Sweet clover honey is useful how to use it. Activation of the immune system

Honey has been a favorite delicacy since ancient times. There are many varieties, but sweet clover honey is considered king due to its unique healing effect on the body. It is popular in many parts of the world as a substitute for sweets and as an organic medicine.

Even bees consider the sweet clover flower their favorite because of the pleasant smell, color and large amount of nectar released from the flowers. It is worth getting to know this variety of honey better in order to know its beneficial properties and contraindications to its use.

A little about sweet clover

The plant from which sweet clover honey is obtained is called differently: in common people it is called burkun, shamrock (due to the shape of the leaves), sweet clover or sweet clover. The plant itself looks like a small herbaceous bush with white or yellow flowers. This is a biennial plant with a straight, up to a meter, branched stem.

Basically, there are two types of sweet clover: yellow (medicinal) and white. The former has yellow flowers, which are slightly larger than those of the white sweet clover. The plant has long spread not only in Europe, but also in America and Asia. You can meet him in the forests, steppes, on the slopes, next to the roads. It is believed that white sweet clover improves the condition of the soil, so farms especially appreciate it. In the USA, sweet clover is not specially planted, because they think that it takes up a lot of space, and in Canada, on the contrary, you can find entire fields of shamrock.

Sweet clover blooms from June to early autumn, so it is a stable nectar supplier for bees. Many other plants and trees quickly fade, not providing honey all summer. It is very good to establish apiaries close to sweet clover fields, as this will ensure a plentiful honey harvest, especially in dry or rainy years, because the plants of the main collection die.

yellow sweet clover

Properties of honey

Sweet clover honey can bring many benefits to the human body. Its medicinal properties have been known for a long time. The color can be different: from white to amber, sometimes with a slight greenish tint. It depends on the soil and on the type of plant from which the bees collected nectar. Both the aroma and the taste of yellow sweet clover honey are distinguished by their special tenderness, without excessive cloying, unlike linden honey. And honey from white sweet clover has a sharper taste and gives off vanilla, but a little bitter.

Honey from white sweet clover slowly crystallizes, forming a creamy mass of milky color. Conversely, yellow shamrock honey settles quickly due to its high glucose content.

Due to the unique range of medicinal substances sweet clover honey is considered a reference and in many countries it occupies a leading position in the honey market. In the USA and Canada, for example, it occupies 60-70% of the honey market, which proves its great popularity.

This sweet treat contains many vitamins: B1, B2, E, C, PP. The composition also includes minerals: zinc, bromine, calcium, iron and folic acid. Sweet clover honey contains tannins that prevent blood from clotting, and choline, which has a beneficial effect on metabolism and stress resistance. Calorie content, like that of white sugar: 314 kcal per 100 g, which is why sweet clover honey can be a good help in the fight against excess weight.

The myth of honey crystallization

Medicinal use

The beneficial properties of sweet clover honey lie in the treatment of the following ailments:

• Lack of milk in lactating women. Therefore, some doctors recommend that women during pregnancy and lactation eat 1 des.l. sweet clover honey every day before meals to saturate the body and milk with useful substances.
• Metabolic diseases associated with the kidneys, bladder. The plant itself got its name due to the healing effect on the "bottom" of a person - the abdominal cavity. Therefore, honey from it has this property.
• Stress and diseases on a nervous basis. This honey has a wonderful property of calming the nervous system, especially if it is obtained from sweet clover. To increase the benefits of sweet clover honey, it is recommended to drink it with chamomile tea. You can mix 1 tbsp. nectar with warm water and drink on an empty stomach in the morning.
• Diseases of the respiratory tract. Sweet clover honey helps to expectorate excess mucus from the lungs. A good recipe is sweet clover nectar with radish. A “mink” is cut out in the root crop and a spoonful of honey is placed. During the night, honey is mixed with radish juice and you get a natural cure for coughs and sore throats.
• Increased gas formation, atony, bowel disease. It treats the gastric mucosa in violation of its integrity (ulcers, gastritis) and nourishes, preserving the microflora.
• Purulent boils, ulcers, acne, rheumatism. It is applied in the form of compresses. It has antibacterial properties and effectively fights inflammation, so it can be used both internally and externally.

Honey also normalizes blood flow, heals blood vessels and strengthens the heart. The constant use of sweet clover helps to keep the pressure normal and forget about pills for heart pain. Helps with low blood pressure. It is recommended to chew sweet clover honey in combs.

Another useful property of this substance is that it activates the immune system, helps during influenza and SARS epidemics. About 25 g per day is enough, but for children the dose should be reduced due to the risk of developing allergies. There is no relationship between the amount of honey consumed and the therapeutic effect, so do not overdo it. The nectar of white sweet clover is especially effective.

