Buckwheat Tea

Most people believe that honey sweet, sticky, you put on toast or drop into hot tea, but in recent years, researchers have explored the potential health benefits in other ways.

One of the purest pleasures of life is a cup of steaming tea. Some, like the purest, but as it gently. Adding sugar is by far the most common way of sweetening tea. table sugar (sucrose) is composed of fructose and glucose. While sugar satisfies a natural need, it is not without drawbacks.

Sugar is the definitive source of energy and most foods, when digested, are metabolized by the body as the basic sugar (glucose). It is an important source of calories in the diet. The body will save the excess energy in sugar as fat. Although some stored fat is necessary, too much is undesirable and pose several health concerns especially for diabetics. Sugar also supports the growth of the bacteria that causes tooth decay.

A healthier alternative is honey. Honey is one of the oldest sweeteners used by man and was highly appreciated by the ancient Egyptians for its medicinal properties and healing. This is a sweet, usually viscous liquid made by bees from flower nectar and stored in the cells of the hive for food. Eaten fresh or after processing, it is generally used as a nutritive sweetener.

"Honey is the ultimate in products derived from plants. It's like liquid gold. Fashioned through an ingenious alliance between animal and plant kingdoms, honey delivers a diverse range of phytochemicals in a single package. This award comes courtesy of the industrious bees, which visit two million flowers to produce one pound of honey, "said Dr.Gina Mohammed, a plant physiologist in Sault Ste Marie, Canada. "Mixed with honey and uniquely flavored black teas and enhances its" fragrance, "said Kim Yong, founder of Your Tea Place , an online tea site which focuses on tea and health.

A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, shows that the level of antioxidants in honey is comparable to many fruits and vegetables. And while you're unlikely to eat a cup of honey instead of broccoli, the golden liquid may be a respectable alternative to sugar and supplement your healthy diet. It was found that honey reduces the harmful effects of radiation therapy in patients with cancer of the head and neck, improves oral health, preserves food, boosts antioxidants and enhances athletic performance.

Researchers at the University of Illinois studied 25 healthy men who consumed various combinations of hot water, buckwheat honey, black tea and sugar. They found that serum antioxidant capacity increased by 7 percent within two hours of ingestion of two cups of hot water containing about 4 tablespoons of honey. Antioxidants also help the arteries as it reduces the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (known as "bad" cholesterol), a benefit which is probably the development of atherosclerosis upset. The results also show that many varieties are full of phenols and flavonoids - known cancer fighters even more powerful than vitamin E.

So next time you are in a cup of tea, do your health a favor by added a spoonful of honey, liquid gold of nature.