Table Of ContentAdvance Praise for The Healing Powers of Honey
“Discover the power of honey as ancient nectar of the gods, modern cure, and
lover’s potion by reading this fascinating book.”
—Dr. Ava Cadell, author and founder of
Loveology University
“I’m amazed at all the great health benefits that can be had from honey. I have
fresh organic bee pollen in my freezer and local organic honey on my table.
Thanks, Cal, for all your good work informing people about honey.”
—Sherry Henderson, Editor/Publisher,
Oracle 20/20 Magazine
“Cal Orey has done a wonderful job of thoroughly explaining the great value of
honey. The Healing Powers of Honey is an easy-to-read book that’s an
invaluable addition to anyone’s library. It’s full of practical tips and applications
for medical conditions that everyone should know about.”
—Allan Magaziner, D.O.
Magaziner Center for Wellness
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
“An original book using the queen honey bee and human metaphors in anecdotes
is charming and witty. Pairing olive oil and honey in cooking and baking is
healthful. The Healing Powers of Honey is a masterpiece.”
—Gemma Sanita Sciabica, author of the
Cooking with California Olive Oil series
“Cal Orey scores again with The Healing Powers of Honey, a continuation of her
widely praised Healing Powers series. Orey’s honey book is well researched in a
manner that makes it both entertaining and informative. This book will make
you look at honey in a new way—as a bona fide health food as well as a
gastronomic treat.”
—Joe Traynor, agriculturist-author of
Honey: The Gourmet Medicine
“Not everyone can be a beekeeper, but Cal Orey shares the secrets that honey
bees and their keepers have always known. Honey is good for body and soul.”
—Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture magazine and author of
The Backyard Beekeeper, The Honey Handbook, and Better Beekeeping
Books by Cal Orey
The Healing Powers of Vinegar
The Healing Powers of Olive Oil
The Healing Powers of Chocolate
Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation
The Healing Powers of
HONEY
A Complete Guide to
Nature’s Remarkable Nectar
CAL OREY
KENSINGTON BOOKS
www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
This book is dedicated to the honey bees—especially the persevering workers
and queens—whom I feel are my kindred spirits. I feel a strong and moving
bond to this small but remarkable hardworking creature with big efforts—
nature’s greatest gift.
Table of Contents Advance Praise for The Healing Powers of
Honey
Books by Cal Orey
Title Page
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
PART 1 - A TIME FOR HONEY
CHAPTER 1 - The Power of Honey
CHAPTER 2 - An Ancient Essential Elixir
PART 2 - NECTAR OF THE GODS
CHAPTER 3 - A Historical Testimony
CHAPTER 4 - Where Are the Secret Ingredients?
CHAPTER 5 - Honey, You’re Amazing!
CHAPTER 6 - The Mediterranean Sweetener
PART 3 - HONEY FLAVORS
CHAPTER 7 - Healing Honey Varieties
PART 4 - MORE HEALING SUPERFOODS
CHAPTER 8 - Honey and Cinnamon Power
CHAPTER 9 - Sweet Stuff: Honey Combos
PART 5 - TEA AND HONEY
CHAPTER 10 - Tea(s) with Your Honey
PART 6 - HONEY CURES
CHAPTER 11 - Home Remedies from Your Kitchen
PART 7 - FUTURE HONEY
CHAPTER 12 - Honeymania: Honey for the Household
CHAPTER 13 - Honey Bee-autiful
CHAPTER 14 - The Busy Bee Workers
CHAPTER 15 - Honey Is Not a Buzz for Everyone: The Sting
CHAPTER 16 - And the Bees’ Buzz Goes On . . .
CHAPTER 17 - The Joy of Cooking with Honey
PART 8 - HONEY RECIPES
CHAPTER 18 - Ciao, Honey!
A Final Buzz
PART 9 - HONEY RESOURCES
Where Can You Buy Honey?
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Copyright Page
Notes
Foreword
A “sweet treat” that is good for you? What sugar can be eaten without guilt and
bring you health benefits? What delectable substance comes in as many flavors
as fine wine? The answers to these questions all point to one natural food—pure,
natural honey!
