How honey is made
Honey is a liquid sweetener that bees make. After they collect nectar from flowers, they take it back to the hive and regurgitate it. Then, the other bees chew it until it becomes honey. The bees deposit the honey into tiny, waxy storage units called honeycombs. They fan it with their wings to dry it out. This process makes it stickier.
“Honey gets its sweetness from its chemical makeup,” Ilic says. “It’s made up of two simple sugars called glucose and fructose, along with some minerals.”
Types of honey
The U.S. boasts more than 300 different types of honey. You can buy it:
- Raw: Raw honey comes straight from the hive. “Raw honey is the least processed and probably has the most antioxidants,” Ilic says. Despite its raw status, it’s considered safe to eat except for children younger than 1, who should avoid all honey.
- Pasteurized: Pasteurized honey has been processed to remove imperfections and improve its shelf life. “It can also be spiked with added corn syrup or other sweeteners,” Ilic notes. “Not all honey sold in the stores is the same even though it all starts naturally in the hive.”
Why is some honey light and others dark?
Whether honey is light or dark in color depends on which kind of plant the bees who made it took the nectar from. “For instance, dark buckwheat yields dark honey,” says Ilic. “But nutritionally, there’s evidence that darker honey has less water and more antioxidants than light-colored honey.”
Honey has so many different tastes you can enjoy compared to plain sugar, she adds. “It can be sweeter or more bitter, depending on the flower source.”
Light honey varieties
Light-colored honey tends to be mild in flavor. Varieties include:
and eating too much of it can wreak havoc on your health. The American Heart Association recommends:
- Women: Consume no more than 6 teaspoons daily of added sugars (100 calories).
- Men: Consume no more than 9 teaspoons daily of added sugars (150 calories).
Those limits include all sources of added sugar in your diet, so use honey in moderation to avoid exceeding the limits, says Ilic. “Try sweetening plain yogurt with a light drizzle of honey and add your own fruit, instead of eating flavored yogurt with too much added sugar.” You could also use honey in sauces and marinades or as a skin mask.
How to choose honey
Ilic’s first tip? The best honey doesn’t come in a cute little plastic teddy bear. That kind of honey is processed and less beneficial than its counterparts.
“The clearer the honey, the more processed it is. Raw honey seems to be the better choice,” she says.” It’s likely to have some pollen and more enzymes because it’s not treated with heat. Pollen may have beneficial properties. But pollen does make honey look foggier.”
If you’re buying honey from a local source, she also recommends asking:
- Where did the honey come from?
- Did the seller produce it?
- What can they tell you about it?
Ilic adds that an “organic” label doesn’t automatically mean the honey is healthier or better quality. “Bees sometimes fly a few miles past their pesticide- and herbicide-free property to ones with flowers that aren’t. And even organic honey may be ultra-pasteurized.”
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