The Benefits of Local Honey, as Explained by Beekeepers
By Beth Rush
Why buy local honey? From supporting your health to the local economy, there are plenty of reasons. Honey is an amazing superfood with oodles of beneficial qualities. Best of all, its production nurtures the earth and other living things — it’s an all-around win. Here’s what to know.
The Many Health Benefits of Honey
Few substances on earth qualify as miracles, but honey may well meet that definition. It’s fabulous for multiple uses that nurture human health. Consider the following impressive benefits.
1. Antimicrobial
Doctors have documented the use of honey in the earliest medical literature. For example, the Rigveda, one of the world’s oldest Ayurvedic medical texts, advises using honey for balancing the doshas or body energies. Traditional Chinese medicine uses it to treat wounds and infections, as do African and indigenous cultures.
Honey is particularly effective in treating burns and wound injuries when applied topically. You can find adhesive bandages coated with manuka honey at many popular drug stores.
The type of honey you choose matters. Research shows that medical-grade honey has superior antimicrobial properties, as demonstrated in one study exploring the veterinary use of this substance for treating dogs and cats.
Finding medical-grade honey is easier than it once was. However, keeping a fresh stock of local honey on hand is the next best thing. Another 2024 study demonstrated that fresh honey has higher antimicrobial properties than darker, more aged honey. Use your prep stash and see your local beekeeper regularly.
2. Anti-Inflammatory
Honey’s anti-inflammatory effects can ease red, swollen areas around wounds when used externally. It also demonstrates these qualities when you add it to your diet.
It’s particularly beneficial for heart health, and the disease of this organ remains the number one cause of death worldwide. A recent review found that honey modulates blood pressure, decreases cardiac cell damage and death, improves fat metabolism and acts as an antioxidant.
Another University of Toronto study found that honey improves critical measures of cardiometabolic health, including cholesterol levels and blood sugar. It discovered that honey lowered LDL and triglycerides while raising HDL or “good” cholesterol.
Even though honey is famously sweet, it may protect against type 2 diabetes. Studies show that those who ingest honey have lower blood glucose levels than those who consume other forms of sugar, whether or not they have diabetes. Scientists ascribe the differences to how honey affects the gut flora and its antioxidant properties.
3. Anti-Cancer
Honey’s antioxidant properties may also help it fight cancer. Preliminary research from UCLA shows that honey may be an effective natural option for treating breast cancer. Manuka honey decreased tumor growth in mice with ER-positive breast cancer cells by 84%. This form of breast cancer accounts for 70% to 80% of all cases. It may be used alone, although it also increases the efficacy of existing treatments, like tamoxifen.
4. Superfood
What makes something a superfood? It imparts superior health benefits beyond what you’d expect from the individual ingredients. It’s the symbiotic sum that works together to produce magic in your body. If you look at a honey nutritional label, you’ll see that it’s mostly sugar. However, the trace amounts of protein and other nutrients provided work together in beautiful harmony.
One thing that makes honey such a superfood may be its impact on your gut microbiome. The powers of these healthy bacteria colonies extend beyond digestion, influencing immunity and mood.
Another UCLA study showed that honey helped the beneficial bacteria in yogurt survive the journey through your digestive tract into your intestines, where they can replenish your existing colonies.
Why Buy Local Honey? 4 Excellent Reasons
You already know one reason to buy local honey. Doing so ensures you get it at peak freshness, as opposed to time spent in storage moving from store to store. However, patronizing your local beekeepers also imparts these perks.
1. Support Your Local Beekeepers
Beekeepers are among the 30.7 million small businesses in the U.S., and buying local honey supports their livelihoods and your local economy. When you find a favorite beekeeper at your farmers market or even a roadside stand, you aren’t making a multimillion-dollar corporation richer.
You’re helping your neighbors send their kids to ballet practice or soccer camp.
2. Ease Seasonal Allergy Symptoms
First, a caveat. To date, the scientific evidence on honey’s effectiveness for seasonal allergies is scant and mixed. Although one 2020 study found that it didn’t help with hay fever, other earlier studies showed promising results.
However, many users remain convinced that an absence of evidence is not evidence of absence and swear by the efficacy of local honey for easing their seasonal allergy symptoms. The good news is that this folk remedy can’t hurt and helps in other ways.
For example, switching from sugar to honey in your morning cuppa could improve your blood sugar management, as seen in studies on honey and diabetes. There’s little harm in testing the theory for yourself.
3. Encourage Pollinators and a Healthy Environment
Perhaps the best reason to buy local honey amid the climate crisis is to support pollinators. Albert Einstein once said that should bees go extinct, humanity would follow in a few short years.
While that statement may be hyperbolic, over 80% of flowering plants rely on pollinators like bees to reproduce. Humanity would have a very hard time getting enough to eat without these creatures.
Visit your local beekeeper and learn from them. Ask about the trends they have observed, and pick their brain to inform your decision-making.
4. Improve Your Health
You now know the impressive health benefits of honey. Keep a stash on hand. Begin using it to replace other sugars and improve your overall health. You need less honey than sugar when substituting in recipes. For example, use one and a half to two teaspoons of honey for each tablespoon of table sugar.
Why You Should Buy Local Honey
Buying local honey is an affordable prep to keep on hand with scores of survival uses in a pinch. Additionally, using it in your daily diet imparts significant health benefits. Get to know your local beekeeper today and stock up on this pantry staple.
About the author: Beth Rush is the green wellness editor at Body+Mind, where she covers topics like the power of climate consciousness at all stages of education. You can find Beth on Twitter @bodymindmag. Subscribe to Body+Mind for more posts by Beth!