Detailed Info

White Sugar is Harmful

Our ancestors were lucky enough to live before the days of devitalized foods. They were particularly lucky that white sugar did not form part of their diet because, believe it or not, white sugar is both harmful and addictive.

Many people prove for themselves, when they try to slim, that they take excess sugar without thinking about it. We all know that sugar makes us fat, and so the first step in slimming is usually to give up sugar in coffee and tea, and sweets and cakes, especially cream cakes. Many people who stop taking sugar in coffee and tea soon realize that they can now actually taste the coffee and tea, while before all they could taste was the sickly sweetness of the sugar.

Sugar is added to many foods which don't really need sweetening at all, and once your tastebuds have reaccustomed themselves to actually tasting foods again, you will be able to eat all kinds of stewed fruits, cooking apples, etc., perfectly happily without the addition of the poisonous white sugar. But if you really must have a sweetener, use honey, molasses or raw Barbados sugar. Honey can be substituted for sugar in almost all recipes, as will be demonstrated further in the receipe section.

Why is white sugar so harmful? It has been refined so much that there is no goodness left in it. It does not promote extra energy (honey is far better for that), and is often indigestible. The increase in ill-health throughout the so-called 'civilized' world has come at a time when more fefined and chemical foods are being consumed in place of whole, natural foods, and white sugar and white flour and two of the major culprits.

As regards immediately noticeable effects, white sugar causes overweight. Most people today are overweight; just take a look around when you are next out of doors, and you will be shocked to see just how many people could benefit by losing quite a few pounds.

White sugar is also guilty of speeding up tooth decay, as we well know to our children's cost. Most children are brought up to eat and enjoy foods which are far too sweet, with the result that their teeth decay very rapidly, and they often fund themselves wearing dentures before they reach their twenties. This is a deplorable state of affairs, which can easily be remedied. And fluoride in the drinking water is not the answer either. Cutting out sugar completely from the diet and replacing it with honey and molasses, together wit a general replacement of convenience foods with natural foods and raw fruits and vegetables, will go a long way towards ensuring that we keep our own teeth for the best part of our lives. Given the ideal diet from birth, one should still have one's own teeth at death.

A great number of people suffer from sugar addiction, though they probably don't realize it. When sugar is taken into the stomach, a digestive 'explosion' takes place, while the body works hard to deal with the substance. Immediate stimulation is caused, but this soon wears off, causing more harmful sugar to be eaten in order to produce more 'energy'. Malnutrition, diabetes, fatigue, kidney disease and indigestion are only a few of the unpleasant results of sugar addiction. Honey does not have the same violent reaction in the stomach, and does not cause a craving for more. Neither is its use likely to cause all manner of insidious bodily ills.

Saccharine and Glucose

Because they cannot do without sugar, many people use saccharine to sweeten their tea and coffee when they decide to try and slim. This is a very dangerous procedure because saccharine is a drug, and is claimed by many people to be injurious to health, for it is derived from coal tar, a cancer-producing substance. It is interesting that although saccharine is 500 times sweeter than sugar, it is avoided by bees, ants, and flies, all insects which love sugar. They seem to know instinctively which 'foods' are harmful to them. Saccharine is used as a sweetener in many manufactured products, and this should be stated on the label, where you will find it in the list of ingredients.
Glucose is another form of artificial sugar which is presented as being energy-giving and good to take. Many manufactured foods contain glucose, but like all synthetic products, it should be avoided wherever possible. Honey has all the advantages without the disadvantages.

Honey for Health

A Germ-killer

As well as being the best natural sweetener, honey has important health-giving properties. It is a valuable addition to anyone's diet, because it contains so many minerals and vitamins which are essential to us all. Each of its components has its own part to play in maintaining our health, and they do this even though they are present in such minute, and one would think unimportant, quantities.

Honey is able to absorb moisture from anything with which it comes into contact, even mental and stone. All life needs moisture to survive, and this includes bacteria, so honey can kill even the more harmful bacteria by drawing from them the life giving moisture.

A bacteriologist who did not believe that honey would kill bacteria tested it, and discovered to his amazement that the disease germs which he placed in pure honey were eventually killed off. The typhoid fever germs died within forty-eight hours, germs causing chronic broncho-pneumonia died after four days, dysentery-producing germs died in ten hours, and numerous other germs were eliminated equally quickly.