Honey has general strengthening properties, a complex of vitamins and minerals has a beneficial effect on individual organs, gradually improving well-being in general. Sweet clover honey is also used in medical complexes as an ingredient that enhances the properties of drugs.

Sweet clover honey, useful properties

Cosmetic use

How is sweet clover honey useful in matters of beauty? Shamrock nectar contains substances that improve the appearance of the skin. It has not only medicinal properties, it is also used for preventive purposes. For example, it is added to hand ointment, diluted with warm water, and washed with hair and face. Women who regularly carry out such procedures note improvements. The skin becomes softer, acquires a uniform color, age spots disappear, mimic and age wrinkles disappear. Hair becomes stronger and less brittle.

The most common face mask recipe is very simple: you need to mix 1 tsp. sweet clover honey and 200 g grated cucumber. The skin is both softened and disinfected - and all this without chemicals and the cost of expensive cosmetics.

Sweet clover honey is also used for acne, pimples and blemishes. In this case, a cake made of flour and honey acts as a mask. It is applied to the right place, disinfecting the surface of the skin and nourishing the cells of the epidermis, normalizes the sebaceous glands.

Another useful cosmetic property is the narrowing of blood vessels, so sweet clover nectar compresses are applied to places of varicose veins.

Honey facial massage

Benefits and contraindications

Despite the undeniable benefits and beneficial properties of sweet clover honey, it is necessary to follow the consumption norms, because an excess of the product can cause an allergic reaction. It is worth consuming the product a little every day, and with regard to children, you need to be even more careful: start with small portions and monitor the occurrence of pathological reactions. If any appear, then the use of honey should be stopped.

Any honey is contraindicated for people with a weak pancreas, suffering from obesity and diabetes. The reason is the high content of sucrose. If you are allergic to bee products and legumes, you will also have to give up sweet clover honey (clover is a plant of the legume family).

Although honey is a healthy product, it should not be consumed during a diet due to its high calorie content. Buckwheat honey, by the way, overtakes sweet clover in this indicator. And if you really want to, then you can eat no more than 1 tsp. in a day. The energy value is the same as that of sugar, so doctors recommend replacing sugar with honey - the calorie content is the same, but there are more benefits.

You will need to consult a doctor for the following diseases:

• Hemorrhagic diathesis.
• Internal bleeding.
• Increased blood clotting.

In the absence of contraindications, the product can be consumed regularly, obtaining useful properties from sweet clover honey, which cannot be said about decoctions from the trefoil itself - the plant contains toxic substances that, if used for a long time, can poison the human body.

The benefits of buckwheat honey

Real honey or fake?

Sweet clover honey is quite rare in Russia, it is difficult to find it on store shelves, while buckwheat and linden are favorite honey plants. You have to go to honey fairs or order online. This increases the risk of fraud.

An ordinary buyer does not always know what real honey is, therefore rapeseed honey is often passed off as sweet clover honey, having previously mixed dyes and flavors there. As a result, the buyer receives a tasty, but useless mass, which can be hazardous to health.

It is best to find out the contacts of trusted beekeepers in advance in order to stock up on natural sweet clover honey, the beneficial properties of which will delight all family members. Before purchasing a jar of honey, you need to ask the seller for a certificate. You need to carefully study honey: its appearance, smell. The fake smells like eau de toilette: bright, hits right on the nose, and natural sweet clover nectar envelops the nose, shimmering with vanilla shades. You can rub a little honey between your fingers: natural honey will be absorbed immediately, unlike a fake.

The appearance of a product can say a lot. Candied honey resembles ghee or lard in color. Grains should almost not be noticeable, natural honey looks like a homogeneous thick consistency. There are no traces of foam and fermentation in this product.

If a jar of honey has already been purchased, then a series of experiments can be carried out to determine the authenticity of the product:

• Check for starch and flour. A drop of the product should be smeared on a sheet of paper and run over it with a cotton swab dipped in iodine. If starch and flour are present, the trace of iodine will turn blue.
• Checking for molasses. For this sample, you need to take honey, water and medical alcohol in a ratio of 1:3:4. Mix the ingredients, shake well until a milky mixture is obtained. The sediment will help to distinguish between a natural product and a fake: if it is sticky and transparent, then this is good, but if it is cloudy, then this is a sign of deception.
• Checking for sugar. Mix water with honey and heat, then drip silver nitrate. A cloudy area around the drop will indicate that sugar has been added to the product.
• Checking for chalk. Honey and water are mixed in a ratio of 1: 2, then drip into the mixture with vinegar. Boiling the mixture will help to recognize a fake, as carbon dioxide will be released.
• Bread check. You need to take a piece of stale bread and put it in a jar of honey or spread honey on bread with a thin layer. A natural product will soften a stale crust, will not drip from the edges, and will lie in an even layer.

