One has heard ample discourses on the wonder of honey and how it, when combined with lemon as a morning drink, has been an age-old metabolism booster. But the latest findings on the dramatic impact that honey cinnamon brings on weight loss have made many sit up and take notice of its detox abilities and its effect on speeding up metabolic activities.

Lets’ try and gauge how each ingredient here has a role of its own.

Benefits of Honey

• With a better GI level or Glycemic level than sugar, it does not get absorbed by the blood immediately and thus allows slow usage in the body keeping the blood sugar levels steady.
• This in turns keeps energy level more stable and keeps unnecessary cravings under control.
• Honey also has B2, B3, B5, B6, and vitamin C. It is believed that the sugars in honey that are released slowly into the bloodstream will also help in better absorption of vitamins and minerals naturally endowed in it.
• This is also a reason that honey after meals in considered the best way to enhance food nutrient absorption.
• Honey is high in several enzymes that aid in digestion and also have healthy oils.
• They are antimicrobial and antibacterial which makes it an ideal component to detox the digestive tract as well.
• It’s rich content of iron, vitamins, and minerals makes it an ideal source for boosting immune system as well.
• Known to be healing wounds, it also works wonders as a cough suppressant and in treating burns.

Cinnamon Benefits

Used by the Egyptians for embalming, it was mostly used to cure and to preserve things from decay. This life-giving property owes much to the qualities of enzymes it interacts with.

• Considered highly beneficial for wound healing and for removing toxicities from the body.
• Also seen as anti-parasitic and antimicrobial.
• It is known to lower LDL by 7–27%,and lowers triglycerides by 23–30%
• Fights obesity and is a guard against type 2 diabetes.
• Rich in fiber, manganese, iron, and antioxidants.
• Cleanses the colon and the digestive system and thus stimulates the system to burn fat faster and more effectively.
• Stabilizes blood sugar levels as increased blood sugars is known to increase the storage of fat deposit in the body. In this manner, it addresses obesity.

In fact, the Journal of Medicinal Foods submitted its report in 2011 saying that cinnamon powder usage has led to improvement in Fasting Blood Sugar in people with type 2 diabetes.

A combination of such potentially powerful ingredients can only raise the impact to quite another level. In fact, the combination of cinnamon and honey is being touted as one of the healthiest finds that is not just easy to consume but also is easy on the palettes as much as on the pockets and very safe as compared to many alternatives with not many desirous side effects.

Make Your Own Cinnamon and Lemon Detox Preparation

• Take 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon organic honey
• Now, boil the water and simply take it off the stove and pour over the cinnamon powder allowing it to steep for at least 15 minutes.
• Add honey only after the liquid is cooled down. Remember that if the water is hot, some of the most useful of enzymes in honey will not be able to work or bind with the others.

You may serve this drink with a few drops of lemon if you prefer the taste.

How Much and When?

Once you have prepared this one cup concoction, you may consume half of it early in the morning on an empty stomach, while the other half cup could be kept refrigerated and consumed before bed time or two hours after meals.

Points to Note!!

• Honey used should only be organic honey. Manuka Honey is supposed to be the best available. Otherwise, any branded unprocessed and unfiltered honey labeled organic is fine.
• In the case of choosing the right kind of cinnamon, it is always advisable to make your own cinnamon powder at home and the best option is to buy the Ceylon variety.
• While you may consume this early in the morning, if you have this at night, honey has a mild laxative effect which works very well for your digestion.
• Also, straining the detox water after it has been prepared is fine, but reheating is not desirable. Once the detox drink is prepared, try to use it up by night.
• This drink could also be added to your green tea which again works wonderfully for your weight loss target.

A Word of Caution!

Cinnamon Lemon detox in the form of this tea should not be consumed beyond five days and not more than two times a day as the coumarin present in cinnamon if taken over a long duration is known to cause liver damage.