A Harmless Sedative

Honey also has a calming effect, and if taken regularly will greatly help the highly-strung, nervy individual. For this purpose, a teaspoonful should be taken six times a day.

Honey's sedative properties are also of value for those who suffer from insomnia, for it can also be used to promote healthy sleep. Just take honey in a warm drink shortly before going to bed, and you will soon find yourself feeling sleepy. One to two teaspoonsful can be stirred into a cup of slightly warmed milk (all the valuable properties of milk are killed if it is boiled or overheated), or added to an equal amount of cider-apple vinegar in half a cup of warm water, or taken in warm water alone. All these drinks are pleasant, but the cider-apple vinegar/honey combination is the most nutritious because cider-apple vinegar is another natural food which should be a integral part of everyone's diet. If you do not like a drink at bedtime, try taking a tablespoonful of honey with the last meal of the day.

Digestion

As I have said before, the sugar in honey is predigested, and this makes it particularly valuable for people with weak digestions. Ordinary sugars must be converted into simple sugars when they are in the intestine, and this brought about by the action of enzymes. But with honey, this has already been done by a secretion from the bee's salivary glands.

So when we eat honey, it is absorbed easily and quickly, and unlike many foods in the normal diet, does not irritate the lining of the digestive tract. It promotes the correct working of the digestive organs, and acts as a natural laxative. It should therefore be taken regularly by anyone who suffers from constipation (along with an increased amount of raw fruits and vegetables). Alternatively, a mixture of honey and molasses (half of each) can be used as a laxative, this combination also providing vitamins and iron.

Honey in Ill-health

Honey will help to alleviate many painful conditions, and different people claim that it has helped them to get rid of a great variety of illnesses. The anser seems to be, if you are suffering from anything, try honey!

Coughs can be alleviated by honey drinks, and the following should be tried straight away in order to bring relief.

Bronchial Cough Mix equal parts of honey and fresh lemon juice.

Feverish Cough 30 ml (l fl oz) each of honey, olive oil, lemon juice and sweet spirits of nitre. Take several times a day in half fluid drachm doses. Obstinate Cough Mix equal quantities of honey, linseed oil and whisky. Take a tablespoonful three or four times a day.

A teaspoonful of heated honey taken alone will often stop a cough quickly, and seems to be especially effective at night.

Colds benefit from the cider-apple vinegar/honey drink described on page 18, together with regular doses of extra vitamin C, especially in the form of rose hip tablets.

Honey drinks are also prescribed for sore and irritated throats. Try the following. Mix a gargle of 1 litre (2 pints) water, 125 g honey and 25 g alum. (This gargle also helps ulcers in the mouth.)

Also for irritated throats, mix 2 tablespoonsful honey, 2 tablespoonsful glycerine, 1 tablespoonsful lemon juice and a dash of ginger. Keep the mixture warm and use a little as needed.

Honey and warm mild, as well as being a pleasant drink helps clear husky throats.

According to Dr. D.C. Jarvis in his best-selling paperback Folk Medicine, honeycomb is even better for breathing track disturbances than honey, though of course honey should be taken if honeycomb is not immediately available.

It seems that the list of ailments which have in one case of another been alleviated by honey is almost endless. Both arthritis and rheumatism have been helped by honey, as have muscle cramps and twitching. Some people claim that an improved diet, including raw foods and honey, has eliminated tuberculosis; others claim equally amazing results for honey in cases of gastric and intestinal ulcers.

Beekeepers are said to be among the healthiest people in the world (providing they eat their own product, of course). One says, 'Having kept bees and eaten honey for over thirty years, I can tell about my own experience and also give observations of other people who use honey exclusively for sweetening. I have never known a beekeeper who had any kind of kidney trouble. They all have a clear complexion, good eyesight, and no lameness. Among my friends who eat honey and keep bees, there is no cancer or paralysis. My best remedy for a bee sting is to cover it with honey, even a deep burn will not scar if treated the same way. I have seen sour milk, whole wheat cracked for cereal, honey and butter do wonders in diet.'

Doctors have found honey to be valuable for the heart. Dr. G.N.W. Thomas in an article in the Lancet said, 'in heart weakness I have found honey to have a marked effect in reviving the heart action and keeping patients alive.' The heart is a muscle and, like all our muscles, is stimulated by honey which provides the energy needed by tired muscles.

