Wild Forest Honey: A Complete Overview

Did you know that most of the golden, alluring honey bottles that sit on the supermarket shelves are pasteurized, containing little to no nutrients? By the time the honey reaches your home, all that is left in it is added preservatives and stabilizers. 

Renowned for being unheated, unprocessed, and unpasteurized, forest honey is the perfect alternative to processed honey. Instead of added preservatives that are present in processed honey, raw forest honey is full of enzymes, antioxidants, and minerals. With its consumption giving therapeutic benefits to its users, the potent wild forest honey has several medicinal benefits ranging from treating respiratory ailments to heart diseases.

If you are intrigued by the virtues and benefits of pure forest honey, here is a complete overview of this all-natural golden elixir:

What is wild forest honey?

Wild forest honey is an unprocessed, unpasteurized, and unheated variant of honey that retains all of its beneficial properties. Being the purest form of honey, it gets collected from the beehives located in the forests. Hence, pure forest honey is the by-product of the nectar of surrounding natural flora. Enriched with a high concentration of nutrients, wild forest honey has been recognized to treat a wide variety of ailments.   

What are the benefits of consuming raw forest honey?

The benefits of wild forest honey come from the enzymes, antioxidants, and minerals present in it, giving a synergizing effect. Here is how this honey nourishes your body:

1. Lowers the risk of heart diseases

The root cause of most of the heart diseases is high LDL cholesterol levels. This type of cholesterol causes a fatty buildup in the arteries, increasing the risk of strokes and heart attacks. Recent studies have revealed that forest honey can improve the levels of cholesterol in the body- it lowers the bad cholesterol (LDL) in the body and raises the levels of good cholesterol (HDL). Hence, wild forest honey can lower the risk of heart diseases.

2. Boosts the immune system

Raw forest honey has phytonutrients present in it which give it antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Since we know that antioxidants assist in the inhibition of the oxidation process and act as protective agents of the body, they help in enhancing the immune system.

According to Michigan State University, honey is an immune-system builder because of its antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal properties. Thus, if you’re looking for a natural immunity-booster, pure forest honey is the ideal option for you.

3. Assists in the treatment of respiratory conditions

Wild forest honey has proven benefits for lowering and even curing the symptoms of respiratory diseases. Researchers from UCLA recommend taking two teaspoons of honey before going to bed because the sweetness of the honey triggers the salivary glands to create more saliva. This in turn helps in the lubrication of airways, lowering your cough.

Also renowned for reducing inflammation in the airways of the lungs (bronchial tubes), forest honey helps in breaking the mucus. In other words, it assists in the treatment of respiratory conditions.

4. Nourishes the skin

Did you know that several products available over the counter, such as lotions and lip ointments, have varying amounts of honey present in them? Owing to its anti-inflammatory properties, wildflower honey treats several skin conditions, such as acne and psoriasis.

Moreover, due to its anti-ageing properties, forest honey can also help in stopping the formation of wrinkles. Several studies have shed light on the fact that raw forest honey can also help in the treatment of skin cancer because it has antimetastatic, antiproliferative, and anticancer properties.

5. Helps in fighting infections

Pure forest honey has natural hydrogen peroxide present in it, which is a known antiseptic. Combined with its antifungal and antibacterial properties, honey serves as a robust remedy for fighting infections.

Research has proved that raw forest honey can fight off and kill undesired bacteria and fungus. Hence, honey can have various applications for fighting infections.

Apart from the above-mentioned benefits, wild forest honey also helps in treating digestive issues, acts as a natural remedy for dandruff, and also helps in controlling eczema.

What is the difference between raw forest honey and processed honey?

Only honey-enthusiasts can point out the significant differences between raw forest honey and processed honey. The stark contrast not only lies in its taste but also in its aroma and texture.

But the most notable difference is where processed honey is the by-product of mindless mass manufacturing, pure forest honey is the result of the joint effort of wild honey hunters and wild honey bees.

