Do you use honey?
I have just read a great post over on Mark’s Daily Apple about honey and whether it is a safer sweetener than other sweeteners on the market. There is often a lot of confusion over what is or isn’t a healthy choice of sweetness – some even argue that sweetness is entirely unnecessary in a healthy diet.
Short and Sweet
It’s a great article full of information on honey and well worth the read if you like a bit of sweetness in your diet. The short version of the story is that real, unpasturized or raw honey is good for you – “There’s a lot to wade through, but the gist is that honey performed well. Honey resulted in smaller blood glucose spikes (+14%) than dextrose (+53%). Sham honey (a mix of fructose and glucose) increased triglycerides, while real honey lowered them (along with boosting HDL and lowering LDL). After fifteen days of honey feeding, CRP and LDL dropped. Overall, honey improved blood lipids, lowered inflammatory markers, and had minimal effect on blood glucose levels.”
So if you do like a little sweetness in your Primal or Paleo life you could worse than using a little real honey. Try to source honey from a bee-keeper that you know, that way you can find out a little about the methods used to manage the hives and also have an idea of the area that the bees source their food in. Of course another benefit is that you will be helping a local food craftsperson to continue their trade and helping to ensure the survival of bees in your local area.
Do you still like sweet things?
I don’t seem to need the sort of sweetness that I once did and as I am concerned with weight loss at the moment I will continue to avoid sweet things in my diet. I never thought that I could get rid of my sweet tooth except perhaps through the use of serious self-discipline – which I have to admit just wasn’t working as I couldn’t stay disciplined enough.
Now I don’t need to be disciplined, I simply don’t desire sweet things any more. I thought I would treat myself to a small, locally home-made ice-cream at Christmas and was very disappointed to find it way too sweet for my taste, I just couldn’t finish more than a few small spoonfuls and didn’t enjoy it.
Don’t get me wrong, I do still occasionally get a craving if I haven’t eaten enough protein or fat however I know now that the craving will not be satisfied by eating anything really sweet. A few almonds usually holds me over until I get to eat a proper meal or at least a small tin of sardines or mackerel.
If you are interested in using food as a beauty product you should really head over to the article and read through the comments as there is great information there on using honey as a face wash and also on using some oils as skin conditioners or moisturizers. I use coconut oil myself quite often on my hands and sometimes on my face if it is feeling dry.
For the full article and comments: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/is-honey-a-safer-sweetener/#ixzz1lvKYlMLZ