and 7 Delicious Vegan Honey Alternatives
Honey has been a part of human lives for centuries. It’s deliciously sweet, we love it on our morning toast with (vegan) butter. We add it to our cup of warm tea during cold months. We even put it on our face as a moisturizing mask to achieve that glowing skin.
Honey is so common to use that we take it for granted. When we want some, we simply go to the store and buy ourselves a jar. People even say how it’s meant for us, because everything in nature is here to serve us.
But there is another side to honey that we should be aware of. How is it made today? Are bees happy that we take it? Is it really something that we can’t live without? And can we have it in a vegan version? Keep reading to find out
Let's first see what honey is. This sweet, sticky substance that resembles liquid gold indeed holds great value. It is in fact bees specific food that contains all the nutrients they need, especially during the winter. And they make it for themselves, not for us.
It is vital for their health and survival. A colony needs around 60 pounds of honey during the cold months. And the work they do is no joke. They visit millions of flowers, collecting and using flower nectar to make their essential food. A single worker bee will produce a little more than one teaspoon of honey during her lifetime. They don't make ‘extra’, as many bee farmers want us to think. And let there be no mistake or confusion. When farmers take their honey, they do it for profit, and not to help the bees (it’s another false claim they make).
Profiting from honey requires the manipulation and exploitation of the bees’ desire to live and protect their hive. Like other factory-farmed animals, honeybees are victims of unnatural living conditions, genetic manipulation, and stressful transportation.
Bees are self-aware, they are sentient, intelligent and conscious,” says scientist Stephen Buchmann. “They feel joy and sorrow, they love to play, they solve problems and can think. They also have subjective experiences.”
Many beekeepers, even the small, local and family ones, apply inhumane practices to ensure personal safety and maximize production. It’s not unusual for them to cut off the queen bee’s wings so that she can’t leave the colony or to artificially inseminate her on a bee-sized version of the factory farm “rape rack”. Yes, they are small. But they have their own rights and self respect. And seriously, raping bees? Can we sink any lower?
Farmers also often order live queen bees that are sent by mail. Yes, you heard that right. This is understandably stressful for bees and can cause them serious neurological issues.
Taking honey from beehives harms and kills bees. As with all stealing, someone gets hurt in the process, and ironically, it’s usually the victims. Naimly, during the process of collecting honey, farmers smoke and gas the bees in order to steal their carefully acquired food. This stresses the bees, makes them disoriented and can even kill them. Farmers are often careless and end up tearing off the bees’ sensitive legs and wings.
Beekeepers and large companies replace bees’ specific food with a sugar substitute that isn't healthy for them. This is making bees sick and susceptible to various infections and parasites. Bee colonies are already in danger, and their numbers are diminishing rapidly, which has devastating effects on our ecosystem.
It is wrong to steal, I think we can all agree on that. it’s even a part of the 10 commandments. And stealing from someone who is so small that can fit on our pinky nail, makes it even more disgraceful. It makes us bullies, and we can do better than that. Besides, we don’t need honey for survival, they do.
And like we already said, they don't make extra, as bee farmers want you to think. These bees work their little, mighty, fluffy buts off to make it and to feed their babies and everyone in their hive.
There are many sweeteners that are made without killing bees, like rice syrup, molasses, sucanat, barley malt, maple syrup, organic cane sugar, date syrup, and dried fruit or fruit concentrates.
By the words of Dr Aris Latham, “honey is not food for human consumption. Honey is breast milk for their babies. It's actually a regurgitation. It's bee vomit.They vomit pre-digestive food for their babies, not for us. it's maybe sweet and sugary, but it's not for us. It spikes our blood sugar.”
It is true that honey contains many valuable antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. But in order to have benefits from it, we would have to eat large amounts. By taking a recommended amount of about 1 tablespoon of honey a day, you would get less than 1% of recommended daily allowance (RDA) per serving.
Maybe now you think you could simply eat more of it. But while that would give you more nutrients, let’s not forget that honey is still a sugar. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends no more than 3 tablespoons of sugar per day for men and no more than 2 tablespoons of sugar per day for women.
Perhaps you want to add a bit of local honey to your daily cup of tea for better immunity. But studies on that show contradictory results, and more research is needed. One study on taking honey for allergies found that a person would have to eat a very high dose of 1 gram of honey per kilo of body weight and combine it with allergy medications in order to have a positive effect.
As already mentioned, there are other honey alternatives that are rich in nutrients and have beneficial effects on our health, while being just as sticky and delicious. We will mention just a few.
Molasses is a healthy, thick and nutritious syrup obtained by refining sugarcane juice.There are different varieties, like white, dark and black molasses. Its name comes from the Latin word mellaceum, which literally means “honey-like”, and has been used since the 17th century as a sweetener and for its medicinal properties. It has also been very popular for cooking in the Caribbean and parts of the US.
It is naturally rich in antioxidants, iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and vitamin B6. The darker the color, the higher the nutritional value. For example, only 1 tablespoon of black molasses provides 8% of the daily value for calcium and 10% of magnesium, as well as an impressive 20% of the daily value of iron. The downside of this low glycemic syrup is that it has a bitter and strong taste, so it is mostly used in savory dishes and as a natural mineral supplement.
White molasses, on the other hand, is still rich in vitamins and minerals, but it has a mild flavor, which is why it’s the most popular type of molasses sold in the U.S. It has a warm and sweet, caramel-like smell, and thick and sticky texture, which very much resembles honey.