This delicious treat is what some call nature’s sweetener. But honey is so
much more. It is a superfood that from ancient times has been known for its
healthful and nutritional properties. It is a food that can be eaten in moderation
without guilt. Cal Orey shows you why honey should be consumed daily for
your health. So if you already love honey, or perhaps have never eaten it, or
would love to have a good reason to love it, this book is a must-read.
HONEY HIGHLIGHTS
Bridging history and contemporary science, The Healing Powers of Honey
presents a reader-friendly gem to explain the therapeutic and health benefits of
honey. These amazing benefits include a lowered risk for heart disease, high
blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, an enhanced immune system function, and
a longer, healthier life. Simply put, honey has been touted for its concentrated
energy, as it is loaded with flavonoids and dozens of other active ingredients that
are needed by the body.
For centuries, mankind has survived because of the medicinal benefits of
nature’s finest foods that prevent disease or even heal and cure. The Healing
Powers of Honey resolves any conflict between folklore and traditional medicine
concerning honey by bridging time with facts drawn from a variety of sources.
The proof is in the honey—and Cal Orey shows it chapter by chapter in this
revolutionary book.
A POUND OF SWEET RESEARCH
It has been my privilege as the co-chairman of the Committee for the
Promotion of Honey and Health, Inc., for the past several years to research and
write about the health benefits of honey. Thanks to my brother-in-law, a
commercial beekeeper in Kansas, I have moved from skeptic to believer. Along
with a pharmacist from Edinburgh, Scotland, we have scoured the world’s
literature for information relating to healing honey. Though much of the medical
and scientific information about honey comes from smaller observational studies
completed outside the United States, it is no less valid than results from large
research projects accomplished in our backyard under wellcontrolled studies.
A good example is found in discovering the effects of honey on human
metabolism. Honey regulates and stabilizes blood sugar. That statement on the
surface seems as counterintuitive as eating bacon to control one’s cholesterol.
Yet multiple observations have indicated that the consumption of honey on a
regular basis actually lowers blood-sugar levels and helps prevent swings in
blood sugar throughout the day and during sleep and exercise.
The fact that honey, a combination of two simple sugars—both fructose and
glucose—is able to regulate and control blood sugar is confirmed by
understanding basic human physiology. Both sugars, found in honey in a near
equal ratio, are required for the formation of most of the glycogen made and
stored in the liver. It is this action following eating honey that is responsible for
many of honey’s miraculous health benefits in The Healing Powers of Honey.
Other health benefits from honey, from ancient folk medicine to modern
miracle, include aiding in treatment of ailments including digestion, insomnia,
coughs, and respiratory diseases, helping improve skin conditions, enhancing
sport performance, and much more.
Another powerful and therapeutic benefit of honey comes not from its
consumption but in its external use. Study after study has shown that honey
shows powerful antimicrobial properties. Some honey varietals, such as manuka
honey, produced from nectar from the manuka plant in New Zealand and
Australia, have been found to be very effective in treating wounds, although all
types of honeys are helpful.
HUMAN-FRIENDLY HONEY VARIETALS
While manuka honey is touted for its powers around the globe, other honey
varietals, such as buckwheat honey, have been found to contain higher levels of
antioxidants. Buckwheat honey, used in a cough suppressant study at Penn State
University Medical School, was found to be superior to the most common over-
the-counter cough suppressant available.
The question is frequently asked of me, “What kind of honey is the best?” The
answer really depends on one’s taste. All honey is good as well as good for you.
Honey is like wine. There are as many varietals of honey as there are floral and
nectar sources. “Try several” is the best advice in choosing honey for your
family. Select honey that is from identifiable floral sources and choose the ones
that please your palate.
Finally, The Healing Powers of Honey has accomplished what no promotional
campaign can or would do. The facts about honey and its powerful healthful and
healing benefits are now mainstream, no longer relegated to folklore. All of us
can celebrate the historic and healthful benefits of the wonder natural food given
to us by the Creator as we experience the healing powers of honey for ourselves
—with gratitude to Cal for her delightful and informative work.
—Ronald E. Fessenden, M.D., M.P.H.,
co-author of The Honey Revolution:
Restoring the Health of Future Generations
