Buckwheat Honey: What is it?
Buckwheat has become popular as a health food due to its high mineral and antioxidant content. Similar to other “pseudocereals” or the seed-like grain, quinoa, Its benefits may include improved blood sugar control. And yes, Buckwheat IS gluten-free - despite its name!
But what about buckwheat honey?
Buckwheat has tiny flowers, which means bees that make buckwheat honey have to work extra hard to collect enough nectar. But the result is incredible: a highly nutritious honey, often compared to New Zealand Manuka Honey, full of bioactive, immune-supporting properties, antioxidants and trace elements and minerals!
Raw & unfiltered Buckwheat Honey, like Elias Cold Pressed Buckwheat Honey is one of the best possible sources of energy for your brain. With its mixture of fructose and glucose, your body is able to quickly and easily process it into liver glycogen, getting your brain back into its normal, non-starved state ASAP.
Other benefits of Cold Pressed Buckwheat Honey are that it promotes healing in the body, supports immune function, and boosts antioxidants. It’s also great for soothing sore throats and coughs. Some people even use honey as a part of their skin care regimen. It has also been found to help keep blood sugar levels regulated, compared to using raw or white sugar, maple or other syrups as sweeteners.
Taken a bit at a time, honey is perfect to add to recipes, drinks and snacks to keep you in good metabolic shape throughout the day.
Our favorite way to eat Buckwheat Honey is simply just straight-up - savouring a spoonful of it a few times a day. By eating a spoonful at a time, with or without other foods, you give your body a chance to digest it properly and make full use of its many wellness-lifting benefits. For a summary of these benefits, check out one of our earlier blogs on 4 Incredible Science-Based Health Benefits of Buckwheat Honey.
Now, let’s turn to The Honey Doctor, Dr. Ron Fessenden for some advice on when would be the best times to consume honey throughout the day!.
The First Key Time to Have Honey: In the Morning
Upon waking in the morning,, your brain is depleted of energy and calories. It’s spent the night running at full power while you slept, burning off dinner from the night before. To prevent grogginess, stress and hunger pangs, it’s important to eat something early in the day. Having it first thing in the morning, helps kick-start your metabolism while preparing your digestive tract for breakfast and subsequent meals.
The Second Key Time to Have Honey: Before Exercising
Honey is both rapidly processed by the body and contains the exact kind of fuel your muscles need as fuel during exercise. Take a tablespoon of Buckwheat Honey before that workour sesh to give you an incredible, long-lasting, crash-free boost of energy. Unlike other pre-workout supplements, Buckwheat Honey won’t give you jitters, and you’ll find that you’ll be able to focus much better throughout your workout.
The Third Key Time to Have Honey: During Meals
Adding honey to your recepies is always easy and a great substite of sugar - in fact, human taste buds perceive honey to be up to 30% sweeter than sugar! So not only can you use less of it, but you can also save yourself some calories and a post-sugar crash by using honey!
Below is a list of some of our favourite recipes:
Savoury
- Honey Walnut Shrimp
- Honey Garlic Glazed Salmon
- Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Honey-Chipotle Glaze
- Honey Chilli Potato
The Fourth Key Time to Have Honey: Before Bed
Talk about counter-intuitive, right? But it’s true!
According to Science, the reason honey helps you sleep is that your brain is in a high-energy state while you’re sleeping! During sleep, the brain requires as much, or even more, energy than during the day. By feeding your brain some honey, a natural source of simple, calorie-dense energy brain before bed, you allow it to get to work on recovery, memory consolidation, immune system restoration and learning. If your body is short on energy to power your brain, it may begin producing cortisol and adrenaline: stress hormones meant to wake you up and get you to eat more.
The perfect addition to your sleepy time routine should be a a tablespoon of Buckwheat Honey in hot water, or in your favourite non-caffeinated herbal tea..
Resources: Book The New Honey Revolution - Ron Fessenden MD MPH
