It's been a long time since I was a third grade student but not nearly as long since I spent a few years in a third grade classroom. About a dozen years ago, I was a teacher's aide at Galena Elementary. It was a joy to spend time with the staff and the students in a school our family loved. The third graders had a number of lessons and field trips learning about the Pioneers and their lifestyle. During a lesson about food, they learned that Pioneers generally consumed no more than 1 TEASPOON of confectioner's sugar (refined sugar) per year! That sugar was imported from England and only used for the icing on a wedding cake. All other sugars they consumed were local sources that God provided in a pure, unprocessed form.....honey or pure maple syrup.
At that time, I couldn't imagine only consuming 1 teaspoon of confectioner's sugar per year. I was consuming plenty of confectioner's sugar and a steady dose of granulated sugar. Literally, I put two spoonfuls of granulated sugar on my bowl of oatmeal each morning. At the school, many of the children in the third grade classroom had consumed much more sugar than 1 teaspoon on their powdered donuts, pancakes, muffin, or "frosted" cereal for breakfast. It's not surprising they had a difficult time sitting in their chairs attempting to focus.
In the past 4 1/2 years, I've significantly changed what I cook and eat. In my first blog (My Answered Prayer), I mentioned that God has healed me of seasonal allergies. For years, my nose would run "like a faucet" especially in the springtime, my eyes were itchy and watery, and the back of my throat was full of drainage. At the time, the only relief I got was from a steady dose of Tylenol Allergy & Sinus. It never occurred to me that what I was eating (and providing for my family) might be the cause of my seasonal allergies. Wow......God has certainly opened my eyes and I am so very thankful.
My seasonal allergies were "healed" when I did (and continue to do) these three things:
1). cleaned up my diet including the removal of my daily dose of granulated sugar & many other sugars including high fructose corn syrup which is found in lots of packaged items. There are about 100 different names for sugar on food labels!
2). added more omega-3s both in the form of food & the Nordic Naturals supplement (see my blog "He fed them fish!" for more on that topic);
3). added LOCAL RAW honey to my diet.
My body is continuing to reap the benefits of doing all three of these things! Do I think just adding LOCAL RAW honey to my diet would have been enough to heal my seasonal allergies? Probably not! I believe the combination of all three of these things done together brought about the healing of my seasonal allergies. Although I consume local raw honey in my diet, honey is also a sugar and should be consumed in moderation.
God is the provider of great food and bees are absolutely critical to our food supply because they are the pollinators! Honey is one of the foods that is mentioned in the Bible in a number of places. In Genesis chapter 43, Jacob instructs his sons to put some of the best products of the land in their bags and take the products down to Egypt as a gift. Several of the best products listed are: a little honey, some spices and myrrh, some pistachio nuts and almonds". I would be delighted if anyone showed up at my home today bearing these same "best products" as a gift. God provided the best for them long ago and He provides the best for us today!
For my seasonal allergy relief, it's in the bees' honey that we get what we need. It's amazing how these tiny creatures God created are so important to our overall health. The key to using honey for seasonal allergy relief is to eat LOCAL RAW honey. LOCAL means eating honey that has been collected within a 50 mile radius of where you live. Along with collecting nectar, the worker bees are also picking up pollen from wildflowers or clover near where you live (within 50 miles). Most bees gather nectar within about two miles of their hive. They are also gathering up some of the "bothersome" pollen and taking it to their hive where they produce their tasty honey. Tiny traces of the "bothersome" pollen end up in their honey. To use LOCAL RAW honey for allergy relief, you must consume RAW honey. RAW means honey that has NOT been heated. When honey is heated, the pollen that is in the honey is destroyed. After heating the honey, it still tastes great but it no longer has medicinal allergy benefits.
You won't find LOCAL RAW honey in a traditional grocery store such as Kroger. You will probably find at least one very good source of LOCAL RAW honey at any Farmers Market near you. I typically go to the Farmers Market in New Albany, Indiana on Saturday mornings. The hours are 10:00-Noon during the winter months. Two other places to purchase local raw honey in my area are Seeds & Greens Natural Market & Deli or Rainbow Blossom. Wherever you buy local raw honey, be sure to ask questions to make sure the honey is truly local and raw. If they are selling LOCAL RAW honey, they will be delighted to tell you all about it!
Two of the ways I get a bit of local raw honey in my diet:
1). including it in salad dressings that I make,
2). including local raw honey in some of my protein balls.
In both of these uses, the local raw honey is a natural God-given sweetener and it builds my immunity to local bothersome pollen. I'm so thankful for the honey that God provides for my allergy relief. Who would have thought that such a tasty treat could be so beneficial to my health!
The recipe for Poppy Seed Dressing that I'm sharing is a "re-make" of a family favorite. In the late Spring, we would enjoy the dressing on a mix of Spring greens, some sliced strawberries, sliced mushrooms, and some toasted pecans. This is my son, David's favorite salad dressing. I hope you enjoy it as much as he does! The Energy Bites are another one of my protein balls that are prepared and frozen. Hopefully, they will be another quick snack to have on hand.
