Beth Ooo honey honey. It’s so easy to grab the first jar of honey you see on the shelves and think you winning. Unfortunately, not all honey is created equal. Some honey has added sugar (isn’t honey sweet enough?) so, you really need to be checking out the label before putting it into your shopping basket. Basically, raw honey is the way to go, let’s dive into the reasons why.
Raw honey: What to look for
The best honey to go for is raw, unpasteurised honey. This is where honey is taken from the beehive, strained through a sieve (to remove beeswax and pollen), and then poured into the jar that ends up in your kitchen.
Raw honey, aside from being delicious, contains nutrients, antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties.
The honey you don’t want
The ‘other’ kind of honey normally says ‘Irradiated honey’ on the bottle. This honey goes through a lot more steps before it ends up in your kitchen. What happens, is this honey is heated at high temperatures and is heavily filtered. Often if you have a look at the ingredients list the honey has added sugars (doesn’t make sense right?)
If you’re now asking why companies intentionally remove the goodness from the honey?
- Heating honey at high temperatures slows down the natural granulation of the honey, which makes the honey stay liquid for longer.
- They also filter the honey intensely, removing any bee’s wax or pollen to make the honey clearer (and in the process, they end up removing some of the nutrients from the honey.)
- This is all done to extend the shelf life and to make the product look more attractive on the shelves.
Wouldn’t you rather eat the REAL deal when it comes to honey and benefit from all the nutrients and anti-inflammatory properties honey offers you?
A quick way to spot raw and unpasteurised honey, is it tends to be cloudier to look at. It looks a little cloudier because of the small bits of pollen and beeswax that were too small to be caught by the sieve.
Rule of thumb if you can easily see through the honey in the jar, don’t buy it. If you struggle to see through the jar, it’s purer honey and filled with goodness.
It’s becoming aware of these little things and making simple changes. When you add them together, suddenly you realise that you have made huge shifts in your lifestyle leading to a healthier, happier you!
We love using raw honey to add a little sweetness to our afternoon snacks. Check out our Sweet Honey Popcorn recipe.
