Nowadays, many of us have memories of receiving warm honey and lemon for a cold and a cough – either given to us by a parent on a spoon or in a drink, or administered to us via cough sweets and medications.
But was the honey only present to make unpleasant-tasting medicine more palatable, or was there some other benefit to the health?
In fact, the use of honey for promoting health can be traced back to ancient times, when it was also used for treating all manner of illnesses and injuries.
Even the ancient philosopher, Socrates, is reputed to have said:
“Honey and pollen cause warmth, clean sores and ulcers, soften hard ulcers of lips, heal carbuncles and running sores”.
Although it's worth mentioning a note of caution here: age-old remedies are not always good remedies, after all, it was thought by the ancient Egyptians that mixing honey with fly's blood and a number of other curious things, could be used to treat a swelling on the neck!
On the page links below, I hope I have provided a balanced view of the medicinal and health uses of honey by interrogating the research, but I am always open to receiving new information.
Pssst ... spread the word!