Honey is nature’s way of fulfilling our sweet tooth. An added bonus of consuming raw honey is that it improves your overall health in more ways than one. If you’re trying to boost your immune system, you should highly consider ingesting raw honey on a regular basis.
These days, people are looking for a holistic route to either enhance or replace their over-the-counter solutions for a myriad of ailments. If you’re one of those people, here are four reasons that raw honey should make it into your immune health regimen.
It supports digestive health.
When you have a healthy digestive system, your immune system has an easier time fighting off harmful toxins and pathogens responsible for making you sick. You may have heard of probiotics, which are healthy forms of gut bacteria responsible for immune health. Raw honey is a prebiotic, which is what probiotics eat to remain healthy and effective.
Raw honey is also antibacterial, which makes it difficult for toxic bacteria to survive. Honey’s hydroscopic nature dehydrates the bacteria by drawing out its water supply. Unlike antibiotics, which are used to ward off harmful bacteria, honey doesn’t come with adverse side effects.
It helps relieve allergy symptoms.
Allergies are the immune system’s response to foreign triggers. Many people with allergies take antihistamines to keep their symptoms at bay. However, some people have negative reactions to over-the-counter allergy solutions.
Typically, pollen is the cause of seasonal allergies. Raw honey has some of the pollen that causes allergy symptoms. While you can take this natural remedy year-round, you should especially take this when allergy season is approaching.
It helps you get sleep.
If you’ve noticed yourself getting sick lately, take a look at how much sleep you’ve been getting. When you don’t take time to rest, your immune system has to work overtime and can’t repair itself. This leaves you vulnerable to a number of ailments that can be fatal in some cases.
Keep in mind, the quality of your sleep is just as important as how much of it you get. As you sleep, your stress hormones aren’t as active, which reduces your inflammation levels. Raw honey contains glycogen, which is naturally produced by your liver.
When your liver doesn’t release enough glycogen throughout the night, it negatively impacts the quality of your rest. Therefore, you should eat a spoonful of honey before you go to bed to increase your body’s glycogen levels.
It has antiviral properties.
Since we’re currently in a pandemic due to a virus, we need antiviral protection. Raw honey is known for its antiviral properties, so consuming it as a preventative method of boosting your immunity is beneficial.
Even if you get a viral infection, ingesting honey will help you soothe the symptoms as well as boost immune health to properly fight off the viral infection.
Raw honey has been an asset to health for generations. While buying raw honey from the grocery store is a great option, try buying your honey locally. Local honey farms are especially beneficial for people suffering with allergies. If you’re American and don’t live near a local honey farmer, you can always purchase online from businesses.
