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Special Diets/Raw unheated honey

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Expert: RawPalaeoGuy - 12/9/2008


Question
I've got 2 questions -
Is it really necessary not to heat honey over 93° F.?
I asked many good beekeepers in my coutry (Poland) and they said that the temperature inside the beehive is approximately 100° F.
The second question is about the insuline-like substance
Aajonus Vondperlanitz states - "Honey contains an insulin-like substance that converts 90% of the carbohydrate into enzymes that help digest, assimilate and utilize protein. That substances begins alteration at 93° F. and is completely destroyed by 99° F."
Is there any thorough explanation of this conversion?

Answer
Well, 92-93 degrees Fahrenheit is the usually cited temperature the bees keep the honey at within their hive, at all times. As regards raw foods in general, raw-foodists cite upper-limit figures of between 95 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Since enzymes in raw foods start getting rapidly damaged/destroyed after reaching the figure of 40 degrees Celsius/104 degrees Fahrenheit, it's a really bad idea to go above that temperature. This 93-figure seems to be only cited by Aajonus with regard to raw honey, though he doesn't seem to give a reason. My view is that 104 degrees Fahrenheit is fine, anything over that, and it's not a good idea.

Re Insulin-explanation:- Sorry, I don't know where to find anything to back this up. Sounds dodgy to me. Yes, raw honey contains lots of enzymes in it, but I doubt that carbohydrates can be simply converted to enzymes.

Re honey:- While raw honey , in small amounts, can be fine,  a number of RAFers have reported issues with eating too much raw honey. Raw honey may be better than refined sugars, heated honey etc., but it's still concentrated sugar of sorts, and should be strictly limited.

HTH,
RPG.

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RawPalaeoGuy

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I can answer most questions on Raw Animal and Vegetable Food Diets such as the Primal Diet, an organic, raw-meat-based diet and a number of similiar all-raw or partially raw Paleolithic diets, such as the Instincto, Weston-Price, Neanderthin, Paleo and Stefansson Diets. Can also offer advice on how to resist social pressure to eat cooked foods etc. For further info on Raw-Animal-Food diets, it's a good idea to browse through GoodSamaritan's website, http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/ , and also to join the following two forums and read their message-archives :- rawpaleoforum.com and http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawpaleodiet/

Experience

I have been 8 years on a 99%+ raw version of the Palaeolithic Diet and experienced numerous health benefits as a result, being fully recovered from my previous symptoms from my cooked-food days. My own individualised raw, paleolithic diet routine is mostly based on Aajonus Vonderplanitz's Primal Diet(ie 99% raw, usage of "high-meat",no processed supplements, using primarily naturally-reared, organic or wild sources of raw foods) but, for personal reasons, I have also been, to some extent, influenced by ideas from:- Instincto(ie:- taste/instinct,no raw dairy/no raw veggie juice), Weston-Price(eg: preferring grassfed meat to grainfed meat, incorporating a wide variety of raw organ-meats into my diet along with the usual muscle-meats, and Vilhjalmur Stefansson(high-fat diet, pretty high proportion of (raw) animal food), but also eating some raw carbohydrates such as raw organic/wild fruit/veg/honeycomb etc.). I'm also a firm believer in the feast-and-famine idea (ie Intermittent Fasting) as regards boosting one's energy levels, and giving my body a rest from constant digestion.

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Rawpaleodiet Community(Comprising rawpaleoforum , rawpaleodiet yahoo group and the rawpaleodiet.com website among others).

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Allexperts and Rawpaleodiet.com

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No nutritional qualification(I don't believe in standard(misguided) nutritionist doctrine, so I don't feel the need). I simply rely on mine and many others' long-term experiences of raw, palaeolithic diets and I've read most of the books that are vaguely relevant to a raw-meat diet.

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