Most nutritionists regard honey as a more favorable sweet than the refined sugars. Sometimes the price of honey is high. There is one way to cut the price, - move to the country and keep your own bees.
The almost universal craving for sweets, especially in children, best proves that there is a true need for them in the human system. The two invert sugars that honey contains (75 % in most grades) have many advantages as food substances. Ordinary sugar, also starch, must undergo digestion, a process that changes them into simple sugars the same as, or similar to, those found in honey. The sugar of honey, therefore, may be considered as predigested; hence the use of honey takes a load of work off the stomach and pancreas.
Dr. Edinburg says: "In heard weakness I have found honey to have a marked effect in reviving the heart action and keeping patients alive. I had further evidence of this in a recent case of pneumonia. The patient consumed two pounds of honey during illness; there was an ealrly crisis, with no subsequent rise of temperature and an exceptionally good pulse. I suggest that honey should be given for general physical repair, and above all, for heart failure."
Dr. Beck declares that during his nearly half century of medical practice he has met many suprisingly energetic folk of advanced age with remarkably healthy complexions. In taking their histories, the report of a liberal daily dose of honey was often a part of the story.
Many nervous states can be attributed to excessive sugar consumption. Our swift modern life requires rapid metabolism to create and to replace the much-needed physical and mental energy. Simple sugar can supply this need much better than can the ordinary refined products, which are not only hard to digest, but tend to cause such ills as gastric ulcer, renal diseases, and diabetes. Dr. Beck states that sugar is just as habit-forming as narcotics, and its use, misuse, and abuse, a modern nutritional disaster. Viewing the many channels through which we find refined sugar getting into alimentary canal, such as candy, ice cream, soft drinks, syrups, pastry, jams and jellies, besides the sugar bowl, it is not hard to believe.
