Monday, May 30, 2011

Honey – Some Interesting Facts On This Wondrous Substance

Liquid gold! This is what saved me from a bad cough and flu  during
the Umra.  Every morning, a cup of tea, a tiny jar of honey and a squeeze of lemon.

Except for the cough and sore throat, many people do not consider honey as a remedy or medicine for any other illnesses or ailments. And many consider this miraculous natural and almost complete food as a mere supplement to their diet, if taken at all.


What a shame. Honey is given supremacy status in the Holy Book and as such it should be considered sacred and worthy of a place in our homes and our bodies too. Everything said to be good as mentioned in the Quran, has profound truth and immense power in it, for those who truly believe. In ayurveda it is considered as "food for the gods", but I would rather define it as food made by God. 

The truth is, honey is much, much more than a food supplement or natural sweetener. Honey is a super food, containing high quantities of antioxidants and possessing powerful anti-viral, anti-bacterial , anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties. 

Of course I do not include synthetic, adulterated or honey made by sugar fed bees in this category. These are the types of honey which make diabetics cry murder, and the reason why many people shun this as a remedial alternative. It is my great wish to see some form of regulation by relevant authorities to stop the influx of synthetic honey into the market.

One of the amazing results that were presented at the 2nd International Conference on the Medicinal Use of Honey which I had attended early last year was concerning the effect of honey on post menopausal women. The findings were collated by a few members of a team comprising professors and lecturers doing research on traditional and complementary medicine from University Sains Malaysia (USM) in Kubang Kerian, Kelantan.

According to the findings of Dr. Lily Husniati, School of Medical Sciences, USM, women who had been given a daily dosage of honey everyday for four months were found to have had absolutely no occurrence of vaginal spotting or bleeding amongst them.

Compare this to an incidence of 64.3% vaginal spotting and 35.7% vaginal bleeding respectively among women who were not taking honey but were on hormone replacement therapy (HRT).








For those who are aware of HRT or have actually experienced its negative side effects and know of the long-term risks would really be heartened to know this. 












(Go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hormonereplacementtherapy.html to read about the risks of HRT). Besides the non-occurrence of spotting and bleeding, the same research concluded that there was no difference in the bone densitometry risk factor. This means that the possibility of osteoporosis, a condition common in post menopausal women,  was negligible at that particular time during the tests were done when the women were taking daily intake of honey.


In another research conducted by the De Montfort University, United Kingdom, it was found that honey is a good source of antimicrobial agents. These agents are important in fighting  diseases caused by viruses, bacteria and fungus namely the Staphylococcus bacteria and the Candida sp.  yeast which causes candidiasis, a chronic or acute infection occurring on any part of the body. Women are susceptible to this fungal infection in the mouth and vagina (candida albicans) which causes unbearable itchiness and discomfort due to mucus discharge.

Go to http://altered-states.net/barry/newsletter331/index.htm to know about Candida albicans. The information here is simple to understand and complete.

stock photo : candida albicans
Candida albicans
When I was in Makkah recently, I was threatened by the onset of a nasty cough and flu. I was beginning to feel the symptoms; a dry scratchy throat, a runny nose and fatigue. Fortunately just a day earlier I had run off to a grocery store nearby to see the various types of honey available and had picked out Clover Honey and Black Seed Honey to try. I fed myself with the Clover Honey, mixing it with cool water and drinking half a glass of the mixture four times on that day. 


Alhamdulillah, with a few hours of rest and after Isya’ prayers, I had regained my strength and was able to get up and perform the circumambulating  of the Kaaba (tawaf) at 2a.m. that morning. The runny nose had stopped and the sore throat was completely gone. 

In 2007, research on the benefit of Madu Tualang in reducing acute respiratory symptoms amongst Malaysian Hajj pilgrims was done by the School of Medical Sciences in USM. A group was given two kilograms of Tualang honey each to consume during their stay in Makkah. The results from this research showed that the group that had consumed honey twice a day had a significant reduction in symptoms of sore throat and rhinitis




The effectiveness of honey in increasing the immune system and reducing respiratory problems indeed makes it a very delicious, delectable and desirable prophylactic medicine, and more importantly it is safe to consume with no side effects! Bacteria, the bad ones that is, cannot build a resistance against honey.  This is because the super intelligent bees collect nectar from different sources every time and each batch produced is different. 
Sistem An Nisaa Madu Tualang - lab-tested,  raw, pure, fresh  and  high antioxidant content.
http://farmasiislamonline.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html


The other tests on the effectiveness and benefit of honey done by the various universities worldwide include for the prevention of premature labour, increasing sexual activity, infertility, reducing inflammation, reducing oxidative stress in kidneys, wound healing and various studies  on diabetes, cancer cells and HIV. 


The Prophet SAW used to drink honey and water 

on an empty stomach; 

herein lies a most notable secret 

for the preservation of health 

that is only to be grasped by the 

astute and the discerning.

 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya





Aniza Zain Ahmed
Sistem An Nisaa
2A-1 Jalan Teknologi 3/6C, Sunsuria The Core, 47810 Petaling Jaya   
013- 62 60 369   

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