Our kitchen has many things that we consume in our daily lives that have more usage than just to be eaten or used in food or drinks. Many herbs, leaves, fruits, and even food wastes can be used for various purposes in our daily lives.
Honey is one such substance that has multiple uses apart from being a very healthy and good replacement for processed sugar. Honey bees produce honey that is then processed and tested using various honey analysis procedures that involve quality checking before it comes out in the market to be consumed by the people directly.
Various other items from the kitchen can be used in unusual ways. For example, green tea preserves act as a good toner for the skin, green tea leaves can be used for exfoliation of the face and the body.
Raw, freshly cut potato is known to help decrease pigmentation of the skin and the appearance of dark spots. Sugar can be mixed with honey or oil to exfoliate, coffee grounds are also good for exfoliation as well as working on extra cellulose collected at parts of the body.
Turmeric is a great antiseptic agent that kills bacteria, yogurt and milk are good moisture inducing agents. And fruit and vegetable peels can be used as an organic manure for the plants.
Benefits of using honey
Honey has various uses and is also full of nutrients and many other benefits. This is the reason that now people keep bees and extract honey. Beekeepers are skilled in the process of extraction but even after that, the product goes through a number of industrial level honey analysis processes before reaching the consumers.
To minimize the intake of harmful chemicals, one must always try to opt for organic raw honey that is easily available in the market these days. It has all the benefits of honey without preservatives and harmful chemicals.
Following are some ways honey can be used in our lives and its benefits:
Sugar content: Honey contains the sweetness of sugar since it has fructose, but fewer calories than it. Honey is safe to be used by people who have high sugar levels in the blood and some research shows that consuming honey can even decrease the risk of diabetes in many cases.
Some types of honey are also known to improve cholesterol. It is a very good idea to replace regular sugar from the diet and consume honey instead, especially for the people who suffer from diabetes.
Nutritional value: honey is not just a sweetener, it contains a number of vitamins and minerals like niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc.
Healing of burns and wounds: honey is known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It is due to this property that honey is also known for treating skin burns and wounds, especially by Egyptians.
Patients that suffer from diabetes generally develop foot ulcers or burning wounds on their feet. Honey is known to soothe and heal these and has worked efficiently in more than 97% of the cases.
High antioxidant content: honey is known to have high amounts of natural antioxidants. For this reason, it is known to lower the risk of heart diseases, cataracts, and even cancer in many cases.
It may also benefit people with high blood pressure problems as antioxidants can help lower blood pressure. It is known to improve the blood flow through the heart.
Soothes coughs: honey has a high viscosity and sweet taste. This is why it can be consumed directly by children as well as adults in order to help with a cough.
Some studies have also shown that honey is much more effective than regular cough medications in the market in providing relief from coughing and inducing sleep.
Honey for skin: since honey has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, it works wonders for people with acne as it can effectively kill acne-causing germs. Honey also promotes skin healing properties and can effectively reduce the appearance of blemishes and dark spots by promoting the regeneration of skin cells.
Honey is also known to soothe symptoms of psoriasis and eczema. It can be mixed with other ingredients like yogurt and applied directly on the face or other body parts to provide instant deep moisturization to dry and damaged skin.
Honey for hair: banana, yogurt, and milk act as great mixing agents to be used for making homemade hair masks. Honey can reduce dandruff, frizz, and damage of the hair while promoting new hair growth and inducing moisture to dry hair.