It can be used on pancakes, in coffee and tea, or for making pies, gingersnaps, pecan sticky buns and chewy, sweet oatmeal cookies. It adheres well to dishes, which makes it a great choice for glazes, sauces, and marinades. When buying molasses, look for a brand that makes pure and tasty syrup from high-quality sugarcane juice.
Pure maple syrup has a sweet, distinctive flavor that is often compared to caramel, toffee, and vanilla. Besides being delicious, maple syrup has impressive nutrition. It contains zinc and manganese in fairly high amounts, in addition to magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamin B2. The medical journal Pharmaceutical Biology revealed that pure maple syrup contains up to 24 different antioxidants that increase our immunity and prevent the effects of free radicals.
Compared to honey, maple syrup has lower-calorie count, and is helpful in preventing certain diseases like arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and heart disease.
Use it just as you would honey - spread it over toast and vegan butter for that childhood flavor experience, add it to your morning oatmeal, drizzle it over pancakes, make delicious cookies or add it to your warm cup of tea.
Whenever possible, select darker, grade B maple syrup as it contains more beneficial antioxidants than the lighter one.
Date syrup is a natural sweetener made from one ingredient - dates. This thick, dark goodness has a complex flavor and natural sweetness that’s less sugary than honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup.
It is very rich in minerals - it contains more potassium, iron, calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium than previously mentioned sweeteners. It also has one of the lowest glycemic indexes among them.
So drizzle it on your ice cream guilt free, add it to your brownies, protein balls, cookies, muffins and smoothies, or make an asian style tofu with it.
You can make date syrup at home for a fraction of the price. Here is a simple recipe that anyone can do!
Agave nectar is a vegan sweetener made from agave plant sap, and has become very popular in replacing conventional sweeteners such as sugar and honey. It is
neutral in taste, and almost twice as sweet as sugar, but with low calories, which makes it ideal for having it in your kitchen.
It has a low glycemic index and a different carbohydrate profile with a higher phytochemical potential compared to other sweeteners. This means that you can use it to sweeten your meals even if you are following a healthy diet. And you need less of it then you would traditional sugar, which means less calories at the end of the day.
Agave syrup is rich in antioxidants, it contains terpenoids, saponins, inulin, and glycosides. Saponins aid in the binding of cholesterol, lowering overall cholesterol levels, and controlling the growth of cancerous tumors. This plant syrup also contains healthy microorganisms and fiber, which is beneficial for our digestion and overall health.
Because of its neutral taste, you can add it to your sweet foods like energy bars, icecreams, chia seed pudding, almond cookies or your morning coffee and tea.
Stevia has been used as a sweetener and as a herbal medicine by the indigenous peoples of Central and South America for thousands of years. It is quite incredible, and here is why. It is very sweet, 30 -100 times sweeter than regular sugar, but it doesn’t affect the blood glucose levels. Because of that it is safe to use even by those suffering from Diabetes 2 and dealing with obesity.
It's not only here to sweeten our lives, but to help us stay healthy. Namely, stevia was traditionally used as a tonic for heart problems, high blood pressure, and digestive issues. It regulates blood sugar and nourishes the liver. It even prevents cavities because it doesn’t contain fermentable carbohydrates. How cool is that! Today many scientific studies confirm these positive effects.
You can use it as a powder or as an extract. When you're buying it in the store, make sure it's the real, natural one, and not the synthetic version that is often sold on the market.
Dandelion honey is a delicious, sweet, golden syrup made from dandelion flowers, sugar and water. Many say it’s the perfect vegan alternative that looks and tastes the same, but here, you're the bee that is converting flowers into honey!
This sweet syrup has a long history of use in Europe and Asia, as well as in Scandinavian countries. It is simple to make, and you can easily create delicious variations, depending on what sugar you use, or by adding citrus and other edible flower infusions.
Dandelion honey has minerals like potassium, calcium, iron and Vitamin A and C. It helps support the liver and digestive system, and is recommended in problems with tiredness, irritability, headaches, and skin conditions.
You can use it on toast, with muffins, pancakes, and biscuits. Add it to your morning porridge, vegan beverages and teas.
Vegan Honey - last but not least, let's mention great vegan honey syrups that are available today in many different flavors and from a variety of brands.
Gaffney Foods Nectar has done the work of bees and extracted the essence of flowers, creating a nectar that feels and tastes like honey. It is perfect in everything, from your cup of tea to your favorite dessert. Just like with bee honey, here you can enjoy the taste of Redo Clover made with red clover blossoms and rose hips, or Elder Flower made with elderflower blossoms and elderberries.
The Blenditup Bee-Free Vegan Honey is made from apple nectar, raw cane sugar, and lemon juice. It is gluten-free,100% organic and delicious. It is also free from any artificial flavours, colours, or preservatives. Plus, it’s even safe for babies! You can spread it on your toast, use it in baking, or add it to your morning oatmeal.
Mellody Plant-Based Honey is made by infusing naturally derived sugars with botanical extracts inspired by the bees' favourite flowers and flavours. It is made with love for people, pollinators, and our planet. You can choose between Mellody Golden Clover which has a bright and balanced floral taste, and Mellody Spicy Habanero which is sweet, spicy and bold. They are both sticky, drippy and thick, just like honey, and are ideal as an everyday staple for cooking, baking, and adding to your smoothie bowls and morning teas
ChocZero Keto Honey is a sugar-free, gluten-free, thick, and delicious honey replacement that comes in a delightful bear jar. It is rich in prebiotic fiber and has an authentic honey flavour using monk fruit to sweeten the deal.
As you can see, there are many delicious sweeteners out there to make our lives more enjoyable, and a great thing is, no one has to be harmed for it. Let us know if you tried any of them and which one was perfect for you!
