Gluten Free Carla

I am in the middle of researching raw honey, attempting to find what is the best place to buy honey and the best type for me.  I have found that honey originates from several sources.  There are nectar honeys, some of which are orange blossom honey, lavender honey, alfalfa honey, etc.  The honey is extracted from those plant sources by the bees.  Then there is honeydew honey which is made by the bees taking secretions of aphids and scale insects.  These insects feed off the sap of plants and excrete it while feeding.  This is a darker honey. 

My first thought was that I should stay away from any honey that is a plant sourced honey in case I have an allergy to that plant, or perhaps it would be best to consume the honeydew honey to avoid allergies altogether.  But I discovered the complete opposite!  I found that there is actually an advantage to consuming honey from plants because it can prevent allergies.  When you are exposed to anything long enough, that over-exposure can turn into an allergy.  Well, by consuming the same pollen through honey is known to have the opposite effect on a person.  Example: If you live near an area that is predominantly saturated with a particular wildflower, you may have developed an allergy to that plant.  It is suggested that you consume small amounts of honey (a couple of teaspoons a day several months prior to pollen season), from your local area.  The reason behind purchasing it locally (as close as possible to where you live) is because it is more than likely that local honey will contain pollen from that plant.   This could help prevent an allergic reaction to that plant by building up your immune system to that plant.  It may not replace your allergy doctor, but it sure is healthier for you than refined sugar or the processed honey in some stores.

I moved out in the country a couple of years ago and I remembered someone mentioning that someone in my town or the next town up sold raw honey.  I just did a Google search using “honey and my city and state”, and would you believe that someone sells honey only a half mile from my house?  How great is that?  Check out your area!

Once I buy the honey, my next step is to try substituting raw honey for the refined sugar in my Rich Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe.  If you should try this before I do, remember that honey loses nutritional value when heated above 115 degrees, therefore, add the honey after the ice cream mixture cooks and is cooled.  Maybe I’ll even use rice milk instead of cow’s milk!  I’ll post the results soon.

Have a bee-u-ti-ful day!

Carla

READ FULL ARTICLE: “Local Honey, Health and Allergies” http://www.carlislehoney.com/allergies.htm