The rate at which people are consuming honey is on the rise. According to the National Honey Board, Americans consume about 400 million pounds of honey every year. This can be contributed to the healthy benefits of the sweet stuff.
For instance, Australian Manuka honey has been scientifically proven to have plenty of health benefits, including boosting energy levels, improving immunity, lowering blood pressure, relieving eczema, improving sleep, and so much more. While honey is readily available in supermarkets and grocery stores, you also need to be wary of the kind of honey you buy because an estimated 75% of honey sold in supermarkets in the U.S. is fake. Most of the honey has been modified and lacks the nutrients that make it pure, real honey.
With that said, let’s take a look at some of the facts you need to know before you buy your honey.
Where you buy your honey really matters
When it comes to buying honey, where you choose to buy it plays an essential role. Finding high-quality honey is sometimes a real challenge. That’s because, as mentioned above, there is fake honey all over. “Spiking” honey is a very common practice in the U.S. and beyond. That means you could be getting honey that has been tainted with corn syrup or other sweeteners to make it sweeter and more affordable.
That’s why you need to buy your honey only from trusted suppliers. The pollen is a sure way to determine if the honey is of high-quality or not. The pollen’s presence, which generally sticks on bees’ legs when they are collecting nectar and find its way into the honey, can help determine the honey’s potency.
According to a study carried out by the Food Safety News, 75% of honey sold by reputable retailers and groceries contained no pollen, while 100% of honey from farmers’ markets had their full pollen content. This only proves that where you buy your honey could make a huge difference.
Light honey tastes different from dark honey
Honey generally is graded based on color, flavor, clarity, and moisture, and not on nutritional value. So, light honey is typically milder than dark honey. In addition to that, honey usually reflects the flavor of its source, and due to the increase of single flavor flooding store shelves, there are now more types than ever.
It is not easy to find organic honey
Since bees fly several miles away from their hive and the influx of the number of non-organic farmers out there, it becomes difficult to guarantee whether particular honey is pesticide-free. For a honey to be considered truly organic, the hive would have to be in the middle of at least 16 square miles of organic plants.
Raw unfiltered honey lasts longer
Raw unfiltered honey is a type of honey that not been processed and no other additives have been added to it. Since it is pure with no additives, this honey can last longer than the filtered honey.
Margherita Ceresa an enthusiastic editor and writer at ExtraLargeAsLife.com. She has worked with many publications as a senior editor. Known for her incredible passion for everything new, she is a champion of celebrity news & lifestyle writing.