HONEY AND SKIN CARE

Today, you hear a lot about honey. Honey this and honey that. Why the renewed interest in honey skin care? Why are people enthusiastic for its properties? This is not just a recent thing. It has always been a miracle from nature. Bees produce this miracle. Honey has been used in medicine for over 5,000 years. It was used as Ayurvedic medicine. It treated indigestion and other body imbalances. In Ancient Egypt, it was used on wounds. It also treated skin problems such as acne.

You can’t help but see how much honey is featured in many products, especially in skin care. When purchasing these skin care items, you should determine if the honey being used is pasteurized, raw or unpasteurized. You may ask, “what is the difference?” We will explain this and which is the best in our opinion.

Raw honey is removed from the bee hive and packaged and may contain: 

1) Yeast 

2) Wax 

3) Pollen 

Consuming local honey may alleviate seasonal allergy symptoms. This is due to pollen exposure in the area. Honey helps with many things. It heals burns and wounds. Honey fights infections. It helps with common skin problems. These include acne, psoriasis and eczema. (1)

Pasteurized honey is heated and processed. This removes impurities. One study found less antioxidants in pasteurized honey. It had 4.3 times less than raw honey. (2) This process also removes many nutrients. Raw honey contains many nutrients. These include 22 amino acids and 31 minerals. It also has 30 Polyphenol antioxidants. (3) Unpasteurized honey only goes through straining. This removes debris like dead bees. Most nutrients remain intact!

Bee pollen treats medical conditions in places like Germany. Pasteurization removes pollen from honey. This takes away many health benefits. (4) Filtering for unpasteurized honey is different. It does not significantly change bee pollen amounts. The final product retains most pollen.

This is why we use unpasteurized honey in our products.

Unpasteurized honey shares many benefits with raw honey. Filtering removes most impurities from raw honey. It keeps significant beneficial amounts. These have helped with various skin issues. They include psoriasis, eczema, and dry itchy skin. Many other issues are also helped. Millions of people face these skin care issues daily. Studies on Manuka honey focus on its medical properties. They examine skin care and wound healing. Clinical studies show honey's effectiveness. It promotes healing of partial thickness burns. It also helps with other wounds. More research is needed for skin disorders. Dermatological use also needs study. Encouraging results exist for certain honey types. They show promise for rosacea.

Footnotes

(1) Watson, Kathryn. “Honey for Face: Uses and Benefits.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 4 Jan. 2019, www.healthline.com/health/honey-for-face.

(2) McLoone, Pauline, et al. “Home - PMC - NCBI.” National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 4 Aug. 2016, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/.

(3) Blasa, Manuela, et al. “Raw Millefiori Honey Is Packed Full of Antioxidants.” Food Chemistry, vol. 97, no. 2, 2006, pp. 217–222., doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2005.03.039.

(4) Nozal, Ma J, et al. This is a "Rapid and Sensitive Method." It is for "Determining Free Amino Acids in Honey." This method uses "Gas Chromatography." It has "Flame Ionization or Mass Spectrometric Detection." Journal of Chromatography. A, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 20 Aug. 2004, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15481469.

(5) Subramanian, R., et al. “Processing of Honey: A Review.” International Journal of Food Properties, vol. 10, no. 1, 2007, pp. 127–143., doi:10.1080/10942910600981708.

(6) McLoone, Pauline et al. “Honey: A Therapeutic Agent for Disorders of the Skin.” Central Asian journal of global health vol. 5,1 241. 4 Aug. 2016, doi:10.5195/cajgh.2016.241