This is also called as a cinnamon-related liver toxicity. Thus, what is recommended is a break of several days before you can resume drinking this detox tea once again for another five-day duration. Like all detox programs, one must set a limit of five days and then let your system flush out its residues completely. While honey has no known harmful effects, it is cinnamon which needs to be consumed with some caution.

Coffee addiction and its superb energy-boosting qualities are undeniable. Yet, what happens sometimes is that our health is compromised due to infections and other conditions–particularly sore throat and colds that certainly cannot be cured by coffee! You are suggested some turn-off recipes that make you gag at the very sound of what all goes into making them. You’d rather face the brunt of a red runny nose or a throat that feels like the wild cactus growing in the Arizona desert, with your head feeling like a huge bubble about to blow up!

So is there a possibility of ever combining honey and coffee?

To understand this better, let us look at what actually causes cold and coughs.

A respiratory infection that is caused by an infection of a virus could affect your airways, affecting breathing and causing congestion in the chest if not cured by antibiotics. Generally, cold converts into a cough simply because one’s immunity is compromised and that in turn allows the air passageways to be invaded by bacteria that may further cause bronchitis, pneumonia, and sinus infections. Coughs of this nature have a lingering presence of a month to six weeks. A sore throat usually is a symptom of a cold or could precede it and may be caused by a virus or by a bacterium. Sometimes, it could lead to fevers, swollen lymph nodes, and body ache.

In cold, cough, and sore throat, the body’s immunity has been breached and the rapid buildup of the infection if not checked could lead to a prolonged presence in the body.

In coughs, colds, and sore throat, the symptoms usually cause adequate amounts of distress–runny nose, watery eyes, sore throat, fever, body ache, sneezing, and disorientation.

Generally, over-the-counter medicines are recommended for treating colds and coughs. However, if it is a viral infection, antibiotics will not work. Studies have proved that a test group given honey coffee responded as well as those that were given steroid-based medicines for their cough. This study whose results were published in the Natural Medicine Journal in August 2014 recommended the usage of coffee with honey as a safe alternative to steroids-based medicines for curing post-infection coughs.

What Qualities Does Honey Have?

There sure is ample evidence to give us innumerable reasons why adding honey to any beverage makes so much good sense. Honey undoubtedly continues to be one of the most miraculous of immunity boosters.

Here are some great reasons to be in love with this golden nectar-like natural produce:

• Honey is an immunity booster.
• It contains, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, vitamins A and C, zinc, copper, iodine, phosphates, and several other trace minerals that a healthy diet must have.
• Honey will not allow your blood sugar level to drop suddenly.
• Curbs hunger and maintains healthy sugar levels.

So, what you gain from honey in your coffee is far more intensely healthy than what other sweeteners give you. The elephant in the room, of course, is honey and it has been used for centuries for sweetening all kinds of foods, yet the very idea of sweetening coffee with honey has only recently been researched with much scientific involvement considering the concern with coffee drinking and the heightening cases of diabetes the world over.

What has also emerged is that coffee, though known to be harmful if taken in large quantities, still manages to make a cut to being actually therapeutic, especially when taken with honey to treat and help lessen the effect of colds and cough.

When honey is consumed, the air passageways have a much lesser incidence of inflammatory action which is typical in asthma patients and those who have chronic coughs and have to be treated with steroidal medicines that are far more debilitating in terms of their long-term side effects. With the addition of honey in instant coffee, the production of osmolality or the hyper action of the salivary gland makes swallowing easier and thus helps in clearing the mucus more easily. With the inclusion of honey, the mucociliary clearing of the pharynx has been a known factor in the treatment of children who suffer from a nighttime cough.

How to Get You Best Cup of Honey Coffee?

A few additional ingredients could be added to your cup of coffee for amazingly tasty results. Choose decaffeinated coffee for your everyday use –add a pinch of cinnamon powder and a teaspoon of honey after straining the coffee. Whether instant coffee or filtered one, it could be added to both. The combination of cinnamon and honey is supposed to help clear the phlegm in your throat and aid the respiratory channels especially when you have trouble breathing through your nose.

