I pride myself on making the Primal Blueprint an easy-to-follow lifestyle. If you were just starting out, I could give you a one-page handout with the 10 Primal Blueprint Laws, the PB Food Pyramid, and the PB Fitness Pyramid, and it would be pretty easy for you to get the gist of everything weҲe trying to do here.ࠔhat said, once you get past the basics, sometimes things get a little murky. Like with honey. See, as a general rule, I am against the consumption of refined sugars, especially sucrose and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Check out my definitive post on the subject to understand why. But what about the preeminent unrefined natural sweetener, the rich amber nectar thatҳ been available to humans from the very start (albeit protected by barbed, flying suicide stingers)?ࠐeople have been using honey for thousands of years not only as a culinary ingredient but also for its supposed medicinal properties. Must we eschew honey simply because it is sweet, even if it has numerous (potential) benefits? Are some of the harmful effects of the sugar mitigated by the presence of bioactive compounds? Personally, I enjoy some honey now and then. Letҳ find out if youҬl come down on the pro-honey or anti-honey side of the debate after reviewing some evidence. Is Honey Good for You? I get asked this from time to time, and I always respond, ӄefine ѧood.Ҕࠂetter, and more interesting, questions are: Does honey have any beneficial effects that make it worth consuming? Is honey better for you than other sweeteners? Is honey a Өealth foodԠthat you should make a concerted effort to include in your diet? IҬl save you time by telling you that I think the answers are probably, maybe, and probably not, respectively. If you want more detail, keep reading. Types of Honey Before getting into the question of benefits, you must understand that there are many different types of honey. The attributes of any particular batch צlavor, color, consistency, and nutrient and antioxidant profileפepend on what plants the honeybees pollinated. Thereҳ buckwheat honey, wildflower honey, clover honey, and tupelo honey, to name a few. DonҴ forget about the darling of the alt-health world, manuka honey, which comes from bees in Australia and New Zealand that pollinate the Leptospermum scoparium bush. (Fun fact: Australia and New Zealand are locked in a heated battle over whether Australian-sourced manuka honey is the real deal.) Honey aficionados will want to seek out the rare purple honey and black honey varieties, which, as the names suggest, do not have the characteristic golden hue.ࠂeyond the assorted varieties, the honey you pick up at your local grocery store or farmerҳ market may be raw or refined. Raw honey is only lightly strained to remove debris, typically. It will still contain small pieces of honeycomb as well as bee propolis (aka Ӣee glueԩ, pollen, and royal jelly. Propolis and royal jelly are prized in their own right for their supposed health benefits. ŠContinue reading "Is Honey a Safe(r) Sweetener?"The post Is Honey a Safe(r) Sweetener? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple