The Healing Powers of Honey (12 page)

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Authors: Cal Orey

BOOK: The Healing Powers of Honey
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PART 4
M
ORE
H
EALING
S
UPERFOODS
CHAPTER 8
Honey and Cinnamon Power
Cinnamon bites and kisses simultaneously.
—Vanna Bonta
1
;
2
;
3
 
 
 
 
 
I faced sweet and spicy experiences on my road travels, like a honey bee in flight; I was stricken by untimely challenges. One afternoon in Las Vegas, Tiger and I were in front of Lady Luck Casino. It was my idea to leave my long-haired partner in the shade with water at the doorstep of the entryway while I tried to hitch a safe ride back home to California. As I was walking inside, an older man called out to me, “Nice dog!” I got an uneasy vibe but tuned it out.
Fifteen minutes later, I left the casino. My best friend was MIA. Shocked and disoriented like a beekeeper with stolen bee colonies, I stood outside in the hot sun. I tried to fight back the tears. After a long search there was no rescue. My canine buddy was gone. I cried all night long.
At dawn, at a café I ordered a cinnamon roll, tea, and honey. I was like a devoted beekeeper without his bees. I was alone. It was one of the worst experiences I endured on the road. And flashbacks of our travels from coast to coast haunted me then but now are cherished memories of a dog and a girl—an amazing human–animal bond. I left a photo of me, the hippie girl with her dog in Ontario, on the bulletin board at the local animal shelter. Through all the pain and loss, I moved on.
A few months later, fate paid me a visit. A black Labrador pup with soulful brown eyes came into my life on the road. We rescued each other at Ocean Beach, San Diego. We bonded instantly like a beekeeper with new queens, and Stone Fox and I, California Butterfly, continued on our journey together. A loyal dog and its dedicated human are similar to the superpowers of two superfoods—honey and cinnamon.
HONEY'S CONSTANT COMPANION
The delicious taste of hot cinnamon buns with sticky honey and the scent of homemade apple pie baking in the oven evoke memories from my childhood. The earthy, inviting flavor of cinnamon has been used worldwide by a multitude of cultures for its versatile seasoning powers as well as for its healing powers, for thousands of years.
Cinnamon comes from the bark of the cinnamon tree found mostly in Ceylon and China. It can be found in several forms, including the stick, which can be grated or used to stir or season beverages—such as hot chocolate and apple cider. In ground form, cinnamon is the most common spice used for seasoning and baking. There are countless dishes that call for both cinnamon and honey—two of nature's finest foods that complement each other as well as provide medicinal properties.
A new feature on the Mediterranean diet pyramid is the addition of spices, for reasons of both health and taste. Also, spices contribute to the natural identities of various Mediterranean cuisines.
So, can a spice, like cinnamon, paired with honey, which enhances the taste of many foods and warms the hearts of all who enjoy its aroma, hold healing powers to relieve pain and rev up your sex drive? I took a look at the popular claims and this is what I discovered.
HONEY AND CINNAMON HEALTH BENEFITS: 10 REAL REASONS THE DUO IS SWEET
Honey and cinnamon have a lot in common. Like honey, cinnamon's healing powers have been praised from folk medicine since biblical times to the modern day. Cinnamon's powers can help prevent age-related diseases and conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and obesity.
Cinnamon, like honey, contains antioxidants. Also, both functional foods are used for home cures. You'll also discover both cinnamon and honey provide natural healing powers from head to toe. Here, take a look at the real research behind the claims concerning this powerful duo.
1.
Aphrodisiac:
Is cinnamon really a way to reignite passion? Perhaps it is, according to past research at the Smell & Taste Treatment & Research Foundation in Chicago, Illinois. When men were exposed to dozens of scents, the only one that got a positive sexual response was the aroma of hot cinnamon buns.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
Refer to chapter 18: “Ciao, Honey!” for cinnamon and honey recipes to get that romantic touch with cinnamon and honey. If that doesn't provide results, at least you'll be getting nature's sweetest foods with nutritional benefits—without fat or cholesterol—and that can also help enhance libido for both men and women.
2.
Arthritis:
