When choosing honey we often come across labels that use words like “raw,” “pure,” “organic,” and “unfiltered” – but you may be left thinking how different it is?. In many cases honey can be more than one of these things, but they each mean something different and understanding this helps you choose the healthiest honey.
Pure Honey: This label means that the 100% honey is free from other ingredients (such as corn syrup, glucose/fructose which is at times added to industrial honey to reduce costs). However “pure” honey alone doesn’t always tell you much about the varietal or how the honey is produced. One should check for more information to make sure you are getting all the benefits
Raw Honey: Te most Premium honey. The difference between raw honey and pure honey is that in addition to being pure, “raw” honey has not been heated to the point of pasteurization (higher than 118°F). The benefits of not heating honey is that the naturally-occurring enzymes, vitamins and minerals are preserved and thus you get the full benefits of them from its consumption. The beekeepers who produce raw honey make sure they care for the bees and the process is handled with care. If you have the choice between raw honey vs regular honey, raw honey is a better choice for health, taste, bees and the environment
Organic Honey: Organic honey is produced from the pollen of organically grown plants and without chemical miticide to treat the bees. Buying organic honey ensures that you avoid contact with pesticides that may be sprayed on or near the plants visited by honeybees. Bees usually fly up to 2 miles from the hive looking for flowers, thus all the flowers within this 2-mile radius must be certified organic in order for the honey to truly be organic. Also honey labeled “organic” is not necessarily raw or minimally processed unless labeled
Unfiltered Honey: This label means that the 100% honey is free from other ingredients (such as corn syrup, glucose/fructose which is at times added to industrial honey to reduce costs). “Filtering” honey means processing the honey to remove very small particles, even as small as the pollen. Filtering honey is not the same as straining honey, which is commonly done to
remove bee parts and other large debris prior to jarring while still retaining the pollen and other beneficial qualities of honey. With filtration, honey is also often heated to become more liquid in order to make the filtering process easier, meaning that the honey is no longer raw. Therefore, unfiltered honey is not necessarily raw unless labeled so, but it will be closer to its state straight
from the hive than honey that has been filtered. Choosing raw unfiltered honey ensures the most properties have been preserved.
WHY RAW HONEY? “RAW HONEY IS GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH” It’s that Simple. Simply put Raw Honey is Honey the way it is in the Bee Hive. Natural Honey from the Bee hive contains Pollen, Propolis, Small quantities of Bees Wax, Enzymes like Diastase and Invertase, Vitamins
and Minerals.
The Honey available at the stores super market shelf does not contain any pollen or Enzymes because of the processing it goes through before bottling. To increase the clarity of honey and to prevent it from crystallizing, some brands heat the honey to 160 degrees Fahrenheit and then use high pressure to force the honey through dense filters.
Some of you may wonder whats wrong with processing?” the problem with processing is that the heat destroys all the beneficial enzymes like diastase and invertase and the filtration removes all the beneficial pollen. The miracle properties of honey is all lost. Whats remains is simply a sugar syrup