I’m a pediatrician, so I find that it’s easier to fall back on the argument for most supplements that I wouldn’t recommend giving a child anything that hasn’t been thoroughly tested. I still try to understand where the science at least is with most supplements so that parents don’t feel like they are being listened to. Pubmed has a good database https://nccih.nih.gov/research/camonpubmed for Complimentary Medicine. If I really get into deep discussions about supplements, etc, my argument usually goes like:
Your herbal supplement or treatment may have physiologic benefits for your child. However, any supplement that has actual benefits is because it contains a chemical (albeit a naturally occurring chemical) that is pharmacologically active on the body. Any chemical that is pharmacologically active has a potential for toxicity. Because supplements are not regulated by the FDA, the dosage and purity of these chemicals can vary widely, which can be especially dangerous for children (see the belladonna/atropine fiasco with Hylands Teething Tablets). Best case scenerio is that it the active chemicals are at a low enough dose that they don’t cause damage (but are unlikely to cause benefit, too). Worst case scenerio is that they could be at toxic levels. Pharmaceutical companies are primarily in it for the money and I get why people are drawn to natural cures, but kids shouldn’t take medicines where the dosages of active ingredients are variable.
Excellent!!! Keep fighting the good fight. That is some sense you are talking, right there. Thanks.
Thanks! I appreciate it 
If you didn’t eat so much honey you might better survive hearing such things.
Or, even if you live in a fairly populous area, the beekeepers who make the trek to your local farmer’s market will be selling you the real stuff (usually along with some heavenly smelling blocks of beeswax for all your crafting needs!).
I had to look that up. Trencherman, I mean.
Might slip that one in the next CV I prepare, just to see what happens.
That’s a new one for me, cheers @frauenfelder
The thing I learned from beekeeping class is that you can tell real honey from fake largely using the inversion test. Turn the jar of honey upside down. The bubble should rise to the top of the bottle and take as long as (or longer than) a SLOW three-count, for a typical 22-oz honey jar. The bubble should seem lazy, basically.
There are other, more invasive tests, as well, such as testing the pH or seeing if it foams when you dilute it and shake it.
I don’t have science for you - but I do know that alcoholics (the ones I’ve known anyway) generally don’t like sweets - I was told it was because the body was already being saturated by sugar from the alcoholic beverages…I never delved deeply into it, but then, again anecdotally, when the same former alcoholics became clean, they went on a sugar binge w/ cakes and ice creams and 10 sugars in their coffee and ladoos…so it makes sense to me that eating a ton of sugar may neutralize some of the craving…making the whole process easier.
I admit to being lazy enough not to look up the details, but my understanding is that alcohol metabolism and fructose metabolism share common workflows. Maybe that has something to do with it?
Luckily, honey regenerates the dead parts. Anyone who has had fresh honey right off the comb will recognize this to true.
Won’t somebody think of the bees!!!
I applaud you for properly understanding how sugars work, and passing that on to your patients. There are certainly many physicians that do so and I shouldn’t have generalized to imply otherwise. More than likely it is a problem of the media, which is where too much misinformation is spread to the public.
this seems inefficient - why not add an equal amount of warm water (that is called honey syrup), and then down it all very quickly? Seems this way you will miss some of the honey sticking to the sides as well as waste time having it flow into your mouth and then having to swallow such a viscous solution.
@FGD135, @codinghorror, it makes more sense when you realize that for hundreds of years English-speaking people commonly ate from trenchers - none but the highest elites used individual plates for meals.
I had to look up that one as well.
Looks like it’s another of those French imports: 1275-1325; Middle English trenchour something to cut with or on < Anglo-French; Middle French trencheoir.
According to the online dictionary I usually use, that’s also what Australians call the silly hat you get with a doctorate.
No strong evidence exists, as far as i know, for a correlation between sugar consumption and diabetes if not in connection with obesity.
Which is what you readily become consuming three pounds of honey at a time.
So.
Diabetic coma here we come!
Incidentally, 3 lbs of honey is about the right amount to make 1 gallon of nicely strong mead (10-15% ABV depending on how sweet you want it).
I’ve been trying for over a year to get some gesho from the local shop that carries it. They’re always out, but expecting a shipment in a month or so, when I ask.
