Un-bee-lievable Honey Cures From Your Kitchen

Sweet Home Remedies
By Cal Orey

The Healing Powers of Honey attracted
Barnes and Noble bookstore customers

I’ll describe 50 common health ailments from A to Z, and provide amazing at-home honey cures. I include tried-and-true folk remedies, real-life stories, scientific studies, and medical experts’ words of honey wisdom—and my own experiences with honey. But caution, consult your health care practitioner before putting to work any honey cure.

Available at fine bookstores

1 ACNE  (Brush off blemishes)   Red dots on your face, back, and shoulders are the scourge of the young and beautiful. But adults aren’t immune from adult acne or flare-ups. As a teen, I blamed my mom and dad on a blotchy face. (Genes and hormones can play a role in acne.) I turned to gooey Clearasil cream and smelly Stridex pads and went to war like a fearless Indian using war paint and getting ready to go to battle. But my efforts didn’t work.

What Honey Rx to Use:  Put a dab of honey (a darker variety such as manuka) on blemishes. Repeat twice per day. Sip a cup of chamomile tea to chill—and drink 6 to 8 ounce glasses of water daily and stay clear of empty nutrition sugary beverages with caffeine.

Why You’ll Bee Happy: It’s the antibacterial compounds in honey that work to help fight redness, inflammation, infection, and dry up the blemish.  Manuka honey is antioxidant-rich that can help give you a clearer, smoother complexion. “As a teenager,” recalls one honey lover, “I would smear raw, organic honey on my face and did it after I came home from school, every day.”  Two months later, he recalls seeing sweet results—a 50 percent clearer complexion. The credit goes to using the right “type” of honey—not processed kinds. 

2 ALLERGIES (Stop seasonal misery)  Dealing with annoying acne is no picnic, but sneezing, a runny nose, and coughing can ruin an indoor or outdoor event, thanks to seasonal pollen. Every year when the yellow pollen arrives like an uninvited visitor at Lake Tahoe I hold a tissue in one hand and am on the phone to pharmacist with the other. I am always on a mission to find the natural remedy to stop my sniffles. 

What Honey Rx to Use: Try eating a tablespoon of locally produced honey. Proponents of honey tell me that your immune system will get used to the local pollen in it (it should be within a 50 mile radius from where you live).

Why You’ll Bee Happy:  By taking the honey cure, you may lose your allergy symptoms. Or not. It’s worth the effort and is less pricey than a visit to the doctor or an allergist. Also, honey is a natural remedy and doesn’t come with unknown side effects linked to allergy medications or pricey shots.  One summer day, I looked outside and the Tahoe yellow pollen was everywhere—cars, trees, and the ground. I started putting honey (not just the local alfalfa variety) in my tea, yogurt, and baking. Two days later, my sniffles were history. If it was coincidence or a honey cure it doesn’t matter. It worked. If you have mild respiratory problems, from allergies to asthma, honey may enhance the immune system to build up a better arsenal against airborne allergens—and help you breathe easier. 

3 ANEMIA (Iron up) Allergies can affect people of all ages, but anemia may be more of a problem for people who are dieting or vegetarians who are not getting sufficient iron. Simply put, anemia is a lack of red blood cells and hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that moves oxygen to cells in your body. The symptoms can include feeling tired and lightheaded.

What Honey Rx to Use:  Try incorporating a dark honey, such as buckwheat, in your daily diet. Pair it with Mediterranean iron-rich foods, including fish, seafood, apricots, and figs.  

Why You’ll Bee Happy: If you’re borderline iron deficient, you need to pump more iron into your body. The Daily Value of iron is 18 milligrams. If you are borderline anemic, you can take boost your iron intake by increasing iron-rich foods and dark honeys containing iron which can help boost the lack of red blood cells in the body.

4 ANXIETY (Beat the jitters monster) Anemia sometimes comes with warnings of symptoms, but when anxiety hits (often worsened by stress) you know it like when an earthquake strikes. Anxiety can wreak havoc on your nervous system and up your odds of heart problems, stress eating, and other chronic health problems.

What Honey Rx to Use: If you’re under pressure and feeling high anxiety or sense a stressful event is in the works, make a cup of chamomile tea. Put in one teaspoon of your favorite honey. Repeat twice a day as needed.

Why You’ll Bee Happy: Honey—all varietals—is touted by folk medicine healers for its calming effects. The natural superfood can help soothe your nerves rather than put you in higher anxiety mode. The relief it provides may be due to its multiple vitamin B content—anti-stress vitamins.  Pairing it with calming tea or milk (which is rich in tryptophan, an essential amino acid which helps to alleviate feelings of anxiety and stress) can help you to chill.  So next time you want to relax, one of the best cures is carbohydrates—and the fastest worker to giving you a chill pill is nature’s sweet honey.

5 BAD BREATH (Freshen up your mouth) Feeling anxious about if you breath is not as sweet as it should be? Bad breath can be linked to a variety of causes, from a bad tooth, gingivitis, eating onions to sinusitis.

What Honey Rx to Use: Try 1 teaspoon of honey in a cup of herbal tea. Repeat as needed.

Why You’ll Bee Happy: If you are suffering from post nasal drip, drinking hot tea with honey (which has antibacterial properties) can help clear up mucous and that’ll help sweeten your mouth. Drinking a cup of honey and chamomile tea will also soothe inflamed gum tissue because of its anti-inflammatory properties. Onions, like any pungent food, will take a while to fade out but a honey and tea remedy may offer a quick fix. And if you have a tooth that needs attention, seek it and save that sweet tooth.

6 BED SORES (Stave off a sore spot) Halitosis can be a sensitive issue for folks, but bed sores are another pain (at any age). If you’ve been a caretaker for an elderly person (or if you’re the one who is dealing with bed sores due to being bedridden) you’re aware of the potential of getting and coping with pain and potential infection.

What Honey Rx to Use: Try applying a medicinal honey, such a Manuka, on the sore. Repeat in the morning and night. Follow directions on the product you use because there are different forms available.

Why You’ll Bee Happy: Scientific research proves honey contains powerful antibacterial compounds which can help soothe inflammation and heal sores—all kinds. So, if this tried and true all-natural cure works, it will provide a sigh of relief and honey power will be a welcomed change for the better.

Excerpt from The Healing Powers of Honey (Kensington): The book was featured in Good Cook, Literary Guild, One Spirit, Crafters book clubs; purchased by Walmart; Newsmax; Wellbella; translated in different languages; sweet review in Bee Culture Magazine.