Aches and pains from creaky cartilage and joints, like a lackluster love life, can wreak havoc on your lifestyle and well-being. While cinnamon is not a magic bullet for gaining flexibility and losing pain, it does contain anti-inflammatory compounds that may be beneficial in reducing pain and stiffness in muscles and joints.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
Try a cup of cinnamon tea teamed with a fresh cinnamon stick and a teaspoon of honey. You may get the pain relief from the anti-inflammatory compounds in cinnamon, and the honey (also with anti-inflammatory properties) will provide instant energy so you can do daily stretches (or even make love, and that'll provide relief of pain due to the feel-good endorphins).
3.
Cholesterol:
While pain isn't fun, tallying up out-of-whack cholesterol numbers is no picnic, either. Powerful phytochemicals in cinnamon can reduce blood sugar, as well as triglycerides (fat in your blood), total cholesterol, and LDL “bad” cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes. Team that with honey, which has no fat or cholesterol, and you may just be able to keep your cholesterol levels healthy.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
Incorporate honey and cinnamon powder in your diet regime, which should be a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet. Also, if you are overweight, honey and cinnamon can help you to lose weight to keep your “good” HDL cholesterol numbers up. Don't forget B vitamin–rich foods, such as fish with a honey glaze or a smoothie with wheat germ and honey for vitamin B
6
and French toast with egg, milk, and honey or poultry with a honey glaze for vitamin B
12
.
4.
Colds:
If cinnamon and honey can help keep sugar levels steady, can it stave off a common cold? There are many home-cure remedies that call for honey and cinnamon to help cure the common cold. Does it work? This combo cold buster may help stave off a common cold as well as speed up your recovery due to its antibacterial and antiviral properties. But if your immune system has been compromised and you're keeping company with someone who has a cold, cinnamon and honey may not be 100 percent effective.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
Adding tea to your daily diet regime, especially antioxidant-rich green and black tea, paired with honey and cinnamon, can help you to keep your immune system strong so if you do catch a cold, you'll be able to kick the virus faster.
5.
Hair Loss:
A cinnamon-honey cure may keep you well, but can it maintain a strong mane? When I think of cinnamon and honey as a cure-all for thinning hair, the classic
I Love Lucy
episode “Ricky Thinks He's Going Bald” comes to mind. In the kitchen she puts her husband through “guaranteed” scalp treatments. It's absurd, and believing a spice and superfood concoction is going to halt hair loss is ridiculous. Hair loss is due to many factors, including genetics, aging, stress, and a poor diet.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
If your family tree is on your side, then you may be able to stall Father Time (and hair loss) by learning to chill, and honey can help you to do just that. (See part 6: “Honey Cures.”) Also, using both cinnamon and honey in your daily diet may help you keep your mane (or what's left of it) because each contains antiaging, disease-fighting antioxidants.
6.
Immune System:
Honey and cinnamon may be a useful cold buster as well as bolstering your immunity against disease from the flu to cancer. The caveat: You need to also bolster your immunity in healthful ways, from a nutrient-rich immunity-boosting diet to exercise and a healthy lifestyle (i.e., minimizing distress and getting adequate shut-eye), to keep bugs and superbugs at bay.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
Taking 1 to 2 teaspoons daily multiple times per week along with including antioxidant-rich honey and cinnamon in nutrient-rich meals can help bolster your immunity. Also, drink green tea and a teaspoon of honey (especially acacia and sunflower varieties) once or twice a day.
7.
Infertility:
Yes, the honey-cinnamon pair can help keep sickness at bay, but can it also help a woman to get pregnant? Ayurveda medicine practitioners tout honey for helping both genders achieve fertility wonders. However, my left side of the brain (the practical one that thinks and reasons) says you would have better luck asking a psychic advisor for a magic potion.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
