Honey: Simply the best

These days, you can read a lot about honey in most medical magazines. What is it all about this simple food? Is it just a natural sweetener with no special properties, or as some claim, a magical cure and a must-have food for every house. The use of honey as medicine is mentioned in the most ancient written records. Today scientists and doctors are rediscovering the effectiveness of honey as a wound treatment. But that's just part of the story of nature's sweetest medicine.

Honey was prescribed by the physicians of many ancient peoples, for a variety of illnesses. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all used honey, in combination with healing herbs and on its own, to treat wounds and gut diseases. Aristotle wrote of honey being a cure for wounds and sore eyes. Another ancient author, Dioscorides (50 AD) wrote of honey being " good for sunburn and spots on the face" and "for all rotten and hollow ulcers". He also wrote that "honey heals inflammation of the throat and tonsils, and cures coughs". The usage of honey as a medicine has continued into present-day folk-medicine. In India, honey from lotus is said to be a remedy for eye diseases. The ancient usage of honey for sore throats has also continued into the traditional medicine of modern times.

Other examples of current day usage of honey in folk medicine are: as a traditional therapy for infected leg ulcers in Ghana; as a traditional therapy for earache in Nigeria; as a traditional therapy in Mali for the topical treatment of measles, and in the eyes in measles to prevent corneal scarring. Honey also has a traditional folklore usage for the treatment of gastric ulcers.

    Research shows that honey can relieve constipation, speed healing, and prevent infections, according to the New Zealand researchers. Scientists at the University of Natal in South Africa found that honey can be successfully used in treatment of diarrhea caused by bacterial infection.

    Honey's medicinal capabilities can be explained by several of its features. First of all, it contains a lot of sugar, which absorbs moisture in wounds, making it hard for bacteria to survive. Many honeys contain large amounts of hydrogen peroxide, a medicine used to disinfect cuts and scrapes. This hydrogen peroxide is released slowly, so its effect lasts longer, while it doesn't hurt skin. And finally, some honeys contain propolis, the best natural antibiotic. In laboratory tests, honey put on seven types of bacteria killed all seven.

Honey is really a gift from the nature. Now when you've finished with this text, reach for your spoon. And if honey is too sweet for you, dissolve it in a glass of tea or milk. Tastes even better!