All varieties of honey are good in their own way: each has its own taste and color, consistency and useful substances that make up the composition, benefits and harms, and medicinal properties. Therefore, anyone can find honey according to their preferences.

Among the common varieties, this honey is one of the most valuable due to its unique effect on the body and wonderful delicate taste. The plant itself has a positive effect on the soil, it is loved by bees for its aroma and satiety with nectar. However, before use, you need to familiarize yourself with the contraindications and dosage, so as not to harm yourself.

How to choose real honey - the easiest way

09.11.2016 1

Honey does not need to be introduced, but not everyone can know about the beneficial properties of sweet clover honey and its contraindications.

We don’t hear the name “sweet clover” very often, and many are unaware of its existence. But in vain! The properties of sweet clover honey are what puts it in one of the first places in terms of therapeutic effect among other varieties. It is considered a reference and is really rare in general sale.

What is donnik?

This plant has been known since ancient times as a medicinal plant. Native Russian expanses are dotted with it everywhere - it grows in fields, roadsides, in ditches, on the edges of the forest. Agronomists know the property of white sweet clover to expel weeds, so it is planted with cultivated plants, for example, wheat. Belongs to the legume family.

He was called sweet clover in Rus' for his ability to treat diseases of the lower part of the body - the “bottom”. They were soldered for women's diseases, intestinal ailments, legs, kidneys, liver and stomach were treated. Its Latin name - melilotus - means "honey lotus" in translation. Both species are honey plants - white sweet clover and yellow medicinal. White flowers are smaller, yellow flowers are larger.

With bees, honey receives the medicinal properties of the plant, due to its chemical composition. Sweet clover contains:

• vitamins C and E;
• organic acids that support normal metabolism, have an antimicrobial effect;
• essential oils, which, after being processed by bees, acquire an immunomodulatory and tonic property;
• coumarin - it is to him that sweet clover honey owes a healing effect on the joints;
• vitamin B4, which makes the product an excellent tool for the treatment of nervous disorders.

One of the most important qualities of the plant is its ability to increase lactation. On livestock farms in the Soviet Union, it was officially included in the feed as a “milk and fattening” component. And lactating women have long used the herb to improve milk supply.

Sweet clover is one of the best honey plants. It is valued for its long flowering. All summer long he gives nectar to the bees when the linden, buckwheat, clover and alfalfa have already blossomed. Thanks to the coumarin contained in the flowers, they exude an aroma that attracts bees.

How to distinguish from a fake?

For a non-specialist, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish varieties of honey from each other, as well as real honey from a fake. In order not to make a mistake in choosing, you need to know the characteristics of the variety - how it looks, smells, what should be the consistency. Honey from white sweet clover is practically no different from what is obtained from yellow. Fresh liquid honey has a light yellow color with a slightly greenish tinge. Candied, it acquires a white color and the consistency of thick sour cream. It does not contain crystals.

How to distinguish real sweet clover honey from a fake? First, by smell. It has a pronounced vanilla note. If the honey that the seller offers as sweet clover smells strongly of vanilla, it is likely that it is just flavored honey with sugar syrup. The taste of the two plant species may differ. In general, it is sweet, but not cloying, has a slight bitterness.

Another criterion for determining naturalness and purity is the uniformity of the mass. If sweet clover honey exfoliates, it means that it was mixed with other varieties or drowned. And one more thing - the price for it should not be too low. Today, the average cost is about 500 rubles per kilogram.

Beneficial features

Each type of honey has its own characteristics. And this is not about taste or color, but about how each of them is useful to the human body. Linden honey is good for treating colds and viral respiratory infections, chestnut honey is good for heart disease, buckwheat honey is good for atherosclerosis and anemia.

The benefits of sweet clover honey lie in its wide spectrum of action:

• it anesthetizes and relieves inflammation:;
• helps with coughing;
• soothes
• relieves spasms;
• stimulates lactation;
• improves immunity;
• slows down the heartbeat;
• improves skin condition.

Compound

In addition to what the bees take from the plant, they ferment honey, which makes it a doubly valuable product. The main part in the composition belongs to carbohydrates (per 100 g) - 87.5 g. These are glucose and fructose, which are needed by the body as an energy source. And for brain cells, this is generally the only food. There are no fats, but protein is contained in the amount of 0.8 g. Energy value - 309 kcal. The calorie content is not that high for such a sweet product.

