At Rude Health we like our sugars wild, not refined - just as it was when it left the hive. We choose honey as it's a natural source of sweetness, just like fruit. We also use it sparingly as it takes 5 million visits by bees to flowers to make a single kilogram of honey - which makes you wonder... where do they get their energy?
Who better to find out more about honey from than Rachel Argyle. She spends most of her time sourcing the finest organic honey from around the world. She doesn't settle for anything less than the highest quality, responsibly sourced honey and seriously knows her stuff when it comes to all things bee-related. We've been buzzing to ask her a few questions...
How will honey keep us in Rude Health?
There’s more to honey than meets the eye. Not only does it satisfy your sweet tooth, it’s also got incredible healing qualities that have been used to improve our health for thousands of years.
How can anything that tasty be so good for you?
Unlike refined sugar, which is an empty food that contains no nutritional benefit whatsoever, honey is packed with natural goodness - including a range of vitamins and minerals such as iron, calcium, phosphate, sodium chlorine, potassium, magnesium.
Why is every honey so unique?
The taste and colour of honey all comes down to the flowers the bees forage on. For example, in Brazil some bees forage on eucalyptus, which produces a beautifully rich and dark honey similar to toffee. Manuka honey comes from bees that forage on tea tree plants (the word Manuka means Tea Tree), giving it a slightly antiseptic taste, and special medicinal properties.
So different varieties of flowers and bees produce different styles of honey. It’s like wine. Or cheese even.
Yes exactly.
What makes your honey so special?
GfM is the only honey producer that blends all of the brilliant health properties and benefits of the hive together. We offer a complete range that includes bee pollen, propolis and even the royal jelly.
Tell us more about this bee pollen…
Foraging bees bring pollen back to the hive, where they pass it on to other worker bees, which pack the pollen into cells with their heads. During the packing, the pollen is mixed with nectar, enzymes, fungi, and good bacterial organisms and becomes the primary source of protein for the hive.
Bee pollen is just incredible - I could go on about it for hours. It contains most amino acids, vitamins, and nutrients; to me it truly warrants the label superfood. Unlike honey, it’s not sweet, and it smells and tastes like a cross between honey and grass. I have two teaspoons every morning sprinkled over granola or porridge.
And what about the royal jelly and propolis?
Royal jelly is a thick, milky-white substance secreted by the glands of the worker honeybees. The Queen bees live exclusively on it and it’s powerful properties have fascinated people for thousands of years, going back to the time of the ancient Egyptians who used it to keep their skin glowing. It was even used to help preserve the mummies.
Propolis on the other hand, is a sticky resin collected by bees. Honeybees collect and metabolize the propolis, then line their hives with it to protect and disinfect the hive. It’s so effective, the interior of the beehive has been found to be safer than most operating rooms.
So where does your honey come from?
All over the world! Honey production keeps pace with the seasonal harvests (basically when everything is flowering). We have a beautiful clover honey from New Zealand and our Acacia comes from the forests of Eastern Europe. Sadly it’s increasingly difficult to source organic honey as colony collapse disorder takes hold in new territories.
What’s the difference between regular and organic honey?
Honey can only be certified organic if the hive is on organic land, the bees only feed from organic sources and there is a proven pesticide free radius around the hive. Bees generally don’t wander further than four miles, so it makes sure they don’t forage on any plants coated with pesticides.
We favour organic because it’s more natural. The EU is currently trialling a ban of neonicotinoid pesticides as they are suspected of causing widespread colony collapse disorder – if these chemicals are potent enough to kill pollinators, we rather not have traces of them in our honey.
How should we really be eating our honey?
I use it in practically everything! I love the richness it adds to cakes or the way it transforms a smoothie. But for really special organic honeys I don’t think you can beat slathering it on freshly toasted sourdough with a lick of slightly salted butter. Heaven!
Imagine – You’re at the breakfast table with friends. Organic honey in one hand, toast in the other. What do you tell them to guarantee an impression?
If you were stranded on a desert island, bee pollen is the only complete food source that would provide you with every nutrient and protein you need to stay alive. I love that fact, it shows just how resourceful bees are – they found the single most complete food source in the world.
Quit pollen our leg, Rachel. Now tell us, where do we get it!?
You can find all our honeys and pollen on our website www.gfmhoney.co.uk or from your local independent health food stores – if they don’t have it on the shelf, they can usually get it in for you.
Check out our Facebook every #tiptoptuesday this month for the chance to win GfM's Organic Wellbeing range.
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