Preparation of Your Cup of Goodness

• Take two cups of fresh brew coffee
• ½ cup milk
• 1 pinch of nutmeg powder
• 1 pinch cinnamon powder
• 2 drops vanilla extract
• ¼ cup honey

Combine and heat but not to a boil and then serve.

This is a Spanish recipe known for its delicious taste and a knockout effect on strep throat as well as post-infection coughs that can linger.

Be cautious so as not to add honey when the coffee is too hot and do not reheat to such a temperature that the milk curdles.

Apart from adding cinnamon to your brew, nutmeg, cardamom powder, and holy basil leaves too could be added to the decoction. Remember to add milk, in case you prefer, gradually after the brew with the addition of spices is ready. Honey could be added right at the end.

Honey has excellent effect over pimples and acne. Acne is an outburst of sebaceous gland under the influence of bacteria. In this condition excess of oil is secreted by the sebaceous gland attracting dirt and dust which further provides an accommodating environment for bacteria. Further, it leads to skin inflammation causing pimple eruption on face which is painful and demoralizing.

If you are fed of this acne and acne scar try the magical honey to treat this skin disease. You can use it in your face pack to get maximum benefits. Find out, how :

Raw honey

Apply natural honey using a cotton ball on the affected area and leave it for 30 minutes. Rinse off first using lukewarm water followed by washing with cold water. Follow this practice weekly twice for best results. If your acne reappears again and again apply honey in night and leave it overnight. Rinse off next morning using plain water.

Honey and cinnamon mask

Cinnamon is well known for its antibacterial properties like honey. You can prepare the mask using 2 tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon powder. Apply this paste on affected area and leave for 10-15 minutes. Rinse off using warm water and then apply toner. Repeat this regularly to get best results.

Honey and nutmeg pack

Mix equal amount of honey and nutmeg and apply on the acne of acne scar. Leave this for 1 hour and then wash off using water. Apply this mask every alternate day to get best results.

Honey and turmeric

Turmeric, the “queen of spices” is known to soothe pain and reduce skin inflammation. A mask of honey and turmeric is considered as best remedy to treat acne and acne scar. Mix a pinch of original turmeric powder in 1 tablespoon of organic honey. Apply this paste on affected area and leave for 20 minutes. Rinse off using cold water and see the difference.

 Strawberry-honey mask

Strawberry being loaded with vitamin C is effective in treating acne. Take 2-3 fresh strawberries and crush them fine using mortar-pestle. Add 2 table spoon of fresh honey and mix properly. Apply this paste evenly on face and leave for 20-30 minutes. Rinse off using lukewarm water followed by application of a mild moisturizer. You can use this mask thrice a week and see visible results in 2 weeks.

Along with using any of the above mentioned face masks, you should consume organic honey either with warm water or in your smoothies to get the maximum benefits. Regular practice of oral and tropical consumption of honey not only removes scar but is potent to diminish the mark also.

Incredibly sweet honey is no different. It has long been used in traditional medicine as a topical (on the surface of the skin) treatment for wounds. There is evidence from over 2000 years ago of honey’s use as a wound treatment.

The Power Of Honey

The anti-bacterial power of honey may vary depending on the type of flowers the nectar used to make it was collected from. It is believed that manuka honey (made by bees that gather nectar from manuka flowers), is much more potent than other types of honey when it comes to wound healing. Some persons go as far as to suggest that manuka honey is,in fact, one of the only two types of honey that should be used on wounds, the other being raw, unprocessed honey.

Conventional medicine has recently rediscovered honey and its ability to perform where modern treatments are inadequate.  Interestingly, it has been shown that honey can effectively neutralize certain types of bacteria that have been become resistant to antibiotic medication. For this reason honey is used to treat difficult to heal wounds.

