What Is Buckwheat Honey?
You may have heard people talking about buckwheat honey and wondered exactly what it is and how it might differ from regular honey.
This type of honey has created such a buzz that even Dr. Oz got into the action on his show when he talked about his flu prevention checklist and what supplements can help boost immunity and prevent or shorten the lifespan of the flu, sore throat, and the common cold.
With Dr. Oz was a special guest, Dr. Tasneem Bhatia from the Atlanta Center for Holistic and Integrative Medicine. One of the natural remedy solutions she recommended is taking 1 to 2 teaspoons of buckwheat honey every day.
That recommendation caused the sales of buckwheat honey to soar at the Mohawk Valley Trading Company where they specialize in raw honey.
“Buckwheat honey should be a part of every winter medicine cabinet,” said Dr. Bhatia “and here is why—it’s high in antioxidants and it really has a lot of immune boosting properties. Ideally the buckwheat honey has a darker, richer flavor, it’s a little bit like molasses…this particular honey can keep you healthy throughout the winter.”
Dr. Bhatia’s recommendation is to take 1-2 teaspoons of buckwheat honey per day. You can either eat it straight from a spoon or mix it in a warm drink such as your favorite tea.
We went straight to the good folk at Mohawk Valley Trading Company to find out more about Buckwheat honey and how they make and harvest this great resource. Here’s what they had to say about it:
What Is Buckwheat Honey?
Buckwheat honey has a deep, dark brown color, pungent, strong molasses like earthy flavor and is high in mineral content and antioxidant compounds. Like Manuka honey it’s well known for its health benefits, in fact recent studies have shown it to be more effective than over-the-counter cough syrup for treating a cough.
Where does Buckwheat Honey Come From?
Our buckwheat honey is made right here in the USA. From about July through October, we place hives in buckwheat fields on both slopes and the surrounding area of the Central Mohawk Valley and Finger Lakes region of New York. We put the hives amongst the buckwheat and the bees make us the buckwheat honey.
No pesticides or herbicides are used in our apiaries and although we do not call it organic, our buckwheat honey is about as organic as you can get from The United States, as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer explains for you here.
What Are The Benefits Of Buckwheat Honey?
As we’ve mentioned, buckwheat honey has been shown to be more effective at treating a cough than over-the-counter cough syrups.
However, if you are planning to buy buckwheat honey for its health-benefits, it must be raw buckwheat honey because it has not been heated or filtered.
The benefits of raw buckwheat honey are due to the fact that heating honey (which happens in the pasteurization process) destroys all of the pollen, enzymes, propolis, vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, minerals, and aromatics – so a lot of the “good stuff” gets stripped away. Honey that has been heated and filtered is known as commercial, liquid or regular honey.
Although here at the Mohawk Valley Trading Company we specialize in raw buckwheat honey, we also offer it as liquid honey.
If raw honey is so good for you, and heating it kills all the good stuff, why heat it?
The reason is that the majority of Americans prefer the convenience of being able to spoon, pour or squeeze honey from a bottle onto their cereal or into their tea.
In addition, commercial honey is clearer, easier to measure or spread than raw honey and many people think that honey that has crystallized is spoiled so they discard it. Honey that has been heated and filtered will not crystallize as fast as raw honey. Therefore we also offer regular buckwheat honey for those who prefer it.
Our raw buckwheat honey is unheated, unpasteurized, unfiltered, unprocessed, unblended and in the same condition as it was in the hive. So you get all of the good stuff!
So, What Is Buckwheat?
Despite its name, buckwheat is neither a grass nor a wheat, but is actually a fruit related to rhubarb. Buckwheat was one of the first crops cultivated in the United States so it has a very long history here. Dutch colonists brought buckwheat to North America and planted it along the Hudson River.
Buckwheat was sometimes called beech wheat, because its seeds look like small beech nuts. Buckwheat seeds are also sometimes used for making gluten free flour.
Buckwheat was an important crop in the U.S. until the demand declined in the 1960’s. Today, it is primarily grown in Northern states such as New York, which is where our buckwheat apiaries are located. Buckwheat blossoms are an excellent source of nectar and blooming can continue well into the autumn.
Buckwheat hulls are used as filling for pillows and zafu. The hulls are durable and do not conduct or reflect heat as much as synthetic fillers and they are an excellent substitute to feathers for people with allergies.
However, buckwheat hull pillows made with uncleaned and unprocessed hulls contain high levels of allergens that may trigger an asthma attack in those who are at risk.
Where Can I Buy Buckwheat Honey From?
It’s easy to buy your own jar of this magical honey, raw buckwheat honey from the Mohawk Valley Trading Company is available on amazon right here.
So, if you’re looking for something to help keep your immune system boosted and healthy throughout the cold and flu season, try some Raw Buckwheat Honey today.
