Marie Courtier - Cooking Well: Honey for Health & Beauty: Over 75 Recipes, Remedies and Natural Treatments

In Honey for Health & Beauty the long misunderstood bee has now, at last, received its well deserved place as queen in the animal kingdom.

As a physician and a homeopath, the use of honey for medical treatments is well known to me. From a medicinal healing agent and culinary nectar to an anti-wrinkle beauty product, honey has nourished and brought aid to humankind for many generations. The uses of honey abound, and, with this book, honey formulas and recipes are no longer old wives tales. Readers will be delighted with the fascinating facts about honey and honey bees, as well as the delicious recipes and beauty treatments.

In addition to providing practical information, this book provides some of the latest results from scientific studies. The honeybee is the source for an amazing product, and the possibilities of honey use for health are finally being backed up by medical sciencestudies around the world are revealing the power of honey as a natural wonderdrug. Honey for Health & Beauty discusses, citing the latest research from the National Honey Board website, scientifically sound examples that present the possibilities of using honey for variety of health remediesas a replacement for a carbohydrate energy booster when exercising, as a prebiotic, as an aid in calcium absorption, as an antimicrobial, and as help in managing chronic conditions, among other things. As a physician, I have been aware of the broad spectrum of antibacterial effects of honey and have used it extensively for such conditions as sore throats. Now, anyone can use honey with confidence.

Honey is also a delicious, nutritious sugar substitute. Not only is it perfect for sweet recipes, like desserts, but with its unique, rich flavor, honey can also enhance main dishes featuring fish and meat, as well as vegetarian stir fry and salads. Using honey in a wide variety of recipes may allow us to tap into its powers as a regulator of friendly bacteria at the same time that we enjoy its delightful flavor.

After reading Honey for Health & Beauty, I am now enthusiastic to increase the use of honey in some of my favorite dishes, as well as a healing agent.

As honey has been appreciated by many, so will this book.

Lauren Feder, M.D. Author:

Natural Baby and Childcare,

The Parents Concise Guide to Vaccinations

Before honey arrives on your kitchen table, it has been part of a remarkable process and quite a journey. In order to produce one jar of honey, bees travel a distance roughly of 500,000 miles. Thats the equivalent of a round-trip to the moon! But its all just another days work for the diligent honey bee, natures powerhouse insect.

Honey is mostly made up of fructose, glucose, and water. It also contains a variety of other sugars, and trace amounts of enzymes, minerals vitamins and amino acids.

What is honey? Honey is actually flower nectar that has been consumed, regurgitated, and rehydrated by bees until it reaches the perfect consistency. Beeswax, which is used to build the beehive, is also the product of nectar. A honeybee has to log a lot of miles, traveling from flower to flower, to accumulate enough nectar to create honey. Once a honeybee gathers nectar, it returns to the beehive and begins to process what will become honey. In the hive, honey is stored in six-sided hexagonal chambers. The honeycomb structure of the hive is also ideal for use as rooms for the queen bee to lay her eggs.

In order for honey to be gathered for human consumption, the honey-covered walls of the hive are removed and placed in a spinner. Rotating rapidly, the spinner separates the liquid from the comb.

Besides being honey-producers, honeybees help put fresh fruits and vegetables on your table, and ensure that our fields and woods are lush and healthy. How? When they gather nectar from flowers, honeybees perform pollination. Pollination is the process where, through the transfer of pollen from one plant to another.

Honey bees pollinate 80% of the fresh fruits and vegetables we eat.

Although most of us may only be familiar with one type of honey, liquid honey, there are actually many different forms of honey available for human consumption. In addition to being offered as a golden liquid, honey can also be found in the following forms: