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Honey is one of the mysterious foods that have tickled the imagination of tech savvy people in this age. It is difficult for them to fathom how hordes of nondescript insects can produce such an amazing product. This wonder food is fascinating for more reasons than one, and scientists are trying to find out more uses of honey than those known so far. Honey's life-enhancing properties and its position of a wonder food is not by any chance our discovery. We are not the first to know its benefits. There were Romans who paid their taxes through pure honey rather than gold. This did not happen in the entire 1,000-year regime of Roman empire but is still a fact. However, human civilization and honey existed much before the Roman Empire. Archeologists have found paintings dating back over 9,000 years in caves that have honey depicted in them. Human beings cherished honey since it was the only means of sweetening the food until refined sugar and molasses were discovered. You can choose from nearly 300 different varieties of honey. It is also available in a wide assortment of colors and flavors. By the color and taste of honey you can know what flowers the bees collected the nectar from to make the honey. Chemically speaking, honey is essentially naturally refined sugar. Although there is some variance, honey is basically: 38 percent fructose, 31 percent glucose, 1 percent sucrose, and 9 percent other sugars. The remainder is made up of vitamins, minerals, water, and various amino acids. It is in these vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that have scientists most interested in the possible medical benefits of honey. You would be surprised to know that the honey found beside the mummies had not spoilt and was absolutely safe to eat. The reason this honey did not spoil is because honey is known to have a bioactive agent in it that inhibits the action of germs and bacteria on it. This also makes honey a very good topical treatment in case of burns and other wounds. It can prevent the wound or burn from becoming infected. However a thing to be remembered here is that the bioactive agent of honey breaks down in heat and light. So honey should always be preserved in a cool, dark place if you wish to retain its ability to repel bacteria. Most commonly found variety of honey is liquid honey though there are several other varieties also available. Liquid honey is removed from the comb using centrifugal, gravity or straining methods. Then you can get it filtered to remove the impurities, air bubbles and other small particles. You can even get it strained to remove the above-mentioned undesirables but in this case some of the small particles and air bubbles are left behind. Honey remains the only naturally refined sugar available and it has been part of human history since before recorded time. Able to repel bacteria and still be edible after centuries of being buried with mummies, honey truly is a remarkable food. The benefits and secrets of honey are still being revealed by scientists today and there may still be some medical miracles waiting to be discovered in honey that could really benefit all of humanity. Even if not, honey is still one of the sweetest substances on earth that is just a treat to eat.
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Gillian Stell is the owner of F honey, a fantastic resource for information about honey. For more articles on honey why not visit: www.flahoney.com/articles Get a unique version of this article from our honey article directory
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