For more than 8,000 years, honey has been known and used by humans as a sweetener. Honey has medicinal properties. And has health benefits, making it possible to use honey in a variety of ways. Some people prefer to eat only honey. Or may be mixed with milk or honey mixed with fruit. In addition, honey has mild laxative properties. It is often taken for children with constipation to eat. It also has properties to prevent or inhibit the growth of different types of microorganisms.

How does honey come up?…. Honey is a flower-derived nectar that is made up of sucrose, glucose and fructose. The worker bees collect nectar from flowers in the hive. And bees make and release an enzyme called “invertase” into the nectar collected from the flower. This will cause a process to change the physical and chemical structure of flower nectar.

The enzyme invertase converts sucrose, a disaccharide. To glucose and fructose, which are monosaccharides. And part of the glucose contained in the flower nectar is chemically reacted with the enzyme glucose oxidase produced by the bees, glucose oxidase converts glucose to gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. peroxide)

Gluconic acid increases the acidity of honey. Which is a condition in which Not suitable for the growth of many types of microorganisms. At the same time, hydrogen peroxide has an inhibitory effect on the growth of some microorganisms. The viscosity of honey is due to the evaporation of the water contained in the flower nectar from the honey storage compartment in the honeycomb.

By flapping the wings of the bees inside the hive, which helps the water evaporate from the nectar faster Thus making the honey very concentrated Which such conditions are not suitable for the growth of various types of microorganisms It can be seen that bees have a way of making the nectar collected from flowers magically transform both their physical and chemical structures.

The honey is a high energy food source. Because honey contains sugar monosaccharide That our body can absorb sugar monosaccharide directly. Without having to go through the digestive process Makes when we eat honey to feel refreshed and energized quickly. But in children, the absorption of fructose in honey does not work as well as in adults. Therefore, if the child drinks more honey than the child’s body can absorb. The residual fructose in honey in the intestines causes an accumulation of water in the intestines. And eventually expelled from the body This is the reason why it is said Honey has a mild laxative-like action.

In addition, honey also contains B vitamins, vitamin C, calcium and minerals. That helps maintain health and contains substances that help fight free radicals. (antioxidants) in the body as well.

What is an antioxidant? Antioxidants are substances that help inhibit and prevent the occurrence of various chemical reactions. Inside the body cells These chemical reactions arise from the activation of oxygen or hydrogen peroxide and generate ions or free radicals, resulting in various damage. Inside the body’s cells, for example, causing the body to deteriorate or aging; Is substances in the vitamin group, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, etc.

Scientists have studied and discovered a group of chemicals found in many plants appear in honey. This group is called phytochemicals This is meant to include many of the anti-oxidants found in honey. And each type of honey contains different antioxidants, depending on the type of flower that honey is derived from. It positively affects the digestive system and metabolism in the human body.

In addition, beeswax and honey have been found to inhibit and prevent colon cancer and tumors. Including properties of honey that contain chemicals that help fight bacteria, viruses and some types of fungi by these chemicals is a mixture of resins and other substances. Many other types of bees and honey All of the above are considered good properties of honey.

For the honey that has been processed, it will find a group of substances. phytochemicals Less in honey that is naturally derived without any processing. However, there have been reports of honey contamination from bacterial toxins such as botulinum toxin. From chemicals used in agriculture such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides However, there are varying levels of contamination, so choosing honey from a reliable and safe source is also essential.