But note, some men and women who are stressed out trying to conceive may be sabotaging their goal. In other words, relaxing has been said to help couples get pregnant. That said, because honey can help to calm nerves and cinnamon can help the body stay clear of diabetes and unhealthy cholesterol, the spicy-sweet cure can do more good than harm. Your best bet: Bake a batch of Cinnamon Honey Buns and let nature take its course.
8.
Longevity:
So, if the honey-cinnamon combo can enhance your immune system and fight diabetes, it just may add years to your life, or not. There are elderly folks, from 80 to 100 plus, who pop up from time to time in the news to remind us that they include the golden nectar in their golden years. Also, these same people are often down-to-earth people who eat nature's foods, which include herbs and spices—like cinnamon.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
Like going bald, living a long life often is linked to genes. Can we give credit to honey and cinnamon for helping humans to live to 100 years old? Again, the left brain tells me it's a mixed bag of strategies, including a healthful diet, regular exercise, social bonds, a purpose in life, and staving off unhealthy lifestyle habits, that is key to longevity—not sweet honey and spicy cinnamon. Still, if you include these two superfoods in your day-to-day life along with a wholesome lifestyle, then yes, my right brain says,
Honey and Cinnamon Power!
9.
Stomach Upset:
From hairless to queasy—can honey and cinnamon come to the rescue if your stomach is turning topsy-turvy? The sweetener and spice are tummy friendly. Cinnamon is a carminative—which simply means it can help relieve gas. If it works for you, no doctor or rat study should work against you and convince you to turn down the honey and cinnamon home cure, because it may work for your ailment.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
A hot cup of tea, such as ginger (which is proven to soothe an upset stomach or nausea), or low-fat milk with a teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder or a fresh stick can calm your nerves—and that may indeed help get rid of queasies.
10.
Weight Loss:
Last but not the least mind-boggling, can honey and cinnamon be the ticket to a lean body? Some folks say yes, these two superfoods can help you to shed unwanted pounds ASAP. While I do believe both honey and cinnamon can help you, if you don't exercise and do still overindulge in food, no, a “Honey and Cinnamon Miracle Diet” will not work. Still, honey can help you to cut sweet cravings, so if a sweet tooth is ruining your dieting efforts, honey can come to the rescue. Cinnamon adds flavor to foods, such as oatmeal, so you won't be tempted to use high-fat butter or added sugars.
The Real Honey and Cinnamon Cure:
Each day, try drinking 2 cups of fat-burning green tea and cinnamon powder. Not only will the tea and cinnamon help rev up your metabolism, but the honey will also help give you energy so you'll stick to physical exercise and burn more calories.
Whether you're looking to get that loving feeling or fighting a cold, eating one Cinnamon Honey Bun, like in the following recipe, paired with a cup of hot herbal tea, will make you feel good and just may help to follow through on battling your health woe and do its job. And there is always the chance that the aroma in your kitchen will rev up the romance in your life.
Cinnamon Honey Buns
¼ cup butter or margarine,
softened and divided
½ cup honey, divided
½ cup chopped toasted
nuts, optional
cup raisins
2 teaspoons ground
cinnamon
1 pound frozen bread
dough, thawed according
to package directions
Grease 12 muffin cups with 1 tablespoon butter. To prepare honey nut topping, mix together 1 tablespoon butter, ¼ cup honey and chopped nuts. Place 1 teaspoon topping in each muffin cup. To prepare filling, mix together remaining 2 tablespoons butter, remaining ¼ cup honey and cinnamon. Roll out bread dough onto floured surface into 18 x 8–inch rectangle. Spread filling evenly over dough. Sprinkle evenly with raisins. Starting with long side, roll dough into log. Cut log into 12 (1 ½–inch) slices. Place 1 slice, cut-side up, into each prepared muffin cup. Set muffin pan in warm place; let dough rise for 30 minutes. Place muffin pan on foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 375ºF 20 minutes or until buns are golden brown. Remove from oven; cool in pan 5 minutes. Invert muffin pan to remove buns. Makes 12 buns.
(
Source:
National Honey Board.)
In the next chapter, “Sweet Stuff: Honey Combos,” you'll discover that honey is found in a variety of foods, from breads and candy to ice cream and yogurt. The best part is, yes, these combinations are often good for you, thanks to healing honey and its powers.

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