How Does Honey Work?

There is an enzyme in honey that produces wound cleaning hydrogen peroxide when diluted. Honey studies have identify many other bioactive components in honey. Bioactive meaning that they work on cells and tissues in living things. These components have led to honey earning the distinction of being a biologic wound dressing.

Another way in which honey is thought to work as it helps to heal wounds, is that its intense sweetness has the effect of pulling lymph fluid out of the tissues that surround the wound. This lymph is vital for healing of the wound and along with the lymph, honey also draws out bacteria which are then unable to survive in the too-sweet environment it created.

Benefits of Honey As A Wound Treatment

Research into the use of honey on wounds is showing that it

• promotes healing, quickly clearing infections with no negative side effects
• stimulates the immune system
• promotes the growth of tissue to repair wounds
• suppresses inflammation and in so doing can leads to a reduction in pain and swelling related to the presence of the wound

Another effect of the use of honey on wounds is the elimination of unpleasant odours often associated with wounds.

Once the wound has healed, honey helps by allowing the bandage to be easilyremoved, taking all the dead tissue with it while causing no damage to the newly grown cells. Honey’s use on wounds, therefore, tends to result in much less scarring than when other substances are used.

To use honey for wounds some people simply apply it directly to the affected area. It is often used for cuts, bruises, burns (including sunburn) and diabetic foot ulcers.

It also good to know that apart from wound treatment honey can also be used for the relief of stomach ulcers, diarrhea, asthma, coughs and hay fever.

Tasting honey will also definitely help you to realize that it is intensely sweet. So sweet in fact that there is growing debate over whether honey is actually good for you or just plain fattening.

Honey Carb Counting

There are 304 calories in 100 grams of honey and those all come from sugar. The sugars in honey are mostly fructose and glucose – simple carbohydrates that are generally warned against if you are trying to reduce your weight.

In fact, it is generally advised that you try to eliminate all added sugars from your diet if your goal is weight loss and maintenance of a healthy weight. Cutting out added sugar is also said to help you minimize your risk of developing certain diseases.

All of that, however, does not mean you should chuck all your honey out the window. Here’s why.

Natural Sweetness

Being on a weight loss diet tends to leave you craving sweets, then going on sweet-tooth-satisfying binges and derailing your progress towards your weight loss goals. When the cravings for sweet set in, natural honey is a great replacement for processed and refined table sugar. Since honey is so much sweeter and denser than sugar, people find that they tend to eat less of it to satisfy their sweet tooth.

Indulging in honey does not mean you are setting yourself up to add on pounds. On the contrary, the way in which the sugars in honey are arranged cause it to be more slowly digested by the body. It means, that unlike table sugar, the sugars in honey are slowly released into the blood stream.

This and other benefits of honey are backed by research. One study shows that persons who included 5-10 tablespoons of honey in their regular diet for one month had the following results.

• no weight gain
• lower cholesterol levels
• higher levels of antioxidants in their blood

Why Honey Isn’t Fattening

The calories in table sugar are “empty calories”. They supply you with nothing but energy that you will need to use up or it will just be turned into fat and stored in places you do not want. Honey is different.

Honey is a whole food just like fruits. Along with its carbohydrates and antioxidants, it has vitamins (riboflavin,niacin), minerals (calcium, copper, zinc, manganese, iron, phosphorousandpotassium), fat and protein (amino acids). Honey is also proven to have antimicrobial properties which help it to relieve congestion and prevent digestive problems.

When we count the calories and carbs in foods like honey we really need to take all of their benefits into consideration.Honey is actually a great natural supplement to your diet whether or not you are trying to lose weight.

Enjoy the sweetness of honey in moderation, knowing that you are feeding your body some natural sweetness that is helping to keep it healthy in so many ways.

Humans have been collecting and consuming honey made by bees for over 8000 years.