The beneficial properties of sweet clover honey make it an effective assistant for many ailments. It has a healing effect in diseases:

• heart and blood vessels;
• thrombophlebitis;
• migraine and dizziness;
• organs of the genitourinary system;
• varicose veins and hemorrhoids;
• nervous disorders;
• stomach ulcer and duodenal ulcer;
• rheumatism, gout and myositis;
• hypothyroidism;
• purulent ulcers, wounds and abscesses.

How to be treated?

Methods of treatment with sweet clover honey have their own characteristics. Just like a medical drug, it requires compliance with the dosage. For example, to increase immunity during illness, an adult daily dose will be 25 g, a child - 10 g. Even if you drink more of it, the benefits of this will not increase.

1. If you dilute it with water, keep in mind that it does not like boiling water, as some of the beneficial properties are lost.
2. For the treatment of cough, the action of nectar will enhance the juice of black radish. To obtain such a mixture, it is necessary to cut a recess in a black radish so that a teaspoon of honey enters there. After a while, the radish will give juice, which you need to drink as an expectorant. But making a medicinal drink from milk and sweet clover honey is not recommended, this combination will provide bloating and pain.
3. For the treatment of ulcers and non-healing wounds, honey compresses are used, for which the dough is kneaded - honey with flour, which is applied to the sore spot.
4. For tuberculosis, the recommended dose for adults is 50 g.
5. To alleviate the condition and relieve pain with hemorrhoids, enemas with honey diluted in water will help. For half a glass of water you need to take 20 g of honey. To prevent exacerbations, it is good to take honey baths. They will also help with rheumatism, the treatment of neurosis, insomnia.
6. What is real sweet clover honey is well understood by women who used it during breastfeeding. Drinking one tablespoon after meals daily provides a good supply of milk. At the same time, it is better to take nectar in combination with herbal teas to improve lactation in a heated form. It is important to monitor how the child reacts to honey. At the slightest sign of allergy, it should be discontinued.
7. A glass of water with a tablespoon of honey in the morning normalizes sleep and helps to resist stress.
8. This is one of the few natural and medicinal remedies that can help with hypotension, but you need to eat it not in its pure form, but in honeycombs.
9. Veins enlarged as a result of varicose veins can be treated with a mixture of sweet clover honey with crushed garlic or onion juice. 350 g of garlic should be mixed with 250 g of honey and infused for 7 days. Taken three times a day an hour before meals will bring relief to sore veins and improve blood flow.
10. This is an excellent antispasmodic - it will help with menstrual pain, constipation and flatulence, relieve stomach cramps.

Sweet clover honey is also useful for endocrine diseases, including hypothyroidism. As an addition to replacement therapy, you can eat 1-2 tablespoons of honey daily.

Video: colorful honey clover.

Cosmetic action

To improve the condition of the skin, facial masks are made based on sweet clover honey. A mask of grated fresh cucumber and honey has a beneficial effect on the skin, moisturizes and nourishes it.

In apitherapy (treatment with bee products), sweet clover honey is far from the last place. It is not just a fragrant and very nutritious sweet, but also a medicinal product that is beneficial to health. Valuable microelements, the most important vitamins, as well as glucose, fructose, minerals and organic acids, lipids and hormones, phytoncides and amino acids - all this is contained in the product that the bees actively collect from the honey plant. Once in the body, honey has a quick tonic effect and activates the brain due to the large amount of monosaccharides. Let's talk about this again and consider how sweet clover honey stands out among other varieties, what are its useful properties and contraindications, as well as what honey looks like and distinguish it from a fake. On the pages "Popular about health" useful information for lovers of honey.

What sweet clover honey looks like and how not to confuse it with other varieties?

On sale you can find two types of sweet clover honey. If industrious bees have collected nectar from a plant with white flowers, then the finished product will have a light, slightly amber hue. If the flowers were yellow, then the color of honey will be appropriate. And according to the children, the appearance of this delicacy resembles condensed milk.

White honey has a light vanilla aroma, it has a delicate, soft and pleasant taste. Yellow honey has a slight bitterness, as well as a very specific aftertaste. But just yellow sweet clover honey is one of the most beneficial for health.

To distinguish real sweet clover honey on the market from a fake, you must definitely taste it, and not just evaluate its appearance. The sweet made from rapeseed, which is often passed off as real honey, has a very sugary taste, without any honey or vanilla flavor. It is better to purchase beekeeping products from beekeepers or familiar sellers so as not to pay for something that has nothing to do with bees.

Useful properties of sweet clover honey

This beekeeping product has a therapeutic and prophylactic effect on the body. This is due to the rich composition and valuable contained components. Sweet clover honey acts as a remedy with the following properties:

Anti-inflammatory;
- soothing;
- tonic;
- immunostimulating;
- anticoagulant;
- diuretic;
- expectorant;
- anesthetic;
- disinfectant;
- absorbable;
- bactericidal;
- enzymatic.

