What is the difference between Honey and Raw Honey?
What is Raw Honey?
Raw honey is definitely something you've heard about, but should you eat it? Here's everything you need to know about it.
Honey in its purest form is known as raw honey. Raw honey, also known as pure or unfiltered honey, is unfiltered and unpasteurized honey that has not been processed in any way. It's likely that this is raw honey if you've ever bought honey from a local beekeeper.
Honey has been farmed and enjoyed since ancient times, and don't worry, the Egyptians weren't squeezing it from a bear-shaped plastic container. They were most likely utilizing raw, unprocessed honey.
How can you obtain raw honey?
- Pollen and nectar are produced by plants, which bees collect.
- Pollen, which works as a natural fertilizer, is carried from one plant to another by bees.
- The bees then return to the hive with the nectar, which they transform into honey and store in honeycombs.
- While this honey is necessary for the bees to survive the winter, they naturally make more than they require to ensure their survival.
- This is where beekeepers come in: they extract honey from honeycombs to gather excess honey from the hive.
- Because raw honey is unfiltered, it may contain pieces of pollen or honeycomb.
- As a result, it has a cloudy appearance that’s quite unlike commercial honey, which is the kind that’s most often sold in grocery stores.
What is the Difference Between Honey, Raw Honey?
- The major difference between raw honey and honey is the degree of processing.
- Commercial honey is pasteurized, or heated to a high temperature, and filtered to remove the pollen and other impurities.
- The resulting honey has a smoother consistency and is easier to drizzle from a bottle.
- However, pasteurizing also removes honey’s naturally-occurring nutrients and antioxidants.
- Many consider this practice completely unnecessary, as honey does not need to be pasteurized in the same way as milk because it is highly acidic and a natural bacteria inhibitor.
- The other big difference is appearance
- Commercial honey is clear and has a golden tint, while raw honey is opaque and milky.
- Because raw honey contains pollen, it’s also more likely to crystallize over time a natural process that occurs due to honey’s extremely high concentration of sugar.
- The texture is gritty and may be unappealing to some, but it’s perfectly safe to consume.
Health Benefits of Raw Honey:
- Honey is also a well-known home remedy to soothe a sore throat or suppress a persistent cough.
- On top of this, honey boasts natural antibacterial properties that can aid in healing wounds, burns, and ulcers on the skin.
- Honey has a lower glycemic index than white sugar, but is it necessarily a healthier sweetener? Sort of.
- Because honey has a more concentrated flavor than sugar, you don’t need to use as much of it to achieve a sweet taste.
- On the other hand, honey is still considered an added sugar and you should aim to keep your consumption of it at a minimum.
Why Raw Honey is special?
- Studies show that raw honey contains a variety of beneficial ingredients.
- Raw honey contains specific components that can offer health benefits.
- Pasteurization and other processes may remove or reduce some of these elements, which include:
- bee pollen, which has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties
- bee propolis, a glue-like substance that helps keep the hive together
- certain vitamins and minerals
- enzymes
- amino acids
- antioxidants
- This means that raw honey may offer more powerful health benefits, in terms of healing wounds and fighting infections, than regular honey.
- Many studies have found that raw honey has health benefits. Usually, these benefits come from natural ingredients that regular honey may not contain.
Where to Buy Raw Honey?
- The best place to buy raw honey is from a local beekeeper.
- Poombukar sold Quebec Made, Organic Raw Honey from the Vendor Rucher Des Framboisiers
- Rucher Des Framboisiers Sold by more than 50 natural and organic shops in Montreal.
- Discover our pure and organic Raw Honey, harvested with care and packed with nutrients.