• Ancient Olympic athletes used it to improve their recovery time by eating honey and dried figs.
• Ayurvedic medicine has used honey for over 4000 years in conjunction with other herbal compounds to enhance the benefits derived from them.

Where Does Honey Come From?

Nectar from flowers contains about 600 compounds. To make honey out of nectar, bees swallow it, digest it and then regurgitate it. Not very pleasant sounding, I know, so you are allowed to focus on two facts

1) bees make honey
2) it’s really good for you!

There’s no denying that honey and table sugar are basically the same. Both are made up of the simple sugars fructose and glucose. The calorie count, however, sets them apart.

Counting Honey Calories

The USDA advises that there are 304 calories in 100 grams of honey, 387 calories in granulated sugar and 380 in brown sugar. Breaking down the honey calories a bit more (for the calorie counters among us), we find approximately

• 13 calories in a teaspoon
• 64 calories in 1 tablespoon
• 86 calories in 1 ounce
• 1031 calories in a cup

That’s quite a bit when compared to some other foods, so why then is honey being touted as so healthy for you? Well, compared to sugar

• honey is denser and sweeter so you most likely will use less
• honey is only heat-treated to prevent yeast fermentation and crystallization (note: raw honey is left completely untreated) while granulated sugar is a very refined product
• honey retains its beneficial nutrients such as protein, fat and carbohydrates (plus vitamins, minerals and antioxidants) while sugar has been stripped of its other nutrients (it’s just sugar)

Some of the other benefits of the nutritious calories of honey include

• It can be used in the treatment of wounds and burns.
• It adds its own distinct flavour to foods.
• It is used as a treatment for coughs and sore throat.
• Honey contains flavonoids, a type of antioxidant (the amount increasing with darkness of the honey); antioxidants are vital for fighting the oxidative stress caused to cells by free radicals. This damage to the cells can lead to cancer and heart diseases.
• Apart for protecting against oxidative stress, honey is believed to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.
• Honey is scientifically proven effective in the treatment of seasonal pollen allergies.
• Bees add a chemical to honey that contains hydrogen peroxide. For this reason honey has antimicrobial properties and can kill certain bacteria.
• Honey aids digestion and it many studies show that it is helpful in the treatment of bacterial gastroenteritis and ulcers.

For these reasons and many others, honey truly deserves its title as a healthy natural sweetener. By making the switch to honey you can take advantage of all the goodness its calories provide and do away with the empty calories of sugar

Let’s explore the wonderful benefits of using raw honey as your natural beauty aid.

4 Ways Honey Helps Your Skin

Complexion boosting:

When you exfoliate your skin, it is always good to add an ingredient that will pleasantly soothe it at the same time. Honey works well for that.

One very effective exfoliating combination is equal parts honey and brown sugar.Try half cup each and add a tablespoon of coconut oil plus a drop of essential lavender oil.

Massage the mixture into your skin using gentle circular motions, then rinse with warm water. Afterwards, press a warm washcloth into your facefollowed by treating your newly exposed, fresh, healthy skin to a good dose of your favourite natural moisturizer.

Slowing the signs of aging:

Our internal metabolic processes produce free radicals which accumulate in our bodies as we age. These free radicals are a direct cause of the appearance of wrinkles on the skin. Antioxidants, which honey just so happens to be loaded with,are proven to fight the effects of free radicals.

For a potent antioxidant mixture, combine honey and coconut oil along with a dash of turmeric. Use gentle circular motions to massage it into your face. Leave on for about 15 minutes and rinse away with warm water. You will have radiant, clean and moisturized skin that smells great too! You can also use this mixture to remove your makeup.

Acne treatment and prevention:

As an excellent overnight acne treatment, you can dab a tiny bit of honey onto a blemish using a cotton swab. Honey has amazing antibacterial properties, so it acts to kill bacteria that can build up in clogged pores. Maximize the effects by adding another natural antibacterial agentto the honey -a drop or two of tea tree oil is a good choice.

