Raw or organic honey has many benefits. This food is rich in antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties, but these benefits are lost if you purchase processed honey. Here’s how you can recognize the best honey.
Replacing sugar with honey can help with weight loss and introduce more antioxidants in your diet. However, processed honey won’t have as many benefits as organic or raw honey. Find out more about how to recognize the best honey and take a look at our product recommendations.
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We compared different brands of raw and organic honey to put together these product recommendations. Here are some of the factors we looked at to select the best products:
These are some of the best honey we were able to find. Note that some products are raw while some are both raw and organic.
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This raw honey has an excellent nutritional value because it never undergoes a sterilization or filtering process. It is only gently heated so it can be poured into jars.
We like this honey because the pollen and phytonutrient content is left intact. It is sourced from Brazil and meets the USDA Organic certification standards. A real effort is made to make sure the bees can live in an environment that is free of pesticides.
We like the fact that this brand supports causes like women’s health and the Amazon rainforest. Overall, this honey is an excellent value and has received positive reviews from shoppers. People love the rich taste and think the container is convenient to use.
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This is the best honey if you are looking for a non-GMO product since this brand has a GMO Free Land certification. Y.S. Eco Bee Farms is directly involved with the management of the beehives, and there is a quality control process used to make sure the bees aren’t exposed to any pesticides and other harmful substances.
The honey is sourced from beehives located in different areas, which creates an interesting flavor. This is a beneficial approach from a nutritional perspective since this honey contains a wide range of phytonutrients since bees are going to be exposed to different plants.
This is also one of the best values we found while comparing raw honey.
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This is the best honey if you want a product that is taken directly from the beehives and never processed. Honest owns the beehives from which the honey is sourced. There is a real focus on sustainability, and the brand oversees the entire production process of this honey.
The beehives are located in the U.S. and Honest makes sure that the bees are far away from commercial farms to reduce exposure to chemicals. There is no organic certification for the product since it is difficult to keep track of where the bees go when they pollinate, but this is a high-quality product.
Honest Raw Honey has received excellent reviews from shoppers. People love the creamy texture and rich taste of the product.
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This honey is sourced from Brazil and is never exposed to heat or any kind of filtering process. It is stored in a convenient squeeze bottle.
The product has a USDA organic certification. The brand doesn’t share a lot of information about where the beehives are located or how the honey is sourced.
However, the product wouldn’t earn a USDA organic certification without meeting certain quality standards. Tests have to be performed to make sure the product is free of chemicals.
This is a good value if you are looking for raw organic honey, but we would like to see the brand share more information about how the honey is sourced and how quality is controlled.
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This honey is raw and organic, but it goes through a straining process. Straining the honey removes some of its nutritional value, but it gives the product a smoother texture. If you don’t like particles in your honey, this is the best honey for you.
We like the fact that this product has a USDA organic certification and is also True Source certified. The brand is making a real effort to source the product responsibly and to be transparent about how the honey is made.
This product is sourced from Brazil and is mostly made from clover. Bee Harmony offers other products sourced from the U.S. with different flavors. If you are looking for honey that has a specific flavor, you should take a look at the other products offered by Bee Harmony.
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We like this honey because the brand donates some of its profits to help preserve the bee population. This is a high-quality raw and organic honey, but it is partially filtered.
Filtering honey removes some of its nutritional content, but you might prefer filtered honey if you are looking for a smooth texture.
This product has a USDA organic certification, and people love the taste. The brand cares about making a quality product and is transparent about how the honey is made.
Raw or organic honey isn’t processed. There is nothing added to the product, and the honey is ideally not filtered or goes through a minimal filtering process. Here is how you can find the best organic or raw honey to get the most out of this product.
Honey is naturally rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. There are only 64 calories in a spoonful and no fat. The sweet taste of honey makes it an ideal substitute if you want to cut back on processed sugar.
Honey is mostly known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Here are some of these benefits:
Honey will also boost your energy levels. This food is rich in carbohydrates but isn’t unhealthy like processed sugar. This is the perfect pre-workout snack!
