Types and Benefits of Honey

There are more than 300 unique types of honey available, each originating from a different floral source (honey is usually named after the plant source used by the bees to collect the nectar used to make the honey). Their shades range from nearly colorless to dark brown, while flavors go from subtle to bold.

The top favorites include the following:

Clover Honey

Clover honey is among the most popular and widely available forms of store-bought honey. It usually comes from either Canada or New Zealand, where bees produce the honey mostly from clover nectar. It is almost always light in color and has a nice mild, delicate flavor that makes it an excellent honey for baking.

Manuka Honey

Manuka honey is produced from New Zealand bees that frequent the Manuka tree. It is one of the most revered forms of natural honey because of its topical health benefits. Some research has looked into its wound soothing capabilities, as it has been found to provide antibacterial properties that can help fight off infection.

Wildflower Honey

“Wildflower” honey is a kind of the catch-all raw honey variety. Its flavor and color will depend entirely on the flowers in bloom at the time the honey is collected.

Buckwheat Honey

Buckwheat honey comes from honey bees that collect nectar from buckwheat flowers, which creates a darker honey with a more molasses-like flavor. Buckwheat honey is not as sweet as a typical jar of wildflower honey, but it does have a higher concentration of beneficial macronutrients, trace elements and antioxidants.

Benefits of Honey

Honey, being a sugar, is a quick source of energy. Also, honey, especially raw honey, contains a blend of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants and phytonutrients, primarily from bee pollen and bee propolis which are the sources of vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, proteins, carotenoids and bioflavonoids. Moreover, raw honey is alkaline forming unlike processed honey which is acid forming.

Although raw honey is clearly better than refined white sugar, it has got the same fructose and glucose content as white sugar. Thus, both have the same negative impact on blood sugar. And so those who struggle to keep their blood sugar levels within a healthy range  and those who want to lose weight should avoid consuming honey.

In addition, along with its delicate sweet flavor, honey contains a lot of natural microorganisms, including one specific bacteria called clostridium. For adults, this bacterium poses no threat because our immune systems are mature and the amount contained in the honey is quite small. 

For infants and children under the age of one, however, this bacterium does pose a significant risk and can lead to infant botulism if consumed. Thus it needs to keep honey out of reach of young children and slowly introduce it into their diets only after their first birthday.

Common uses of honey include it being used as a sweetener for hot tea or beverages for wellness and sleep, plus as an ingredient in health and beauty recipes.