Opens your pores and moisturizes:

Using gentle circular motions, apply a thin mask of raw honey to your damp face. After at least half an hour, use warm water to gently rinse it off. The honey will do double duty: first, it will open your pores so they are easier to unclog. Secondly, since honey is anatural humectant, it will add moisture to your skin will preventing whatever moisture is already there from being lost. By doing this, it will give you softer more supple skin.

Conclusion

Turns out honey is as good for your outside as it is for your inside. Sweet! Honey can be used on your face as a mask, exfoliator, spot treatment, cleanser and so much more. You’ll be rewarded with healthy, radiant skin that’s sure to get you more than just a few compliments!

But if you don’t like the idea of caffeine – don’t give up the coffee, rather switch to decaffeinated. You will still reap the benefits of the high content of antioxidants in coffee, which is actually the highest source of antioxidants in the diet, even more so than fruit and veggies. And of course you know that antioxidants destroy the free radicals rampaging around in our bodies, causing harm to our health.

So stay with the coffee, it IS good for you. Just take care what you put into that steaming, hot cup of coffee!

A healthier option

Most coffee drinkers follow the usual procedure of adding a bit of milk or cream, and sugar to their particular blend. If you like your coffee sweetened and want to pursue a healthier option, then a great alternative is to sweeten your coffee with honey.Honey is a natural product with a long shelf life, and can also add a subtle flavour to your coffee. Depending on where the hives are, there are several types of honey available, among them citrus and coastal shrubs, each with a particular flavour. Honey also contains vitamins and minerals including magnesium, potassium, iron and calcium, as well as vitamins A, C, and most of the B’s.

Begin by adding a teaspoon of honey into your coffee and stir well. If you need it sweeter, just add more until you are happy with the taste.

Is honey better for you than sugar?

Because of the nutrient and antioxidant qualities, honey is undoubtedly better for you. Sugar is absolutely devoid of any nutrients, and as soon as it hits the stomach, becomes strongly acidic!

Honey actually contains more calories than sugar, but is unlikely to cause rapid spikes in your blood sugar levels, as sugar is known to do. Experts agree that a spike in blood sugar may cause hunger and make you eat, whereas honey could actually be beneficial in weight loss efforts, by not making you hungry when used in coffee.

Other health benefits relating to honey and coffee.

Research as indicated that a mixture of honey and coffee was significantly more effective in relieving a persistent cough than in the steroid control group tests. The treatment was further rated as safe, effective, inexpensive and pleasant tasting. The jury is still out as to why the mixture works so well.

Whatever the reason, the combination of honey and coffee appears to be very effective and is worth a try for a persistent cough.

Bear in mind that a cough that just will not go away in spite of all your best efforts, could require medical intervention to identify the root of the problem.

References:

Natural Medical Journal. Healthyeating.sfgate.com. Honey with coffee: Aslani J, Assari S, Raeessi MA.

Histamine acts like a red flag notifying blood vessels to react as though there were an infection. White blood cells are called upon to fix the problem, but again, too much histamine can cause a break down. Aside from the usual sneezing and watery eyes, you might experience headaches or even migraines, vertigo, hives or nausea. In severe cases of histamine buildup, blood pressure and heart rate can rise dangerously or heart rate may become irregular, inflammation can cause tissues to swell, you may feel overly hot or cold, or experience abdominal cramping.

For unknown reasons, people who have an allergic reaction to pollen and whose bodies build up histamine are unable to break down this neurotransmitter. But histamine is more than just something that is released when pollen is around. It sends messages to the central nervous system and plays a role in digestion as part of stomach acid.

• Certain foods naturally contain histamine and may exacerbate reactions. Fermented, cured, smoked, or soured foods, dried fruits, aged cheese, and some nuts contain histamines.
• Alcohol, chocolate, pineapple, tomatoes, and conventional cow’s milk will cause histamine to be released.
• Other foods such as energy drinks and tea (black or green) block DAO (diamine oxidase), the enzyme that metabolizes histamine.