The use of the product is indicated for disorders in the functioning of the nervous system, it has a calming effect during stress, fatigue, after intense physical exertion, neurasthenia. It is recommended to eat honey in its pure form or add it to tea for migraines and insomnia.

Having a vasodilating effect, sweet clover honey helps with hypertension.
From bronchitis, tracheitis, cough of other origin, it is useful to use honey. It promotes the removal of phlegm and mucus, quickly eliminates the inflammatory process.

In case of digestive disorders, sweet clover honey is a way to improve the process and activate the work of the stomach, as well as relieve spasms, eliminate flatulence, and gently solve problems with stools (constipation).

Due to its composition, the bee product from sweet clover relieves cardiac edema, as well as the inflammatory process in the urogenital organs.

Acting as an anticoagulant, nectar improves blood composition, preventing increased clotting and the development of dangerous thrombosis. That is why this variety is recommended for the prevention and treatment of thrombophlebitis and varicose veins.

As for external use, it is recommended for boils, purulent abscesses and inflammations on the skin, wounds, cuts. Lotions from sweet clover honey are an effective bactericidal agent recommended for rheumatism, arthrosis, gout, inflammation in the muscles.

Healers advise using this sweetness in the formation of a benign tumor, as it has absorbable and anti-inflammatory properties. The properties of sweet clover honey allow men to take it with adenoma and for its prevention, and women will benefit from metabolic disorders and inflammation of the urogenital organs.

Does sweet clover honey have contraindications for use?

Despite such a list of useful properties, the product may be contraindicated for some people. For example, with a predisposition to bleeding (external and in internal organs), with diseases of the kidneys and liver, it is not recommended to include sweet clover honey in the diet.

The product should be used with caution in diabetes mellitus and people at risk. In addition, do not abuse sweetness with allergies or abandon it altogether. Children can be offered not earlier than from the age of 5 in small doses, gradually increasing the portion of the useful product in the absence of allergic reactions or individual intolerance.

Few people know, but beekeepers recognize sweet clover honey as the reference. This sweetness, bestowed by bees, is not only characterized by an unusual aroma and taste, but is also of great value to the body. Today you will learn how to distinguish sweet clover honey from sweet counterparts collected from other plants, as well as why it is so useful, and whether it can happen that it will be harmful. Read on - only the most interesting things about sweet clover honey are ahead!

Sweet clover honey: how to distinguish?

Sweet clover honey, as the name implies, bees collect from sweet clover. The sweetness is characterized by a delicate aroma, in which hints of vanilla are traced, and a delicate taste. Such a honey has either a light amber or white color. In free sale, sweet clover honey is very rare, it is mainly sold by beekeepers, you can buy it at the exhibition.

Some unscrupulous sellers sell rapeseed sweets under the guise of sweet clover. Outwardly, they are difficult to distinguish, but the products are completely different in smell and taste, the latter is characterized by a more sugary taste and there is not even a hint of vanilla in it. Well, we dare to assume that rapeseed is several times inferior to sweet clover in terms of its beneficial properties.

Beneficial features

Sweet clover is used for the following diseases and pathological conditions:

As you can see, the range of applications of sweet clover is quite wide. This plant is a storehouse of minerals and nutrients, which then fall into the nectar collected by bees. Therefore, sweet clover honey has some chemical properties of this plant, and, therefore, a healing effect. In particular, scientists found in sweet clover: coumarin, melilotol, cymarin, tannins and fat-like substances, essential oil, protein, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, tocopherol, carotene, and various sugars.

When is sweet clover honey useful?

Many beekeepers (and me too) consider sweet clover honey special and even unique to some extent. It is the most useful of all varieties, as it has an immunomodulatory and antiseptic effect. In the article I will note the most basic areas of therapeutic use of this product, as well as methods of use.

The use of sweet clover honey to enhance lactation

One of the beneficial properties of sweet clover honey is increased lactation. To achieve the effect, it is necessary to take one dessert spoon of the product every time after a meal. This will ensure a stable supply of milk needed by the baby. It is possible to use lactation fees with honey for such purposes.

You can also use healthy sweet clover honey during pregnancy so that the body receives an additional portion of vitamins and minerals.

Activation of the immune system

The healing properties of sweet clover honey also apply to human immunity. It's possible
use during epidemics of SARS and influenza. Taking white sweet clover honey, you will receive a powerful stimulation of immune forces, which will help you quickly cope with ailments and illnesses.