Honey has a soothing effect. Drinking tea with honey in it will soothe your throat, and honey is believed to help with digestive health. Studies have shown it is effective against peptic ulcers.
Honey also contains antioxidants. When consumed regularly, it can help improve brain and heart health. Antioxidants also boost your immune system and lower your risks of developing infections.
Even though honey is a delicious snack, you can apply it directly to your skin, hair, or even your nails. Besides having anti-inflammatory properties, honey is a natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial.
You can use honey as a face mask, add some crushed almonds to make a natural scrub, or mix it with some olive oil and use it as a conditioner.
Raw honey is rich in phytonutrients. These nutrients are found in plants and have an antioxidant effect. They also have anti-inflammatory properties.
Phytonutrients are believed to prevent several diseases and promote overall good health. They are mostly found in the propolis that bees produce to sterilize their hives, but some of these nutrients end up in honey as well.
Phytonutrients are fragile. They are damaged when honey goes through a pasteurization process. Honey that is labeled as raw isn’t pasteurized and still contains all the original phytonutrients.
Even though pasteurized honey has the same taste as raw honey, you will miss out on the benefits of phytonutrients.
You should only purchase pasteurized honey if young children will eat it since raw honey can be unsafe for a young child.
Bees make honey by collecting nectar from flowers. The nectar is brought back to the hive and chewed until it turns into honey. Bees will then fan the honey with their wings until it dries.
Pesticides and other chemicals can end up in honey if bees collect nectar from plants that were exposed to these chemicals. You should purchase organic honey to reduce exposure to pesticides and other chemicals. You are also supporting brands that make sure bees aren’t exposed to harmful chemicals.
Some products have an organic certification while other brands simply choose the location of the beehives carefully. It is difficult to make sure that honey will be completely free of chemicals since bees can fly as far as five miles away from their hives to pollinate flowers.
A product with an organic certification might still contain small amounts of chemicals. It is impossible to ensure that every plant within a five-mile radius of a beehive is free of chemical exposure.
However, it is possible to greatly reduce exposure to chemicals by installing beehives away from commercial farming facilities and other areas where plants are likely to be exposed to pesticides and other chemicals.
Some tests can also be performed on the finished product to look for harmful chemicals, but not every batch of honey is going to be tested.
Even though organic honey can contain small amounts of chemicals, you won’t have to worry about being exposed to large amounts of harmful chemicals on a regular basis.
Note that some brands use the word ‘raw’ on their label because the honey hasn’t been pasteurized, but this doesn’t mean that the product is free of chemicals. Ideally, you should look for honey that is both raw and organic to get all the benefits of this food while avoiding pesticides.
Colony collapse disorder may not be affecting bees as severely as previously thought. Recent studies are showing that the bee population is increasing.
However, it is still important to support brands that care about sustainability. If possible, choose honey that is sourced responsibility and look for the brands that either own hives or support beekeepers.
A brand that cares about sustainability will make efforts to offer a product that is free of chemicals and will be transparent about where the honey comes from. A brand that doesn’t share much information about sourcing probably purchases honey from multiple sources and might not work with the same source for very long.
This model allows companies to secure low prices but makes tracking quality more difficult. Even though a brand claims to offer an organic product, quality control will be difficult to implement if the brand uses new sources all the time. The taste of a product will also be easier to predict if the brand builds relationships with beekeepers in the long-term.
It is best to shop for honey that is offered by a brand that cares about sustainability and takes steps to avoid supporting businesses that use pesticides and GMOs. You should be able to find resources on the official website of a brand about how honey is sourced, how the brand creates relationships with beekeepers, and about actions taken to preserve the environment.
Shopping for honey can be confusing since most brands claim they offer a healthy product. You need to do some research on how thehoney is sourced and make sure there are some efforts made to reduce exposure to chemicals. The products we listed above are good options since they haven’t been pasteurized and most of these products have an organic certification.
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