From a Facebook post from The Natural Health Library. Here’s something that some people won’t want to hear but if you bake and cook with honey this might interest you. Italicized information is what I found on Facebook, the rest is the information that I found and wanted to share.
From another group: ABOUT HONEY
“As a beekeeper, this is well-known. Heating, even low heat pasteurization, destroys any beneficial enzymes and proteins in raw honey. Worse than that, if you heat over a certain temp (e.g. baking, jam making), it causes a chemical reaction that produces a product not unlike high-fructose corn syrup. Many people opt for honey when baking, thinking it’s “healthier” but when used in that way, you might as well just use corn syrup!”
John Douillard says that while it is best not to cook with honey, luckily we can still safely add it to tea.
This article and the video link explain a lot, including where you will find HMFs. Unfortunately even storing honey for a long term can cause this to happen.
5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) levels in honey and other food products: effects on bees and human health: https://bmcchem.biomedcentral.com/…/s13065-018-0408-3
This video has more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vcixOdEtjY
Time to dig deeper. Let’s start with the pasteurization of honey. What does it really mean? How much heat is ok? How much heat is too much? What is HMF? How is it connected? Like usual, I am filled with questions which leads me down more and more tangents!!! 😊 That’s what I am here for, right?
Let’s just make it crystal clear… pasteurization of anything is BAD. With anything it kills all the good enzymes and breaks down proteins and sugars that are beneficial. Never buy anything that has been pasteurized. Pasteurization started when big business took over our farms and mass-produced product. Things weren’t kept as clean as they should have, the animals and products were just “things” that made them money, not things that should be cared for. Bacteria started being more prevalent and people got sick or died from consuming the output of the farm. Now, pasteurization has become the norm. One of my next blog posts is on milk and I’ll hit on the issues of pasteurization fully there.
So, when you purchase your honey ensure you are getting RAW local honey. No pasteurization. I’m including several links to articles I found helpful when determining heat and such for honey. I put honey in my Chai every morning and once in a while (I do tend to get sidetracked from time to time) it has boiled. I have noticed that I don’t like the flavor of my chai when that happens. There is a reason for that – we will hit on that next. Here is the table with temps for honey:
Temperature | Time | Damage |
Above 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit | Any | 200 of its beneficial nutrients are destroyed |
Above 104 degrees Fahrenheit | Any | The beneficial enzyme invertase is destroyed |
At 122 degrees Fahrenheit | 48 hours | honey becomes sugar |
How do we heat honey then so that it is easier to use? Heat water to near boiling and set your honey container in that water. Ensure that the temperature is no warmer than your finger. It will take time to soften it this way. There is also a Honey Blanket that can be purchased. Basically, warm your drink or whatever you are using your honey with, and then add.
Recommended reading: https://beekeepclub.com/heating-honey/
Let’s talk about HMF because this really concerned me. In certain articles, I found that they state that HMF is not toxic, and that it is actually added to foods as a “biomarker” which was also very concerning. These articles were promoting it. The articles that gave more detailed information all touted it as toxic not only to bees but also to humans. Honey isn’t the only product with HMF. I’m including toxicity levels below not only for honey but for other products. But want to explain how it is made before we go there. HMF is formed whenever sugars are heated or caramelized. Foods found to be in any sugary baked items including breakfast cereals, also found in breads, dairy products, fruit juices, liquors, molasses, coffee, dried fruits, processed protein and whey protein powders among others.
The Codex Ailmentarius Standard commission has set the MAXIMUM limit for HMF in honey at 40 mg/kg. This goes for anything with HMF in it.
Product | HMF Levels |
Coffee | 9.49 – 212.08 mg/kg |
Dried fruit | >1 g/kg |
Brown Sugar | 11.9 – 23.3 mg/kg |
Wheat bread with cranberries | 210 mg/kg |
Honey Wheat Loops | 85.09 mg/kg |
Oatmeal | 47.62 mg/kg |
Infant formula | 29.5 mg/kg |
Recommended reading: https://bmcchem.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13065-018-0408-3
Blessings – E