To achieve the effect, it will be enough to eat 25 grams of useful sweet clover honey per day. For children, it is desirable to reduce the norm to 10-15 grams, since the product is allergenic.

It should be noted that the immunomodulatory effect of the use of sweet clover honey does not depend on the amount eaten. Therefore, do not overeat in an effort to get more benefits.

Treatment of cough and other bronchial diseases

There are many expectorants against coughs, but they should not be limited to them. After all, natural remedies for this sore will act more gently and will not cause harm. Also, you can always use both remedies for recovery.

For the treatment of such diseases, both pure sweet clover honey and its mixture with radish juice are used. The second way is more efficient. To prepare the medicine, you will need to hollow out a recess in the black radish. In it you put a tablespoon of honey and leave to infuse. The resulting juice is taken in a dessert spoon before meals.

Skin improvement

Probably every woman knows that without proper support, even the most beautiful skin will lose its appearance. My wife knows this too, so she regularly makes face masks to which she adds sweet clover honey. She also mixes it with water and rubs it in the morning.

The easiest way to make a face mask is to grate a fresh cucumber and mix it with honey. The advantages of such a measure are obvious, since the skin is simultaneously disinfected and softened without becoming dry.

Antibacterial effect

Sweet clover honey also has strong bactericidal properties. It can be used to treat wounds and boils. To do this, as a rule, a cake of honey and flour is kneaded, and then applied to a sore spot. It is useful to eat sweet clover honey for those who suffer from ulcers and gastritis. They will heal faster.

You can also apply honey compresses to places affected by varicose veins. Veins and other vessels will narrow, which will reduce pain symptoms.

For stress and insomnia

To cope with stressful situations and insomnia, drink tea with healing sweet clover honey. It can also be stirred in warm clean water and consumed in the morning. Approximately one tablespoon of the product is enough for a glass. This will strengthen the body and have a beneficial effect on the nervous system.

Under reduced pressure

Sweet clover honey will help to cope with hypotension. This is a real salvation for those who suffer from low blood pressure. There are no cures for this condition, so the help of traditional medicine is the way out. It is especially useful to use fresh honey in combs for these purposes.

Contraindications

In addition to useful properties, sweet clover also has some contraindications. It refers to poisonous plants, which in large quantities have a negative effect on the muscles of the intestine, and contributes to the oppression of the central nervous system.

The use of sweet clover for a long time can provoke the appearance of dizziness, headaches, nausea, sometimes even hemorrhages in the muscles, under the skin or in organs, liver damage may occur, paralysis of the central nervous system.

It is strictly forbidden to use sweet clover during pregnancy, internal bleeding, liver disease and poor blood clotting. If you do not follow the rules for using products prepared on the basis of sweet clover and adhere to the proportions, then you can not only not get the desired effect, but also greatly harm your own health.

How to distinguish sweet clover honey from a fake

Fresh honey tastes good, but it is distinguished by a pleasant sweetness, not cloying. IN
depending on the type of plant, the tongue will feel either tart or slightly vanilla aftertaste. The aroma corresponds to the smell - subtle and gradually revealing. A high-quality undiluted product only slowly crystallizes after a few months, starting to form small sugar crystals.

Storage Features

Beekeepers advise storing honey in a warm, cool place, although this may speed up the crystallization process in the product. The ideal place is a cellar or a refrigerator, but any other corner remote from the central heating will do.

Sweet clover is a medicinal herb widely used in agriculture. The ingredients that make up the plant provide invaluable benefits to the body as a whole. The fragrant aroma attracts bees, and therefore useful and tasty sweet clover honey is obtained from the plant.

Peculiarities

Honey is produced from the flowers of white and yellow sweet clover. The plant is valued by beekeepers for its excellent honey production. It is possible to get up to 300 kg of honey from a hectare of the yellow variety, up to 500 kg from the white variety. The characteristics of the flower have properties that make it possible to produce a delicious fragrant honey delicacy from it, even the name of this plant from the Greek melilotus is translated as "honey flower". In addition, the culture has several more names, including burkun, sweet clover, bottom grass.

Valuable nectar is preserved in the flower even in rainy weather due to its special structure. By itself, grass grows everywhere, but sometimes beekeepers plant it purposefully to obtain honey products.

The advantages of the plant are worth noting its long flowering period and the ability to recover after mowing. Flowering can last two months, in total it is possible to observe up to four waves of nectar release per season. Collection continues from early spring to late autumn. Planting is done in November in order to get fresh nectar already in the first month of spring.

Compound

The product is produced both in Europe and in apiaries in Canada and the USA. At the same time, the composition of honey from different manufacturers can vary significantly. In general, the natural sweet clover product has the following composition:

• water - up to 18%;
• carbohydrates - up to 80%;
• minerals - no more than 1%;
• water-soluble vitamins, proteins, enzymes, amino acids and dextrins - up to 3%.

