welcome back to our series of talks about honey!

We already discussed the antibacterial effects of honey and how it exerts this in my previous posts. I hope you learned from those talks. Today let us move on to another health benefit of honey.

Honey is rich in Antioxidants

If you have read my last post about the antibacterial properties of honey, you will find out that it oxidizes bacterial cell wall. And now I say that it is an antioxidant? Confused? Actually, since honey is such a complex mixture it contains both oxidizing and antioxidizing properties. That good thing about this is that it often exerts its action to where it is mostly used. A synergistic (or complementary) effect of antioxidants in honey is needed to produce an effect. All in all, when honey is eaten, we can be sure of its health benefits in our gut.

How oxidation works in the body?

If you visit my previous post about honey, we can learn that oxidation has the ability to steal an electron away from a cell. The process of oxidation harms the cells and subsequently harms a person when a lot of cells are oxidized. This may sound like a really weird thought but the reason why oxidation occurs in our body is that of one key component which keeps us alive - oxygen. Oxygen is a highly reactive molecule which damages living organisms by producing reactive oxygen species (ROS). Oxidation is to be blamed for the aging process.

Reactive oxygen species, also called as free radicals, are chemically reactive molecules containing oxygen which are byproducts of the metabolism of in the body. Everyone has these ROS in their bodies since everyone is breathing oxygen daily. However, when put under extreme conditions such as when our bodies are placed in too much radiation stress (like UV radiation, X-rays or gamma-rays exposure, ionizing radiation), these reactive oxygen species may increase rapidly leading to damage of cellular proteins, fats, and even our DNA. These damages often predispose a person to cancer.

Oxidation is not good for the body and can cause cellular death.

Honey and Antioxidants

The action of antioxidants is that they prevent the formation of free radicals in the body. A lot of antioxidants can be found in the usual fruits and vegetables in our diet, all in very different compositions. This is the reason why we need to diversify our diet to make sure that we have enough of the antioxidants and nutrients that we need to sustain cellular processes in our body.

However the most promising antioxidant in honey polyphenol. It was found the more honey intake a person had, the more polyphenols was found in the blood (Warner, 2004). These polyphenols include flavonoids such as pinocembrin, pinostrobin and chrysin. We won't be dealing more about the specifics of each one. However, it is noted in recent studies that these polyphenols have promising health effects such as increasing the enzymatic activity of cells, improving brain activity, reducing free radicals and even combat cancer cells at their early stages of development

The point is, honey contains a lot of antioxidants that when combined with other food sources are capable of creating miracles.

Honey contains a wide variety with adequate quantity of antioxidants which have been found to decrease free radicals in the body and improve overall well-being.

_{Disclaimer: Anti-oxidant properties of any substance will only take effect if paired with a balanced nutrition, adequate exercise and reduced level of stress}

If you want to read more blogs about honey, feel free to smash it below :

• Benefits of Honey: Antibiotic Properties of Liquid Gold | Oxidation, Acidity and Bacterial Death

• Benefits of Honey: Antibiotic Properties of Liquid Gold | Osmolarity and Bacterial Death

• How Honeybees Make Honey: A brief discussion on how liquid gold is formed

• Honey: The Liquid Gold | Historical Context Series : Part 1

Sources:

Natural antioxidants in Honey

Why honey is so valuable

The Many Health Benefits of Raw Honey

Jennifer Warner (2004). Honey Sweetens Your Health

Schramm DD, et al (2003). Honey with high levels of antioxidants can provide protection to healthy human subjects.

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