Does honey make you fat? Discover all the benefits of the natural sweetener
Honey, given by the precise work of bees, is sold as an "alternative to normal sugar, used as a sweetener in hot drinks (milk, tea, coffee) or spreadable cream. This is due to the great benefits that this food has and its antioxidant properties, but despite these benefits, including its sweetness and goodness that helps satisfy cravings for sweet, many are convinced that honey makes you fat and should be excluded from the diet. video you will find a very sweet honey-based recipe!
Where does honey come from?
Appreciated by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, the roots of honey originate in the remote past, in which it was considered the nectar of the gods, a precious and fascinating liquid that fell from the sky, therefore accompanied by "ambrosia - the power of the gods in Greece."
Honey was born as a reserve food, a real food supply in anticipation of the long winter; the bees, with their precise and patient work, thus stockpile and provisions. The first to operate are the milliferous bees, followed by the worker bees. The former take the nectar and pollen from the flowers, ingest them and rejecting them later in the "alverare"; from this moment on, the worker bees act in a meticulous way the product and then transport it inside the honeycombs (the notes wax structures). The industriousness continues until the honey is obtained from the starting mixture, for the preservation of which the bees seal the cells with wax. At this point of creation, it is the task of man: the beekeeper extracts it by means of the centrifugation technique, then decanting it in the special containers that will be marketed and purchased and tasted by us.
The different types of honey and their calories
There are many different types of honey that are collected by the beekeeper inside the honeycombs, they are mainly distinguished on the basis of the vegetable source, the extraction method and whether it is raw or pasteurized. Among the most common honey qualities on the market we find clover, avocado, buckwheat, blueberry, sage, eucalyptus, orange blossom and alfalfa honey. Nutritional properties vary by type, but generally a 21-gram spoonful of honey contains 64 calories and 17 grams of carbohydrates, with little if any fat, fiber and protein. Not only that, but honey also contains several micronutrients, such as potassium, iron and zinc, but less than the recommended 1% daily.
The properties of honey
As already mentioned, a lot depends on the quality of the honey. This food, in fact, if of high quality, is rich in antioxidants, various and rich, including phenolic acids and flavonoids, which are beneficial to health in general. Antioxidants are compounds that help fight disease-causing free radicals, thereby reducing the risk of damage to oxidative cells. They also play an important role in health and disease research, and it is no coincidence that studies have been carried out that hypothesize their ability to protect against chronic conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. That's not all: other studies claim that ingesting certain types of honey (such as the quality of buckwheat) can increase the antioxidant status of the blood.
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To make the most of the benefits of honey, we recommend that you choose the quality targeted for the area you are interested in taking care of the most. For example, chestnut honey is excellent for the kidneys, orange honey for the heart, rosemary honey for the liver, eucalyptus honey for the lungs and Manuka honey for the immune system.
Incorporating a high quality honey into your diet instead of one of a poorer variety can significantly improve some aspects of your health, especially that of the heart as it has been shown that among the major beneficial properties there is the ability to fight cardiovascular diseases Honey has also been shown to lower the triglyceride level by up to 19%.
The cardiac benefits are certainly not the only ones: honey is also a natural antibacterial according to traditional medicine, such as Ayurveda; honey is applied directly to the skin to help and accelerate the healing of wounds. The reason is hidden in the wounds. its antibacterial qualities and the ability to reduce the growth of microorganisms that could cause infections.
Finally, other studies show that honey can be used for skin care, a useful treatment for psoriasis, dermatitis and herpes.
Eating honey on a diet: does it make you fat?
The beneficial properties of honey are remarkable, but when you are on a diet and want to maintain a healthy weight, can you eat it? If you are trying to lose weight on a diet, can honey be included? To answer these questions, we must first think of honey as a very energetic and quickly digestible food, useful when you need immediate release energy to strengthen the body before or after an effort. food has a lower calorie content than natural sugar, from a numerical point of view they are 304 kcal per 100 g against 390 kcal per 100 g, with a similar glycemic index. If you are wondering at this point whether to prefer honey or sugar, we can tell you that for the benefit of our food similar to the dish of the ancient gods there is a sweetening power given by the amount of fructose that allows you to use a smaller dose than sugar. normal or any other sweetening product, obtaining the same degree of sweetness. In addition, other points in favor of honey are its vitamin components, minerals and intrinsic advantages that we have already had the opportunity to talk about. Also in this case honey is preferable to sugar which is devoid of sugar and brings little to the table in terms of nutrition.In general, however, there are no huge differences between the two sweeteners.
So, does honey make you fat? Potentially all foods can make you fat if consumed in excessive quantities, while from a nutritional point of view, weight loss requires a balance of macronutrients and a calorie deficit to be achieved. Of course, honey is not an exception. A dry answer: yes, honey makes you fat and, due to its important glucose component, can negatively affect your fitness if ingested in large quantities. it unites all the types of honey on the market, which, as we have already had the opportunity to investigate, differ in their therapeutic properties based on their botanical origin.
How much honey can you eat to avoid gaining weight?
Considering the aid brought to the body, it is actually possible to take honey daily, even by those on a diet and trying to lose weight, with the condition not to overdo it and to do it with restriction and attention. In common with all foods that are very sugary and poor if not free of proteins and fats, our well-being dish has a low satiating power. It will in fact be possible to insert it at different times of the day, combining it with foods that prevent insulin peaks, thus reducing the absorption of sugars, which will accumulate mainly on the abdominal area.
You can therefore consume a few teaspoons a day, each of which has about 30 calories, accompanied by a slice of toast, in a low-fat fat-free yogurt, combined with nuts and seeds, or in a hot drink such as milk, tea or chamomile. .
It is therefore possible to get well-being and taste even if on a diet, provided that you take the product not in total freedom, but with reason.
