Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. With this thought, many people are discovering super-foods. Super foods contain highly concentrated nutritional and healing compounds. Many feel these potent foods are our best immune and emotional shield, in a rapidly changing world, that finds us far from a natural balance. Around the world people are on the path of discovering the very best super foods our planet has to offer.
Raw honey and other bee products are showing up on several Top Ten Super Foods lists. According to David Wolfe in his new book “Superfoods” The Food and Medicine of the Future, the only other food that comes close to richness in history and legend is chocolate (cacao). From cave drawings in Spain,13,000 BCE to Google searches in 2009, bees have been associated with health, healing, legend, myth and magic.
Raw Food
Many people are discovering the benefits of a raw diet. Eating raw is an amazing lifestyle movement that includes such dishes as raw Red Beet Ravioli with cashew cheese filling and raw lime tart with macadamia crust. These foods are healthy, delicious and full of beneficial enzymes.
Our health increases when we rely on the foods we eat to provide enzymes. Raw foods have enzymes. Foods cooked at 113 degrees for 3 minutes, will kill all enzymes present in the food. The lack of enzymes in our foods will cause the liver, pancreas, and intestines to work harder to produce the enzymes required to catalyze functions that break down food and help to assimilate nutrients. Enzyme rich foods can slow the aging process, increase longevity, and aid healthy digestion.
milkweed in bloom Photo by Ann Watson 2009 copyright
Healthy Honey
Raw honey is filled with minerals, enzymes, antioxidants and probiotics. Research indicates that raw, unprocessed honey is the richest source of live healing enzymes found in nature, and can promote reflexes, and mental alertness.
Honey is very soothing to our digestion and increases absorption of minerals. It elevates our blood sugar levels slowly. As our blood sugar elevates, a rise of insulin causes the amino acid tryptophan (found in raw honey) to create an increase in the serotonin levels in our brain, a hormone that promotes relaxation. It also increases our melatonin levels. Melatonin, secreted by the pineal gland in response to darkness, has long been used to cure sleeping disorders. Recently, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, the equivalent of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, approved raw honey as a” therapeutic medicinal food”. Much research is being done on the anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-viral compounds found in raw honey. For researchers the list of benefits is long and growing.
We trust that science will continue to reveal the nutritional wonders that raw honey has to offer, proving empirically what our early ancestors intuitively responded to, honey is great tasting and good for us in ways we can hardly imagine.
Dana Matthews Honey Gardens Winery and Caledonia Spirits
Recipes by Dana Matthews
Honey Mustard Dressing
Yields 1 1/8 cups of dressing ¼ c raw honey ¼ c Dijon mustard ¼ c raw apple cider vinegar ¼ c cold pressed olive oil 1 clove crushed garlic 1 tsp Celtic sea salt
Place honey, mustard, garlic, vinegar, & salt in blender or food processor, pulse for 10 seconds, Set to medium/high setting and gradually add oil so that it incorporates and thickens slightly (about 15 seconds). Store in refrigerator until served.
Enzyme Shake
Serves 2 to 4 2 c diced pineapple 2 c diced papaya 1 ½ c coconut water 3 tbs raw honey 2 tsp vanilla extract squeeze of lime juice pinch of Celtic sea salt
Blend ingredients in blender until smooth.