Carbohydrates found in the product include fructose and glucose, there is a small amount of sucrose and maltose, melicitose. In addition, this variety contains potassium, iodine, magnesium, phosphorus, cobalt, manganese, antioxidants, among vitamins it is worth noting vitamins of group B, E, K, PP. A special group should include such useful substances as coumarins, melilotins, lactones, tannins, tannins and resinous substances, there is a small amount of essential oils.

Benefit

Thanks to the above elements, the presented product has the following therapeutic effect on the body.

• Increased lactation. Taking one small spoonful of sweet clover after meals, a young mother can be sure that her milk will always be enough for a newborn. It is also possible to use during the period of bearing a child, the product provides the body weakened by pregnancy with additional vitamins and minerals.
• Immunity boost. All types of honey have beneficial properties that improve the immune system, but the sweet clover variety is characterized by the greatest strength over weak immunity. Especially in this regard, a delicacy of white sweet clover is appreciated.

• Expectorant effect. Sweet clover honey is an effective cough remedy, but it cannot be said that in the event of this ailment, honey alone can be dispensed with. The product is able to have an effect only in combination with other means.
• Effect on the skin. There are many recipes for masks, which include sweet clover honey. The advantage of a natural remedy used for cosmetic problems is the simultaneous effect of cleansing, disinfecting and softening the skin. Such a mask is able to prevent and eliminate the dryness of the epidermis.
• Antibacterial action. Excellent as a compress for the treatment of wounds and abrasions. Also, the bactericidal effect is manifested in the case of the use of sweet clover honey by patients suffering from ulcers and gastritis. The product speeds up the healing process. In addition, it can be used as the basis of a compress for the treatment of varicose veins, it constricts blood vessels and reduces pain symptoms.
• Fight stress and insomnia. In these situations, it is recommended to prepare tea with sweet clover honey. Such a drink has a positive effect on the human nervous system.
• Increases pressure. It is a good remedy for hypotension. There are no medicines that can cope with this ailment, and therefore sweet clover honey is an excellent solution during this condition. The most effective will be its fresh intake in combs.

Also among the diseases that sweet clover can overcome are migraine, heart disease, increased flatulence, constipation, gout, thyroid problems, and increased nervous excitability.

Harm

Despite the great benefits that the presented products can bring to the body, there are cases when its use is contraindicated.

• Pregnancy. During the period of bearing a child, honey is useful only in small quantities.
• Allergy. This should be remembered not only by people who are allergic to honey, but also by patients with allergies to legumes - the genus of herbaceous sweet clover belongs to the legume family.
• Diabetes.
• Age up to 2 years.
• Kidney diseases.
• Bleeding.
• Reduced blood clotting.

How to use?

Sweet clover honey is taken both externally and internally. When using the product inside, you need to follow some rules, otherwise problems can arise even in healthy people in the absence of contraindications:

• it is better to avoid combining the product with milk, as this compound can provoke flatulence or other stomach problems;
• you should not take honey along with drugs that have a diuretic effect, this is due to the fact that this product itself has these properties;
• it is not recommended to use honey as part of folk recipes before leaving the house, because if the body reacts negatively to an allergenic product on the street, this will turn into problems, because a person will even have nowhere to lie down.

Each case requires a separate scheme for taking sweet clover honey. In order to avoid undesirable consequences, they should be carefully studied.

• If honey is taken to activate the immune system, then it is recommended to consume 25 g of the product per day. For children, the serving should not exceed 15 g, as honey can cause an allergic reaction. It should also be remembered that natural medicine will bring results regardless of the amount eaten. Therefore, you do not need to "choke", trying to strengthen the immune system.
• For the treatment of cough, a mixture of sweet clover honey and radish juice will be an effective remedy. To do this, put a spoonful of honey into a hole hollowed out in a black radish and insist. The mixture is consumed before meals in a teaspoon.
• To prepare a compress in the case of wound treatment, it is necessary to mix honey and flour and apply the resulting cake to the affected area of ​​​​the skin.
• To calm your nerves during stressful situations, you can dissolve a tablespoon of honey in a glass of warm water and drink the drink in the morning.
• With hemorrhoids, it is required to dilute 20 g of honey in half a glass of water and perform an enema with the resulting solution. As a preventive measure for exacerbation, taking honey baths will help.
• To treat varicose veins, you can mix honey with garlic and onion juice. The mixture is infused for a week, after which it is taken one hour before meals three times a day.
• Patients with hypothyroidism and other disorders of the endocrine system are advised to consume 1-2 large spoons of pure sweet clover dessert every day.

