acidity is low, take honey ten to fifteen minutes before meals with cold water. If the acidity is high - an hour or two after eating, washed down with warm water. Taking honey on an empty stomach is not recommended. Honey mixed in tea is no longer a medicine, but just sugar.

Determining the quality of honey

By viscosity. Dip a thin stick into a container of honey. If this is real honey, then it stretches behind the stick with a long continuous thread, and when this thread is broken, it will completely sink, forming a tubercle on the surface of the honey, which will subsequently slowly disperse. Fake honey is like glue: it will flow abundantly and drip down from the stick, forming splashes.

By shade. Each type of honey has its own color, unique to it. Flower honey is light yellow, linden honey is amber, ash honey is transparent, like water, buckwheat honey has different shades of brown. Pure honey without impurities is usually transparent, no matter what color it is. Honey, which contains additives (sugar, starch, etc.), is cloudy, and if you look closely, you can find sediment.

By aroma. Real honey has a fragrant aroma. Honey mixed with sugar has no aroma, and its taste is close to the taste of sweetened water.

By consistency. In real honey it is thin and delicate. Honey is easily rubbed between your fingers and absorbed into the skin. The structure of adulterated honey is rough; when rubbed, lumps remain on the fingers. Before buying honey at the market, take it from 2-3 regular sellers. To start, 100 grams each. Do the recommended quality tests at home and only then buy it from the same sellers.

Check to see if water and sugar have been added to the honey. To do this, drop some honey on a sheet of low-grade paper that absorbs moisture well. If it spreads across the paper, forming wet spots, or even seeps through, it is poor quality honey.

Nectar is a sweet liquid produced by special glands in plants called nectaries. The sugar content in the nectar of different plants varies and ranges from 8 to 74%. Both the qualitative and quantitative composition of nectar in flowers is different. For example, a sweet clover flower contains 0.2 mg of nectar, a linden flower contains 02-0.7 mg, and a raspberry flower contains 4-20 mg. At one time, a bee can bring about 20-40 mg of nectar to the hive. To get 100 g of honey, a bee must collect nectar from almost a million flowers.

In order to collect 100 grams of honey, a bee needs to fly forty-six thousand kilometers.

To obtain a spoonful of honey (30 g), 200 bees must collect nectar throughout the day. The same number of bees should be engaged in receiving nectar and processing it in the hive. At the same time, some bees intensively ventilate the nest so that excess water evaporates faster from the nectar.

In Ancient Greece, the immortality of the gods was explained by the fact that they ate ambrosia, consisting of milk, nectar and honey. Pythagoras, Hippocrates and Aristotle believed that consuming honey helps to prolong life.