Hello again Naturally Obsessed Readers!

It’s that time again! This week’s Food for Thought is Honey! I’m sure you can tell just from my screen name "HeartfeltHoney" how much I love this food. I use it in everything, especially my morning tea. Though I've found through research that honey can be used for everything from hair conditioner to healing burns!

When researching why a particular food is good for hair I always look at what it is comprised of. According to Bees-Online, Honey contains sugars and minerals such as, glucose, fructose, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium chlorine, sulphur, iron and phosphate. Honey also contains vitamins B1, B2, C, B6, B5 and B3 which change according to the qualities of the nectar and pollen. Small quantities of copper, iodine, and zinc can also be found in Honey. All of the above stated sugars, vitamins, and minerals combine to make Honey extremely moisturizing to scalp and hair as well as a natural humectant.

Humectants hold to water molecules and help moisturize hair. According to an article I found at Beauty Brains, humectants smooth the hair shaft so that it feels soft to the touch and looks shiny. So how can we use honey effectively on our hair?

I found endless recipes on how to make Honey hair masks and apply them to hair. However, I choose to include here the recipes that I feel would be curly girl friendly. Jacob Mabille at Healthy Guidance suggests combining two tablespoons of honey with olive oil and shampoo. I liked this recipe because honey is very sticky and does not make hair easy to separate or de-tangle. However, when applied as stated above, our hair receives the moisturizing benefits of honey and olive oil while also preventing stickiness with shampoo. I would also suggest diluting the shampoo if you choose to try this method.

One other quick and easy recipe  I thought would be good for naturally curly hair is mixing1 tsp. of honey with 1 tsp. of olive oil and 2 tsp. of water to make a paste. Massage this mixture onto the areas where you may be experiencing hair loss or thinning (ehow.com). I chose recipes that include water because I know first hand how tightly coiled hair textures can be non-receptive to mixtures that lack moisture. The paste will not spread as evenly over coiled hair if it does not include oil or water.

I was surprised to find out that aside from hair care, Honey can be used to treat burns, insect bites, and mild acne pimples. According to Bees-Online, Honey is a natural antiseptic that prevents infection by killing bacteria around the wound and allowing tissue to grow back. Honey can also be used to sooth sore throat by drinking a teaspoon of honey mixed with lemon juice every few hours. The antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties in honey sooth raw tissues.

For more Honey hair mask and skin care recipes check out IndiaParenting.com. They have a ton of honey based recipes that I think you will enjoy. If you have any questions or comments feel free to post them below as well. I look forward to returning next week to uncover the moisturizing properties of yogurt. As always, I wish you all a peaceful and productive week. See you in the next post!

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