Since honey is actually created from pollen gathered by bees, it seems ironic that eating honey is one of the best natural remedies for pollen allergies, but it works in the same way a vaccine works. You eat the offending substance and your body begins to build up an immunity to it. Only in the case of honey, it’s all natural, without chemicals, dangerous bacteria or viruses.

Conventional allergy treatments effectively desensitize your nervous system so it does not produce histamine, but as you’ve learned, histamine is an important addition to digestion. Desensitizing does not eliminate the problem, only the symptom.

Local honey is comprised, for the most part, of plants that are indigenous to your geographical area, the place where you live, so it’s advised that you purchase honey from a beekeeper within a 10 mile radius of your home. The pollen in the honey will be varied and in small amounts, giving your body a chance to immunize itself.

• It’s important to purchase local honey that’s raw, unpasteurized and not heated in any way. It should not be filtered.
• If you begin taking honey after the pollen season begins, it may have no effect.
• Begin in late fall with 1 level teaspoon of raw honey 6x a day, spread out throughout the day.
• Take it plain, with tea, coffee, milk or any other beverage, as part of a salad dressing (olive oil, vinegar, and honey), in cottage cheese or yogurt, or drizzled on fruit or warm vegetables.

Note:

If you’re adding your honey to tea or coffee, let the beverage cool for 10 minutes before adding honey so you don’t destroy the healing properties honey contains.

Warning:

Do Not give honey to children under 1 year of age. They can experience botulism poisoning or have a serious allergic reaction.

About 1.5 million years before him lived Homo erectus or “upright man” and Homo habilis or “tool using man”. It’s within the range of Homo sapiensidaltu that the Paleo lifestyle diet is based (modern man is Homo sapiens sapiens).But there’s reason to believe that even “upright man” and “tool using man” ate what’s today referred to as Paleo, namely anything they could get their hands on that existed naturally at the time.

Agriculture had not been invented yet and wouldn’t be for another 90,000 years, and people ate what was regional, seasonal and tasty. There were no cultivated fruits or vegetables the way we know them today, and there were no “grains”, just wild grasses. In fact, everything was wild including tree fruits, bush berries, vines, roots and tubers, nuts and seeds, and animals. Paleolithic man did not domesticate and milk the saber-toothed tiger or the wild mountain goat. He did not have milk to drink. Everything was eaten raw because fire wasn’t discovered until about half way through the era, somewhere around 6000 BCE.

Tribes were hunters of animals and gatherers of everything else, and among the things they gathered was honey. Honey is a wild food produced by bees, and bees have been around as long as there have been plants, about 100 million years, at least according to the oldest discovered fossil of a bee embedded in amber.

Does that make honey Paleo?Absolutely. If Stone Man (or woman) could figure out how to get the honeycomb away from the bees at the right time, that time being when the honeycomb was full and most of the bees were out of the hive, there would be plenty of the sweet energy-giving syrup to go around. It was probably some time, however, before they figured out when that optimal time was. A hive would need to be filled with cured honey – honey that’s been drawn from the plant into the honey sac of the bee, withdrawn from that bee’s honey sac by another bee, then placed into the compartment and fanned to dry for several weeks.

Stone Man may have had limited resources (he didn’t have bee brushes, bee blowers or honeycomb frames), but he probably wasn’t stupid. Which is why he evolved into “thinking man”. Eventually, he realized that when all the little pockets were filled and capped and all the bees were gone so he wouldn’t get stung, he could pull the hive out and begin to eat the honey.

And honey could be made all year long. Plants bloom at different times of the year and nectar could have been gathered from clover, goldenrod, wild sage, dandelion, lavender, yarrow, and teasel. Is honey Paleo? It’s likely one of the oldest and most “Paleo” foods that every existed.