Obesity! The disease of the century!
An epidemic one.
20% of children are obese; 66% of adults are overweight or obese.
Can honey help you lose weight?
Over the previous 33 years, overweight and obesity in adults have increased by 27.5% and by 47.1% in children and adolescents. Over 100,000 individuals die each year from obesity-related cancers.
Let’s see: what happened in the last 33 years? The technology got better. The machines got better. We work in an office, staring at a computer. Not in the garden. And work a lot: 10 – 16 hours a day! What did you expect?
And even more: the food got tastier! And easy to get. Drinks are better. Ice cream is divine! We, people, even developed a new taste for our modern food: umami. Who’s to blame if our bodies got fatter? I mean, look at these two fellows here drinking beer. They are so happy, they absolutely love beer.
After they work for 10 hours a day in a closed environment, why would anyone ban their pleasure of drinking beer with friends? Don’t we all want to be happy? They’re happy…
If it is to follow this direction and try to enjoy life and what it offers to us, then we have to be honest with ourselves and then set our priorities. Let’s pretend we are asking one of these guys what they would prefer: To live 100 years healthy, without beer, or 50 with beer? Looking at the happiness on their faces, I think they would say, 50!
It is, in fact, a matter of what you like the most. To eat a lot or to be admired by men. (Or by women.) If you care more about your appetite and cakes, then stop trying tons of diets, they won’t work. Ever! If you care more about how men are looking at you when you enter a restaurant, or (unfortunately) have a disease that requires you to be slim, then there are methods to win the fat!
What is the Honey Diet?
Recently, the U.K. author Mike McInnes wrote a book and released a new trend: “The Honey Diet”. Immediately, other authors contradicted him and said he was wrong.
Personally, I noticed that it is called the “Honey diet” because it replaces all sugar with honey. Otherwise, it seems like a usual diet, which prohibits a lot of things.
AND, makes me drink a glass of hot water with 2 tablespoons of honey? How much lemon should I put there to not get instantly sick from all the sweetness? I have to say I don’t like that. But if you are interested in this diet, my advice is to first read the book and judge for yourself.
How about a diet with simple honey?
A diet like that should not interfere with anyone’s eating habits. Only add honey. Well, it is hard to believe that honey is such a panacea! No one can stay on a couch, watch TV all day, eat snacks and drink coke and at the end of the day, take 1 tablespoon of honey, and voila! A slim, good-looking person!
Honey contains fructose in most parts, and it is said that an overconsumption of fructose in today’s American diet, especially in high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has led to overweight problems. FACT: The average American consumes four to six times the amount of simple sugars daily recommended for good health.
But of course, honey is not just fructose, not just sugar. It is made up primarily of carbohydrates, but honey contains other substances that allow it to be metabolized, stored, and utilized in the body quite differently than other carbohydrates. (Since the believe it can solve anything!)
Any studies to prove it helps lose weight?
Yes. On rats. They were fed with pure fructose and had a hypertriglyceridemic effect. Other rats were fed with honey, and the effect did not take place. Scientific data: the rats fed with honey had higher plasma α-tocopherol levels, higher α-tocopherol/triacylglycerol ratios, lower plasma, NOx concentrations and a lower susceptibility of the heart to lipid peroxidation.
Translated in English, this means good news. If we substitute fructose (and sucrose, and HFCS) with honey in our diet, we’ll get a potential nutritional benefit.
Not very convincing, right? Another study on rats, showed that a 10% honey solution given to rats, decreased their weights. Because it decreased the frequency of eating. They didn’t get hungry that fast. And, over a period of several months, they had up to 22% less weight gain. And this is good news!
The studies made on humans with hypertriglyceridemia showed that pure fructose increased TG (triglyceridemia), while honey decreased TG.
Other studies on humans were contradictory. Rape honey led to a rise in blood fructose concentration, lower than pure fructose or glucose can do. With acacia honey this concentration was the same, for both controls. Seems like rape honey has some unidentified substances that inhibit the metabolism of fructose.
Studies’ conclusion:
Simple honey has NO or A WEAK effect on obesity, compared to pure fructose.
Honey and cinnamon. And lemon.
CINNAMON reduces bad cholesterol and lowers blood sugar levels. Half a teaspoon of powdered cinnamon a day is recommended to help regulate blood sugar levels. That’s proved. There are some people who say it boosts insulin activity by approximately 20 fold. Wow! It makes you believe that combined with honey, it will do wonders.
LEMON will help alkalize the body. Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps fight hunger cravings. It has also been shown that people who maintain a more alkaline diet lose weight faster. Lemon juice and honey can help the gallbladder cleanse. And the list can go on and on: hydrates the lymph system, clears skin, aids digestion, boosts your immune system, etc.
How should we take it?
Daily in the morning, 1/2 hour before breakfast on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink 1 tsp honey and 1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon powder in one cup of hot water. (Mix the cinnamon with boiling water, wait half an hour till it cools down (almost at your body temperature), add the honey, stir well and then drink it.)
There are people saying that they have lost about 3 kg (6-7 lbs) in 1 week. Drunk on a daily basis does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body, even though the person may eat a high-calorie diet.
During the day, we can have a cup of warm water with lemon. Or even alternate them: one morning honey and cinnamon, one morning honey and lemon. Or, even better, add lemon over that glass of honey and cinnamon. Combine them as you choose and feel comfortable. Just don’t forget to take them.
And make sure you take Ceylon Cinnamon and Raw organic honey. (by raw it is important to know that the honey was not heated during the filtration process.) And also, don’t forget to thank the water, the honey and the cinnamon for helping your body and spirit. 🙂
! Here is a solution involving honey and some other 2 great products, horseradish and lemon. It is said to work better on our “losing weight” story than honey alone. Please read it.
So, what ‘s the truth?
1. SOLELY HONEY will not help you lose weight. Scientific studies have proved this.
2. COMBINATIONS WITH HONEY AND CINNAMON, AND/OR LEMON have showed great results in people. Yet, there haven’t been any scientific studies to confirm this. 80% of our medical doctors would say “no”. There are only a few people who said it worked. And if it worked for them, it can work for us. It’s a peaceful diet; it doesn’t ask us to give up beer, snacks, steaks or ice cream. Cinnamon and honey will help us diminish these cravings over time, due to their qualities. Try it, if you don’t believe me! 🙂
3. “THE HONEY DIET” it’s tricky. It’s not only about honey. Changes must be made in your entire lifestyle.
4. Don’t forget to find balance and priorities. While living, we must enjoy living!
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References:
“fat men drinking beer” picture credit: I.E. Bear II via flick.com,
“mouse” picture credit Grant Cochrane, via freedigitalphotos.net;
“sad fat man looking at his belly” picture credit olly2, via bigstockphoto.com www.womenshealthmag.com;
Ron Fessenden, “The New Honey Revolution”, May 2014
Stefan Bogdanov, Bee Product Science, February 2014