Honey and lemon tea is recommended for combating liver disorders, skin blemishes, and as a night-time drink to avoid a cold which threatens. It consists of a tablespoon of honey dissolved in a cupful of hot water, to which the juice of half a lemon is added.

A honey and yarrow drink, comprising a spoonful of honey added to an infusion of yarrow, is sometimes prescribed for influenza and as a nourishing tonic. It should be drunk hot at bedtime and first thing in the morning.

A cure for chilblains can be made from one tablespoonful each of honey and glycerine, mixed with an egg-white and enough flour to make a fine paste. This paste is then spread over the chilblains, making sure that the skin is clean and dry before application, and the areas affected should afterwards be protected by a cloth because the paste is rather sticky. This recipe claims to reliever and generally cure bad chilblains after a single application.

As a general tonic, the following drink, taken three times a day, is recommended. Mix well together equal parts of honey, cod liver oil, fresh lemon juice and fresh orange juice.

Burns and Wounds

Honey should be applied in cases of burns, for it keeps the air away from the skin, helps to lessen the pain, and stops blisters forming. Also the burned area heals much quicker if honey has been used.

Honey will also stop bleeding by causing rapid coagulation of the blood. Ulcers and other skin wounds can also be helped by a the application of honey, as can bee stings.

Equal parts of honey and glycerine, mixed together and applied to bruises, helps them heal quicker. This mixture is also recommended for rough skin, chafing, and chaps on hands and face.

In the words of the Greek physician Hippocrates, who advocated the use of honey in the fourth century BC 'It causes heat, cleans sores and ulcers, softens hard ulcers of the lips, heals carbuncles and running sores.'

Honey for Children

All children like honey, and it should feature in their diet every day, right from the earliest days. Mother's mild is the natural food for all babies, and those mothers who for whatever reason cannot feed their babies themselves should make sure that pure honey features in their babies' diets. One to two teaspoonsful should be added to eight ounces of feed, though if the baby becomes constipated, add an extra half-teaspoonful (reduce the amount by half a teaspoonful if the baby suffers from looseness of the bowels). Babies whose diet included honey rarely suffer from colic.

A bugbear for mothers is bed-wetting, which afflicts many children at some stage or other. Honey can help here too, through its ability to absorb and hold moisture. If a child is given a teaspoonful of honey at bedtime, it will calm his system and reduce the likelihood of there being a wet bed in the morning.

At no stage should a child be given sugar in his diet. His development will be retarded, and he will be more likely to be prone to many unnecessary illnesses, both as a child and when he reaches adulthood. As Dr. Seale harris so vividly puts it, 'The sugar-fed child often becomes rachitic Dr Harris is with a capital H Is prone to acquire colitis and other infections. If he survives infancy he becomes the pale, weak, undernourished child, or the fat flabby, indolent and self-indulgent adolescent.'

More specifically, 'sugar-saturated' children tend to suffer from the following ailments; flatulence, hyperacidity, headaches, restlessness, irritability, decayed teeth, constipation alternating with diarrhoea, rheumatism, bronchitis, eczema, heartburn, persistent head colds, enlarged tonsils and bronchial asthma. I do not think any parents would wish these upsets on their children, which could all be easily avoided by the simple substitution of honey for sugar.

An Age-old Cure

'Honey is a remedy for all disease' Mohammed. As well as being known and loved as a food since time immemorial, honey has also been used for medicinal purposes for many centuries. It was popular in ancient China, India, Persia, Arabia, Assyria, Greece, the Roman Empire and all over Europe, and its use is documented in ancient books. All its medicinal uses today which I have mentioned also applied in past centuries.

But the ancients went even further than we do today, for they also used dead bees! For example, to help with eye disorders Marcellus recommended: 'The honey pure and neat wherein the Bees are dead, let that drop into the eyes; or honey mixt with the ashes of the heads of Bees, makes the eyes very clear.'

A similar prescription is given by Galen for curing baldness. 'Take Bees dead in combs, and when they are through dry make them into powder mingle them with the honey in which they died and anoint the parts of the Head that are bald and thinhaired, and you shall see them grow again.'