Use in cosmetology

Sweet clover honey is widely used for cosmetic purposes. On its basis, you can prepare masks and scrubs for skin care, nails, hair. Problems that this product can solve:

• signs of early skin aging;
• the appearance of age spots;
• acne, inflammation of the sebaceous glands;
• cellulite and stretch marks;
• brittle hair;
• dandruff;
• fragile and weak nail plate.

Honey gives a restorative effect, due to which it is an indispensable component in the composition of cosmetics. It can not only eliminate the problem, but also be used as a preventive measure. The product disinfects, nourishes, moisturizes the skin and hair. Hand baths based on sweet clover honey are also effective - this method improves the structure of nails, rejuvenates the skin of the hands, helps to eliminate microcracks and irritation.

Use several recipes for preparing cosmetics from sweet clover honey.

Hair Mask:

• mix 3 tablespoons of honey, two yolks and a few drops of aloe juice;
• apply the resulting mixture all over the head, cover with a special mesh;
• After half an hour, you should massage your head and wash off the mask.

To enhance the effect, you can rinse the mask with healing herbal decoctions.

The tool is recommended for use within a month. The mask, which contains honey, heals the hair along the entire length, gives a well-groomed appearance. You should know that the sweet clover product helps to lighten the hairline.

Scrub:

• we combine melted honey, salt, cosmetic clay and a few drops of vegetable oil;
• steam the skin over a steam bath;
• lightly apply the scrub on the skin of the face;
• rinse gently.

This recipe improves the overall condition of the epidermis. Recommended to use before bed. It can be stored for some time in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

Honey and milk bath for hands:

• pour 300 ml of milk into a saucepan;
• warm up to room temperature;
• mix warmed milk with 2 tablespoons of sweet clover honey, 250 ml of vegetable oil and 20 drops of grape seed oil;
• immerse hands in the resulting mixture for 15-20 minutes;
• dry hands thoroughly with a towel;
• at night we put on thick cotton gloves.

This recipe perfectly helps to moisturize your hands and enrich your skin with vitamins in winter and spring. The dermis of the hands quickly recovers after regular baths.

Some women who know about the magical properties of sweet clover honey prefer to make baths for the whole body according to this recipe.

How to distinguish a fake?

It is possible to distinguish natural sweet clover honey from other varieties or imitations according to several criteria.

• This product has a delicate aroma. At first, the smell resembles the fragrance of freshly cut grass, and then acquires hints of vanilla. If honey immediately spread a sharp vanilla smell, then the buyer is faced with a simple flavored sugar substance that is not worth the money for which they sell a real sweet clover delicacy.
• You can recognize the product by its color. Honey from white and yellow sweet clover makes almost no difference. It has a light yellow color with a greenish tinge. After sugaring, the product takes on a white color.
• The next aspect is mass uniformity. The consistency of honey should look like sour cream. If the mass is heterogeneous and exfoliates, then the seller is probably trying to sell a mixture of two varieties or a ghee product.
• You can distinguish real honey from sweet clover and taste. This is a sweet delicacy, but not cloying, a slight spicy bitterness is felt in the taste.
• The average cost of the product today is 500 rubles per kilogram. If a merchant offers this product at a low price, then this is a good reason to be wary.

• If you want to enjoy liquid and viscous honey, then you need to eat the purchased product for a maximum of two months. Sweet clover honey has a tendency to accelerate sugaring. This is not a negative criterion, just some of its features. All the benefits are preserved in the candied product.
• In order for all useful substances to be preserved as long as possible, honey must be stored at a temperature of +4 to +18 degrees. All benefits will disappear if stored at temperatures above +40 and below -35 degrees.

You can store treats anywhere.

In order not to run into unscrupulous merchants and not to buy a fake product at the price of a real one, It is worth listening to a few more tips.

• It is better to take products from the beekeeper, and not in the store, since when packing in jars, the honey mass is usually subjected to heat treatment.
• Before buying, read the certificate for honey products.
• Dip a tablespoon in honey and try to turn it over. If honey is wound on it, then the buyer has a natural product. If the mass rolls quickly, then it is better to refuse the purchase.
• Immerse the spoon in the honey substance and take it out. Real honey will flow from a spoon in the form of a hill or ribbon.
• An unusual aftertaste, a feeling of excessive bitterness, acidity, and the aroma of caramel speak of a fake.

Thus, sweet clover honey is a healthy and fragrant delicacy that can have a beneficial effect on all body systems.

The main thing is to learn how to choose a natural product and use it for its intended purpose in moderate doses.

For the beneficial properties of sweet clover honey, see the following video.