Here are a few of the many differences between raw forest honey and processed honey:

1. Addition of preservatives: Honey with long shelf lives generally get added with preservatives, where on the other hand, wild forest honey has no added preservatives present in it. Hence, it is an all-natural variant of honey.

2. Method of production: Companies usually make their honey crystal golden through the process of pasteurization. However, due to this process, the honey loses all of its nutrients. On the other hand, pure forest honey isn’t heated or pasteurized, making it free from the loss of nutritional compounds.

3. Texture: The most distinctive difference that one can observe from the naked eye is the difference between the texture of both the variants of honey. Processed honey is diamond-clear and golden in texture. In contrast, raw forest honey has a thick and cloudy texture.

4. The water test: The best way to differentiate between processed and forest honey is by dissolving both of them in water. Where processed honey would get dissolved in the water within a few seconds, the wild forest honey, being a thick paste, won’t get dissolved easily.

5. Presence of sweeteners: Most of the processed honey brands available in the market are adulterated with high concentrations of sugar or other sweeteners, such as high fructose corn syrup. These sweeteners can severely affect your health, making you more prone to serious diseases, such as cancer. On the other hand, wild forest honey has no hidden sugars or sweeteners present in them.

The bottom line is that there is a major difference between regular, processed honey and pure forest honey. If you want to go for a nutritious option, then wild forest honey is the best option for you.

How to consume forest honey?

After covering what wild forest honey is and what are its benefits and how it is different from commercialized honey, now we will explain how different ways of consuming it treats specific symptoms:

1. Taking honey to soothe a cough

If you are facing symptoms of a sore throat and mild cough, then taking a spoonful of forest honey is the simplest way to cure it. The reason behind its effectiveness is that the sweetness of honey activates the salivary glands to release more saliva. This release in turn assists in the lubrication of airways, curing your cough.

2. Taking honey to ease the symptoms of a cold

In case you’re suffering from cold, then the best way to ease its symptoms is by taking wild forest honey with a warm drink. This is because the warm drink would soothe the throat by keeping it hydrated while the honey would aid in making the mucus thinner. In addition to this, the honey enriched warm drink would give a boost to your immune system, treating your symptoms from its roots.

3. Taking honey for nighttime coughs

In comparison to cough syrups, wildflower honey is equally or more effective for stopping nighttime coughs.

There are numerous explanations for its effectiveness- while one explanation states that it is effective due to its sweet and syrupy quality, another explanation states that it is effective because of its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Whatever the reason might be, one thing is for sure- forest honey is effectual for treating nighttime coughs.

For treating nighttime coughs, you could take wild forest honey with a warm beverage before going to sleep.

How to take forest honey safely?

While there are immense benefits of consuming raw forest honey, there are a few risks associated with it. So, in order to take it safely, here are a few things you must keep in mind:

1. Avoid feeding it to infants

Though forest honey is completely safe to consume for most of the adults, it can be harmful to the infants. It is because the spores present in the honey can cause a rare form of botulism in the infants.

The spores that can cause this rare form of botulism in infants are called Clostridium botulinum. When these spores reach the infant’s intestines, they multiply, resulting in the release of toxins that can make them sick. Hence, only give it to children who are over the age of one.

2. Look out for allergic reactions

There are a few people who could be allergic to honey. Thus, to stay safe, it is always better to look out for allergic reactions. Most of the allergic reactions caused by honey are because of the pollens present it.

These could be the signs of an allergic reaction caused by honey- nausea, lethargy, dizziness, fainting, and trouble in breathing.

3. Check your blood sugar levels consistently

If you have some underlying health conditions that can cause fluctuations in your blood sugar levels, then you must check your sugar levels consistently, before and after eating honey. This is because while honey does consist of several nutrients, it is still sweet, that can result in increasing your blood sugar levels.

To Conclude

Collected from the wild flora of the forests, raw forest honey is made of 100% natural ingredients. Being a great alternative to sugar and processed honey, it gives a robust taste and aroma, giving you a magical experience. Constituting enzymes, antioxidants, and minerals, it helps in the treatment of several health conditions. Hence, one can say that consuming wild forest honey is the finest way to nourish your body.