When can my baby eat honey?
 
Honey is a wholesome and natural food but it is better not to give honey to your baby until she is at least 12 months old. Honey can contain spores of a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. This may cause infant botulism. This is a rare but potentially fatal illness.

These spores are usually harmless to adults and children over 1 year old. And the reason for this is that the intestine keeps the bacteria from growing. Intestines of an adult has enough acid to fight against these spores. And only at 1 year old, the intestines of babies will be develop for this.
Experts emphasize that honey is not fed to babies under one years old. Some mothers try to mix it with water or add it to the formula of babies. Don't ever take this risk. Wait until your baby is at least 12 months old before giving him honey. But definitely consult your doctor before feeding your baby honey.
 
Can babies under one year old eat foods with honey?
 
Honey is on the list of foods not to be given to babies before they are 12 month old. There may be honey in some desserts or pastry. Don't give these foods to your babies.
 
In the past when babies started crying, mothers used to dip pacifiers in honey and give it to their babies. Always but always say "no" when someone suggests this to you.
 
Can I cook honey?
 
Another important thing about honey is cooking it. Don't cook with honey and don't expose it to high temperatures. For example don't put honey in any dessert that you will cook. Spores inside honey are difficult to kill by heating.
 
What is the nutritional value of honey?
 
Honey is mainly levulose and dextrose.  These two types of sugar mixes directly with the blood without the need for digestion. It immediately provides energy need.
 
Honey has protein, vitamin and mineral without cholesterol. It has antibacterial property. We can explain it like this, the sugar in honey reacts with water molecules. This means loss of water required by bacteria causing infection. Bacteria going without water die.
 
Besides this enzymes in the honey produces hydrogen peroxide. And these produce free radicals and these free radicals kill bacteria.
 
Unless honey is exposed an extraordinary effect, it won't get spoilt. Honey contains potassium, chlorine, sulphur, calcium, sodium, phosphor, magnesium, silica, iron, manganese and copper. Especially potassium, calcium and phosphor is very high.
 
Is the darker or lighter color honey more nutritious?
 
Color and sugar balance of honey comes from the nectar collected. Volatin oil in flowers gives honey its odor. To collect 1/2 kg raw nectar, 900 thousand bees have to work for one day. Honey is a very valuable food. Only some part of this nectar collected can be turned into honey.
 
Darker color honey is more nutritious than the lighter ones. In fact vitamin and mineral value of the honey varies according to the flowers the honey collected the nectars of. But of course as there are thousands of flower types there are thousands of different types of honey. Ask your doctor which honey would be more healthful for your baby, flower honey, honeydew honey or some special honeys that are made only in specific periods...
 
What is the difference between honey and honey with glucose?
 
Authentic honey is a food that bees collect off on their own in its purest form and produce with the enzyme found in their stomach. Honey with glucose is made by placing glucose-sugar syrup inside the beehive and the bees suck this syrup and produce honey from it. How lazy! So of course there is quite a change in the price of authentic honey and honey with additives and their nutritional value.

Producing honey requires heart and trust. A honey producer who feeds the bees with sugar makes twice the money than the ones who make sure bees produce honey with natural methods. So you should be careful when buying honey. However we can give you some tips to help you distinguish the authentic honey from the others:
 
Authentic honey has a special and light odor. This odor spreads to the room when you open up the storage container.
- Authentic honey is thicker than honey with glucose.
- Authentic honey is not too sweet.
- When you heat up a spoon of honey authentic honey will flow easily and heat up late. Honey with glucose will immediately burn.

Our Orange juice with honey and banana  recipe is a delicious beverage for your kids.