PART 2 HONEY FOR YOUR HEALTH

This will be a continued post on HONEY!! Honey for your health! 

While honey looks good, smells good and taste good... It's also a healthy sweet treat that will assist your body with additional help to boost antioxidants within your body, as well as, increase antibacterial/antiviral properties. 

This post will deal with HONEY AND ANTIOXIDANTS.  

Why does everyone continually talk about antioxidants?

It's said that Antioxidants assist our body by preventing diseases like cancers and certain heart diseases. 

Increasing antioxidants in your body is the equivalent to having the Justice League available to support you in fighting unhealthy free radicals. 

Antioxidants are heroes helping to keep your body safe from nasty free radicals that may try to take over your innards. (I may have taken that description a little too far... pardon my imagination and creativity)

How does honey become rich in antioxidants?

We are all aware that honey is made by honey bees from nectar of flowers and plants... right? (If you don't know... NOW YOU KNOW - in my best Biggie Smalls voice)

In order for honey to be rich in antioxidants the nectar that is gathered must come from flowers/plants that have antioxidants in them. 

If you're anything like ME... your thought would be well which honey has the highest amount of antioxidants?

According to Nicki Engeseth, PhD, Assistant Professor of food chemistry at the University of Illinois, "Buckwheat is the highest of the honeys tested, with about 3 times as many antioxidants as acacia honey, which is much lighter in color,"

The darker the honey... the more antioxidants seem to be present. 

Now please keep in the mind... Buckwheat honey will taste different from other honey

. 

Buckwheat honey is known for reminding you of molasses (at least that's the word on the street).

SO! If you are a molasses lover, KUDOS for you! ROCK ON! But if you're not a molasses lover, take heed to my warning. 

Do I recommend that honey be taken to increase antioxidants in your body? 

SURE! but let's be honest here, please continue your fruits, veggies and other supplements you may ingest to increase antioxidants in your body. HONEY can only do so much.

Here’s how I incorporate honey into my diet:

Instead of reaching for white sugar, I'll reach for honey to add to my tea/coffee or hot breakfast cereals. I also add honey onto my toast (YUM) and I swallow a teaspoon of honey almost every other day! (That's why I'm so sweet... wink wink)

Honey offers a nice change when you're looking for a sweet substitute and

WHAT’S BETTER THAN HAVING A SWEET SUBSTITUTE THAT CAN BE BENEFICIAL TO YOUR HEALTH! (Confetti is falling)

NEXT ON MY SHOPPING LIST! RAW BUCKWHEAT HONEY!

PS… I’m not a molasses girl LOL! (Stay Tuned for that review)

Photo ref - http://gambarubee.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/buckwheat-honey.jpg

Eat A Mango

I love mangoes. Mangoes have so many benefits. They are filled with antioxidants and vitamins suchas, Vitamin A, Vitamin E and are a great source of Vitamin C. This fruit aids in the prevention of certain cancers due the antioxidants found in this fruit. (That's right mangoes are known to have high amounts of antioxidants.) Mangoes contain a lot of beta-carotene. The beta carotene found in the mango is converted into Vitamin A. Why do we need Vitamin A? Vitamin A is not only good for your immune health but it also assist with repairing skin tissue (Some times we over  expose our skin to the sun's rays and this can really damage our skin). WHO KNEW... Skin health and mangoes really go hand in hand. Another vitamin that is found in mangoes is Vitamin E. Vitamin E is often called an antioxidant. This antioxidant does not only help fight free radicals in your body but it also aids in reducing the appearance of age spots, freckles and wrinkles. This is another reason why you will find skin products with high levels of Vitamin E. The same goes for the Vitamin C. Normally, we take Vitamin C for our basic immune health. Additionally, Vitamin C stimulates the production of collagen in your skin. This process will assist with giving you resilient and supple skin. Of course we cannot forget about the delicious flavor of a ripe, sweet-smelling mango. Mangoes are not only a tasty sweet treat but they are great for our bodies due to the high vitamin content and antioxidants. Mangoes are defiantly this Choqolate Chiq's favorite summer time treat.

Summer Time is here GET YOUR CHERRIES

Hello World! Summer is here! and I am so excited! Summer time is my favorite season. I love the sunshine, beautiful weather and yummy summer time fruits like the tiny but mighty CHERRY! Of course cherries can be a pain to eat due to the seed BUT would you believe cherries can actually help your body out. You're probably wondering how? Not that lil red thing with the seed in the middle... YES the cherry is tiny but mighty

Everyone needs proper rest in order to function properly. Unfortunately everyone is not able to rest... WELL would you believe the tiny but mighty cherry is actually one of the only fruits that have natural sources of a substance named melatonin.

What is melatonin? (Per WebMD) Melatonin is a hormone made by the pineal gland , a small gland in the brain. Melatonin helps control your sleep and wake cycles
And we all know how important proper rest.

Cherries are also well known for specific anti-oxidants! What are anti-oxidants? Antioxidants are nutrients (vitamins and minerals) as well as enzymes (proteins in your body that assist in chemical reactions). They are believed to play a role in preventing the development of such chronic diseases as cancer, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Rheumatoid arthritis, and cataracts.

I think everyone can agree WE ALL LOVE ANTIOXIDANT filled foods and according to livestrong.com, cherries are loaded with a specific antioxidant, called anthocyanins, which gives cherries their bright red color. Cherries have the highest levels of the antioxidants anthocyanins 1 and 2 (compared to any other fruit) which have been shown to relieve the pain associated with inflammation.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/71065-choose-cherries-health/#ixzz1PDms0vgx

Many of us prefer the sweet taste of cherries BUT the tart cherries are actually the cherries with the highest levels of antioxidants so don't pass up the dried tart cherries for the sweet ones. The tart cherries are very good especially if you're suffering from Gout. If you don't like to eat dried tart cherries try drinking tart cherry juice. Your body will thank you.

As I said the tiny but mighty cherry is more than a pretty red fruit but it actually has health benefits that everyone can use. The next time you're in the store or the farmers market pickup some cherries. They're a nice snack, easy to put in a bag and head out the door. YES that's right grab some cherries world! Don't mind the seeds... get your antioxidants and melatonin via a sweet/tart tiny but mighty lil cherry.

Here are some other links you may enjoy reading
http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/7-health-benefits-of-cherries.html
http://www.livestrong.com/article/476-smart-shopping-cherries/
http://www.choosecherries.com/health/main.aspx


(Thank you to the sources http://health.howstuffworks.com; http://www.livestrong.com; www.webmd.com; http://www.choosecherries.com/health/main.aspx)