In my own opinion, honey is perhaps the oldest known type of food ever. There are records that date back to the Stone Age, where cave men would carry sticks in order to drive away the wild bees from attacking them when they try to harvest honey. Back in the old days, there are records of the ancient Greeks recommending honey as a staple diet for people who want to be healthy at all times. Even the Romans recognized the importance of eating honey and it became a commodity for the noble classes, most especially for the Roman leaders. Thousands of years have passed and yet honey, one of the most valuable agricultural products known in the market, is still being sought at as an important part of an everyday meal.
How is Honey Made Anyway?
Everyone knows that honey is the produce made by honeybees as a food source for their young. In the wild, honeybees collect nectar from different species of plants and flowers which becomes honey when they bring it back inside their hive. All the honey is collected inside a chamber of cells called honeycombs. Surprisingly, only a few people know that honey is actually made through regurgitation. That's right, the honey that you find inside supermarkets and convenience stores are actually the product of a thousand honey bees sucking and regurgitating the nectar collected from neighboring plants and animals.
In the past, people would actually have to find a beehive within the wild in order to get a good taste of honey. Unfortunately, the wild honeybees were vicious and territorial against would-be predators, which includes people. As the years go by, improvements within the agricultural sect allowed people to semi-domesticate the wild honeybees, which resulted to the bee farms that exists right now. Bee farmers just had to make sure that the honeybees have finished feeding their young before harvesting the left-overs from the honey comb. This is very important because if the bee farmer gets too greedy and
Honey as a Healthy Alternative
Honey has high level of fructose, which is a very important type of sugar that we humans need in order for our body to function normally and properly. People use honey as a sweetener and is an excellent alternative to commercial sugar, which is harmful for your teeth and for people who has diabetes. And since it has fructose, it's a good pick me up for anyone who lacks energy.
Did you know that a single tablespoon of honey actually has 64 calories of energy? The carbohydrates that are stored inside the honey can be quickly broken down into another type of sugar, which is glucose. Glucose provides the body with the energy it needs, especially during certain movements that drain energy, like running or jogging. This is the reason why a lot of bodybuilders and athletes make it a habit of including honey during breakfast. There's a research indicating that honey can actually help in controlling body weight. Honey actually absorbs the extra fat that is placed within the body, thus helping in controlling the excess weight of a person.