james kilty wrote:
> Dear Bill and all
>
> I meant research on the mineral content of honey over the years.
There has been lots of research on minerals in honey and the ranges of
concentrations in different countries and locations. There is good info
in "The Hive and the Honey Bee". Every time I open that book I learn
something new. An example of different concentrations is Potassium which
can range from 110 to 4733 ppm. There is not one standard mineral
content for honey. I think it would be nearly impossible to show any
kind of trend with those kinds of ranges.
> It
> would be interesting to know if it varied greatly between crops.
It would vary between crops since different plants take in different
quantities of minerals. That is reflected in the color of the honey. The
darker the honey, the higher the mineral content. You run into a problem
with plants, since specific plants like specific soils. When you do
something to the soil, like adding lime, you are selecting for specific
plants that thrive in that soil type. Same goes for the mineral content.
There are some excellent books that allow you to identify the kind of
soil you have from the weeds that grow in it.
The bees also get their minerals from pollen.
One interesting fact is that bees will not take nectar from a plant that
has too high a mineral content in its nectar.
> There is a rise in many different states of unhealth, some where mineral
> deficiency is implicated. Many are immunity diseases.
>
Now we are getting into an area that has lots of opinion and nothing to
do with beekeeping.. There is lots about this on less than scientific
sites. There is no question that we need minerals, but the amounts are
not great and are found in a variety of foods. A poor diet has more to
do with eating any carrot no matter where it was grown instead of chips
(Cape Cod jalapeņo cheddar are to die for).
One interesting thing that has come up in research is MS responding to
intestinal worms. It seems that worms slow the progress of MS. Bee
stings also seems to slow the progress of the disease. Both kick up the
immune system. MS is rare in non-developed countries. Many people have
intestinal worms in those countries. It is hypothesized (guessed) that
their immune system has to fight the worms so is kept busy and does not
attack the body, which is what MS and many auto-immune diseases do. So
if you took the data- high MS in developed countries; highly developed
agriculture so mineral deficiencies (not really a given, but in for
sake of argument) caused by those methods means MS is caused by mineral
deficiencies caused by modern agriculture. But good research show
something else is at work.
> I was advised by an M.D. who had abandoned traditional
> medicine for approaches where diet was primary - I was advised to (clip) avoid the usual culprits: sugar, white flour and dairy
> products, red meat, tea and coffee.
Interesting since I have read in many articles on the benefits of tea
and coffee. Milk has been show to be a cancer fighter as well as good
for dieting. If sugar is bad, then honey is in that group. (Moderation
is the key here.) Food nutrition and disease seems to have a flavor of
the day.
I have a standard caveat for all who go down the route of natural cancer
cures. (No problem, James, with what you are doing since any high
fiber, fresh food diet is good. I grow my own, also.) Every single
cancer cure has survivors that will testify that their program works,
after all "Here I am and I survived". 100% of the testimonials come from
the successful use of the product. The problem is you cannot get a
testimonial from all the dead people who tried it and died.
We both survived cancer, but, for me, it was because it was cut out and
had not spread. I could easily ascribe it to Cape Cod jalapeņo cheddar
potato chips. I would be ridiculed for that but not if I said it was my
intake of green tea (or any other cancer fighting herb or food).
> I am intrigued by the observation that when animals are given the choice
> between an organic food plant and an "inorganic" one, they choose the
> former.
>
I would love to see that study, but my guess is it is anecdotal. Present
a horse with a carrot or Cape Cod jalapeņo cheddar potato chips and the
chips win every day.
Bill Truesdell (did I mention Cape Cod jalapeņo cheddar potato chips?)
Bath, Maine
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