The power of honey — as both a healing substance and a beauty product — has been recognized for centuries. Cleopatra was said to have bathed in honey-infused donkey milk for youthful and silky skin. In traditional Chinese medicine, meanwhile, honey was used to heal the body from “bacterial infections, rheumatoid arthritis, gastrointestinal distress” going back to around 2,000 B.C.
Now, many are praising honey for its ability to ease the symptoms of menopause.
Honey supports digestion and helps reduce menopausal bloating with its variety of probiotics, prebiotics and enzymes. This support, plus its mix of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, makes for a sweet cocktail to ease menopause symptoms.
For help with hot flashes and low libido, honey contains phytoestrogens — “estrogen-like compounds derived from plants, which are structurally similar to 17β-estradiol, the main type of estrogen that our body makes during our reproductive years,” explained Dr. Diana Hoppe in Woman’s World.
Along with helping hot flashes and increasing libido, here are a few ways honey helps the female reproductive system per the New Zealand Honey Co.:
- Helps to increase progesterone and oestrogen levels.
- Improves the oxidative status in menopausal women by keeping cells healthy and productive despite the hormonal changes.
- Relieves vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) fungal infections by decreasing the discharge, inflammation, and itching for patients. These effects were comparable to clotrimazole, a standard VVC treatment.
- Helps to prevent the atrophy (degeneration) of the reproductive organs that comes with perimenopause and menopause.
“Women often go through hormonal imbalance, which is a result of disbalance in testosterone levels, which in the long run affects reproductive health. Consuming honey on a daily basis helps in balancing the testosterone levels, which improves reproductive health, reduces mood swings, and improves hormonal balance,” noted the Times of India.
How to tell if you have true raw honey
There are over 320 different varieties of honey; however, according to Woman’s World, there are only three main types of honey: regular processed honey, raw honey and Manuka honey — all of which have significant health benefits for women.
Buying honey is easy, but determining if your honey is genuinely raw will take a little work. Here’s how to tell if you have authentic raw honey:
- Read the label. Look for the words “raw” or “unpasteurized.”
- Check the ingredients. Make sure there are no additions to the honey, like sugar or corn syrup.
- Color is important. Processed honey tends to be very light in color compared to raw honey, which has various shades of darkness.
- Smell it. Raw honey will smell sweet and kind of “earthy,” while processed honey will have no smell.
- Taste it. If you take a spoonful of honey and don’t experience a distinctive flavor, not raw honey.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “ honey might offer antidepressant, anticonvulsant and anti-anxiety benefits. In some studies, honey has been shown to help prevent memory disorders.”
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