Honey - Local v Supermarket - what's the difference
Posted on 14th January 2025 at 17:22
There has been lots a articles in the media recently about the health benefits of honey. Most folk think of honey as good to relieve hay fever or mixed with hot water and lemon for sore throats. The newly reported benefits are much wider.
Lets get the other question out of the way which is; what is the difference between honey sold in super markets and that sold by small scale beekeepers?
Most folk have an idea that there IS a difference between honey on the shelves of supermarket and honey produced by local beekeepers which is often found in delicatessens and other independant food shops. "Local honey" is the usual word to describe this honey but perhaps it is the wrong word to describe this wonder honey. There is a new word that is being used to describe this none-super market or atisan honey, the word is "Raw". The term "raw" has no basis in UK law (The Honey England Regulations 2015). It is an American term used as a short hand for honey processed at low temperatures and lightly filtered. A honey importer called Odysea won a challenge by Waltham Forest Food Standards agency to the use of the word "raw honey" on its label. Click HERE to read my blog on the case. Much of this type of honey "Raw" is produced by your "local" small batch beekeeper. This type of honey antithesis of honey found in supermarkets. Supermarket honey usually comes from producers outside Europe. This honey is usually heated treated so is essentially sterilised and is hyper filtered which removes most, if not all, the elements that makes honey special. There are worries that cheap honey is not honey at all or at best is adulterated with filling agents. That is a subject of another blog.
In this blog we are accepting that cheap honey is not wholly real honey as defined by The Honey (England) Regulations 2015, We are to discuss real honey by whatever name you refer to it; raw, artisan, small batch or local honey for instance and the benefits it provides.
So what is honey?
It is mainly sugar (85% +/- 3%), Water 16%(+/-2% ). These two main components balance out about 99.5%+ of the volume. The 0.5%-ish is where the magic happens. Honeybees make honey by inverting sugery water, we call nectar, collected from flora sources into their daily food but also as stored food for the winter. Honey is designed not to spoil over time. It is quite acidic, almost as acidic as a lemon (PH 3.2 - 4.5) and is hydroscopic. This make honey an agressive media should you be a germ thinking of exploiting the sugars as a food and home. Depending on the flowers honeybees forage upon and the ground in which the flowers grow the sugary water called nectar also contains; various types of sugar, mainly Glucose and Fructose, minerals such as, copper, iron, zinc, magnesium, solenium and antioxidants. Honey will also contain a mix of amino acids, enzymes and vitamins D, C, B6 and B12. Honey contains as many as two hundred compounds many of which are benefical to our health and well being.


Here are just a few of the benefits
Antioxidants: Honey is high in antioxidants, which can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Anti-inflammatory: Honey contains flavonoids and polyphenols, which can help reduce inflammation.
Antibacterial: Honey has antibacterial properties.
Prebiotic: Raw honey is a powerful prebiotic, which can help improve immunity.
Wound healing: Honey can be used topically to treat burns and promote wound healing.
Cough relief: Honey can be used orally to treat coughs.
Blood pressure: Honey can help lower blood pressure.
Cholesterol: Honey can help increase "good" cholesterol.
Memory: Honey polyphenols can help prevent memory disorders and induce memory production.
Recent research suggest raw honey may have benefits for heart health, Honey contains antioxidants, amino acids, and vitamins. Studies indicate it may help improve cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of heart disease.
Potential benefits include
Improved cholesterol levels: Honey may help lower total cholesterol and increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL) i.e. the good HDL
Reduced blood pressure.
Reduced inflammation: Honey contains flavonoids and polyphenols, which may help reduce inflammation.
Improved blood fat levels: Honey may help improve blood fat levels.
Regulated heartbeat: Honey may help regulate your heartbeat.


For centuries, honey has been used as an effective remedy for wounds, burns, and ulcers. In recent years there has been renewed interest in honey’s medicinal properties, espeically given the rise of bacteria resistant to antobiotics.
"The natural properties of honey as well as its active compounds are crucial for the wound healing process . Natural honey is a viscous fluid; its jelly consistency creates a surface layer over the wound that inhibits the entrance of bacteria and protects the wound from dehydration. Its high sugar content creates a higher osmotic gradient that pulls fluid up through the subdermal tissue and offers an additional glucose source for flourishing cellular components in the wounded area. The water activity of honey is less than 0.91 aw, which prevents and controls the growth of bacteria on the wound surface and causes fluid flow that flushes slough, debris, and necrotic tissue as well as microorganisms out of the wound. Apart from this, the low water activity of honey helps transport oxygen and nutrients from the deep tissue into the wound area. In addition, the low pH of honey increases tissue oxygenation, while free radicals, which lead to tissue damage, are removed by flavonoids and aromatic acids! (source https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8496555/)
Honey has natural antibacterial and moisturizing properties, making it a popular choice for skincare. It can help hydrate the skin, soothe irritation, and assist in wound healing.
Milk and honey has been a traditional drink. If taken on a regular basis it has several benefits:
Warm milk and honey for promoting better sleep. Milk contains tryptophan, an amino acid that can help induce sleep, while honey helps regulate the release of melatonin, a hormone that plays a role in sleep-wake cycles. Drinking this combination before bed can help you relax and fall asleep more easily. Mixing milk with honey can also help heart health. A study, published in Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, showed that drinking honey milk, twice every day, for three days, helped improve sleep quality.
Honey has been acknowledged for its vasodilation effects that improve erections in men who face impotence issues. Furthermore, in traditional practices, the routine intake of honey in milk is believed to considerably improve sperm counts and testosterone concentrations.


The importance of honey's probiotic and prebiotic effect in the bacterial functions related to carbohydrate metabolism in the colon is well established. Although honey is predominantly made up of simple sugars (monosaccharides) that are rapidly absorbed in the small intestine, there are also di-, tri-, and oligosaccharides that are present in smaller quantities. These oligosaccharides and low-weight polysaccharides in honey are likely to resist degradation by host enzymes and are capable of reaching the lower gut to exert prebiotic effects which provides immunostimulation, improved digestion and absorption, vitamin synthesis, reduced cholesterol, reduced gas distension, regulation of opportunistic and invading pathogen growth, improved mineral (especially calcium) absorption, modulation of lipid metabolism via fermentation products, anti-inflammatory activity, and decreased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The list of benefits of honey in this blog is not exhaustive and is not intended as medical advice. If you have concerns you should consult your medical provider. The point of this blog is to show that human kind has had a long and interesting medical relationship with honey. Many of the benefits were from home spun or traditional remedies which are now being understood by the scientific community.
The basis for these benefits is honey produced by honeybees living in a diverse floral environment and bee keepers that do not use agressive processing techiques. There are other benefits in that food miles are very short when compared with most honeys on the supermarket shelf. The action of purchasing honey from directly from local producers or the retail businesses they serve acts to maintain the commercial vitality within your community.
You can support yourself, The Bee Farmer and his bees by the simple act of purchasing a jar or jars of honey. You can find the honey of the type we have been discussing at https://www.thebeefarmer.co.uk/webshop/honey/
Sources
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3583289/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8197897/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30390870/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8197897/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9367972/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9149702/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8496555/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3609166/
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