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Buy Eco Honey
Happy Bees Make Better Honey
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Here in the Illinois Valley, we keep bees in a special way, working to help them have their say. Diggin' Livin' Farm and Apiary is a small, family-run outfit on the fringe of the wild Siskiyou Mountains. Our beehives are placed where they have access to abundant wild pollen and nectar sources. We use no synthetic chemicals or antibiotics in our hives. Furthermore, we house all our bees in new equipment built only of Ponderosa Pine milled in Oregon, and natural beeswax. As well, we use no plastics, either in the hive or in the processing of the honey. When necessary, we feed our bees only the finest bee foods available, real bee pollen and honey.
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Three Good Reasons Why we aren't certified organic
1) A Higher calling. All organic honey that we have seen on the grocery store shelves is produced in other countries. period. 80% of the organic honey from India in 2008 was contaminated with lead. It's just too far away to be considered sustainable by our standards. We feel we have a totally different product. We are above and beyond organic in many ways, we use no plastic in our hives or in the processing of our honey. We use all new equipment milled here in Oregon, so we have no residues of antibiotics on our equipment. We practice natural cell beekeeping. We let our bees rear their own queens, with the exception of increasing diversity with acquiring mite resistance queen lines from our area. We fed our bees only honey, bee pollen, and organic sugar (rather than high fructose corn syrup).
2) No economic incentive. Organic honey is cheaper than local honey.
3) Much of the prime honeybee habitat is not certified organic. When choosing our outyards many factors come into play, most importantly, wild nectar sources, access to water, shelter from high wind, abundance of sunshine, and how easily we can get our bee trucks in and out. We feel very fortunate when the right place and right owners assist us in placing our bees on their land, we wouldn't ask them to pay a fee to become certified organic.
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The Effects of Honey on Human Metabolism
Ron Fessenden, MD, MPH
Honey, though similar in sugar content to sucrose (table sugar) and HFCS, can be differentiated by its distinctive effects on human metabolism. Part of the differences can be explained by dose and load, however, other differences are
unique to honey.
These include the following:
• Partitioning and storage - the consumption of 1-2 tablespoons of honey two to three times per day directly results in liver glycogen formation. Liver glycogen is the primary fuel for the brain during rest and exercise.
• Dose and glycemic load - typical consumption of sugar and HFCS totals nearly 3/4 pound per day for every individual above age 2, an amount which simply overwhelms the liver resulting in elevated blood sugar levels, excessive insulin release, and resultant fat production and storage. (Whereas every cell in the body can metabolize the excessive glucose load from sucrose and HFCS, only the liver can metabolize fructose.)
• Honey consumption results in lower blood sugar levels by 20-40 % at 60 and 90 minutes post ingestion in a “Honey Tolerance Test” versus a Glucose Tolerance Test
• Honey protects against the elevation in triglycerides that occurs from excessive fructose consumption
.
• Honey consumption at bedtime increases fat metabolism (“fat burning) during recovery
sleep
.
• Honey consumption, by virtue of its lowering (stabilizing) effect on blood sugar, reduces intracellular stress responsible for many of the diseases of aging.
• Honey consumption leads to stable liver glycogen which fuels the brain during the night fast and during exercise.
• Honey consumption prevents metabolic stress (driven by cortisol and adrenaline), thus reducing the risk of the metabolic syndrome and its associated conditions of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and neuro-degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinsonism.
• The most astounding and revolutionary fact relating to honey consumption is that it helps to regulate blood sugar. It prevents hyperglycemia (elevated blood sugar) by removing glucose from the circulation to produce liver glycogen. It prevents hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) by helping to maintain stable liver glycogen levels which may be released as blood sugar falls - a critical factor in controlling hypoglycemia.
• Honey when consumed before bedtime, helps to promote restorative sleep and prevent metabolic stress during the night fast due to depleted liver glycogen (brain fuel).
• Honey insures optimum immune system functioning.
Raw, unfiltered honey is best. Honey is more than just a sweetener. It is Nature’s miraculous food.
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