Firstly - read this lovely precise post on honey by my sister Jo... It's a refreshing, positive point of view without any preaching or diet talk!
Well put wasn't it! Anyway...
You may have read about the recent research about the negative effects of sugar - or more precisely fructose. You may have even given up sugar - including fruit, honey, maple syrup and fresh dates. It is often recommended to remove all fructose for some time to get the body back into balance. This seems to makes sense. We are definitely not meant to be consuming as much sugar as we do. Unfortunately sugar is in many packaged foods. Even foods like bought tomato sauce and mayonnaise which aren’t even 'sweet'. It is these hidden sugars and trans fats which are in processed foods that we need to avoid.
Honey is a sweetener that is recommended to remove from your diet if you quit sugar. I find this a little sad! Raw honey has been collected by humans for thousands of years. Of course not in the quantities that it is now, so keep this in mind when you use it. Make sure it's unheated or raw honey, as most supermarket honeys have been heated at very high temperatures which destroys the natural goodness, leaving behind only the (fructose) sweetness without the nutrients. Raw honey may cost a little more, but I often find this makes you more careful and appreciative.
Raw honey contains all the nutrients found in plant pollens, as well as enzymes that digest carbohydrates. Sally Fallon writes in her book Nourishing Traditions that this makes honey ideal to eat with porridge as the enzymes help digest the grains. No wonder it tastes so good!
Ayurveda has a more balanced view of sweeteners. It certainly
doesn’t condone refined white sugar, but natural sweeteners such as raw
honey, maple syrup and jaggery are part of the Ayurvedic diet. It does
however, depend on your constitution. Read this article on the trend of giving up sugar by Nadia Marshall from the Mudita Institute in Byron Bay.
If we prepare and cook our own food, and do use a sweetener, at least we are aware of how much we are adding. And the act of cooking and preparing allows you to be more mindful of your food!
