For millenniums, honey has been known for its amazing powers. The ancient Egyptians as well as the Sumerians used honey as food as well as medicine to invigorate health, to make elixirs, and cure diseases. Honey was and still is a highly-prized nutriment in Arabia. Hundreds of Saudi Riyals are paid for a bottle of high quality honey, coming from Taif, Al-Baha, and South Yemen, Hadhramout. The Arabs’ belief in the powers of honey is reinforced by its mention in the Holy Quran in chapter 16, The Bees: “And your Lord inspired the bees, saying: “Take you habitations in the mountains and in the trees, in what they erect (68). Then, eat of all fruits, and follow the ways of your Lord made easy [for you]. There comes forth from their bellies, a drink of varying color wherein is healing for men.... (69).
Honey is used to sweeten beverages and bitter remedies, make desserts, clear a cough, substitute sugar, heal stomach ulcers, relieve allergies, and soothe burns, sunburn, and eczema.
Honey has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antihistamine properties. Manuka honey from New Zealand has potent antibiotic actions that have been recently rediscovered by the medical profession in dressing burns and wounds. A thin layer of honey soothes burns, sunburns, and blisters; stimulates tissue repair; neutralizes insect bites; and draws their poison and stringer out.
Honey is ideal food for the elderly in particular. It contains several types of natural sugars, which are easily absorbed by the body. It lubricates the intestines; heals stomach ulcers, relieves constipations, and speeds canker sore’s healing. This nutritional substance, not only energizes, but also activates serotonin, the neurotransmitter, that lifts the mood and encourages healthy sleep. Some of honey’s healing properties are enhanced when combined with other natural ingredients.
Scientists recommend the combination of garlic, organic apple vinegar, and raw honey. Medical journals have lauded the mixture for its powers to cure many ailments. The panacea seems to lower cholesterol levels by 20 percent; relieve stiffness and pains of arthritis; reduce risk of stomach cancer; extend life of cancer patients; decrease high blood pressure; improve Parkinson’s disease symptoms (world champion, boxer Mohammed Ali, uses it); invigorate depleted energy; and enhance immunity to fight infections and colds.
Researcher Dr. Tsao of China recommends this mixture and honey for its richness in nine vitamins, 13 minerals, and four important enzymes. To make the elixir, he suggests mixing one cup of apple vinegar, one cup of honey, and eight smoothly blended garlic cloves. Store the mixture in a glass jar, seal and refrigerate for five days. Dilute two teaspoons in a glass of water or juice. Drink the liquid before breakfast and another in the evening if needed.
Severe colds, cough, sinusitis can be cut short with one tablespoon of honey mixed with a quarter spoon cinnamon powder in warm water, to be taken for three days.
Daily use of honey bolsters the immune system. To relieve upset stomach, indigestion, stomach ulcers, acidity, and gases, take two teaspoons of honey sprinkled with cinnamon powder before meals. To improve the metabolism and speed weight loss, mix honey and cinnamon powder in a cup of water and drink half an hour before breakfast and again at night before retiring to bed.
For eczema, skin infections, and pimples, combine three tablespoons of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon to make into a paste. Spread it over skin at night and wash with warm water in the morning. The salve cures the roots of pimples.
While we are discussing cancer, I would like to add an effective honey cure from Traditional Arabian Medicine for the many forms of the malignant disease. This traditional remedy is made with half a kilo of pure honey from the sidr tree (Hadhrami honey from South Yemen), three tablespoons of powdered “Nigella sativa, black seeds, (haba sawdah locally grown), and one crushed head of garlic. The three ingredients should be thoroughly blended and one tablespoon taken on an empty stomach in the morning, followed by a coffee-bean size Commefora molmol (murrah in Arabic) and lentil size Ferula assafoetida, (halteet in Arabic) to be swallowed with a glass of milk, preferably camel milk. Repeat the process before bedtime. The course of three months should bring desired results, inshallah.
Honey is at the base of many traditional remedies and herbal formulas in many ancient cultures. The Arabs and even the Japanese considered honey, in all its forms, an aphrodisiac.
When cure comes from natural foods, mainstream doctors and people in general tend to disbelieve or ignore its efficacy, because, in their opinions, healing potions from nature do not exist. Thus, natural therapies are not given a chance. Why don’t we heed a little to what Allah says that there is “cure” in honey? Give your health a boost with a teaspoon of honey!