Honey

verreauxi · December 1, 2024

(I've always loved this poem and it seems relevant here)

A Dream of Honey
Matthew Sweeney

I dreamed that bees were extinct,
had been for decades, and honey
was a fabled memory, except for jars
hoarded by ancient, wealthy gourmets.
Honey was still on the shelves, of course –
that’s what they’d named the sweet concoction
chemists had arrived at, and it sold well,
not just to those who knew no better,
and the day was coming fast when no one
alive would be able to taste the difference.

Then one Friday morning in Riga
a peasant woman arrived by horse and cart
at the old Zeppelin Hangars market
and set up her stall with jars of honey
flavoured by the various flowers. Around her
sellers of the new honey gawped, then sniffed
as she screwed the lids off, then glared
as her jars were snapped up in minutes,
and she climbed on her cart again
and let the horse take her away.

In the dream, e-mails sped everywhere
about this resurrection of honey,
and supermarket-suppliers scoured Latvia,
knocking on every door, sending helicopters
low over houses, looking for beehives,
but after a month they gave it up,
and the woman never appeared again
though rumours of her honey-selling
came over the border from Russia
and continued beyond the dream.

Cels · December 1, 2024

Need to start a "Show Us Your Honey" thread.

Charles Hawtrey · December 2, 2024

Joey66 said:
Manuka Honey is the best bet probably sourced on the net - my wife & son use it in today's etc I can't as a diabetic...

There is a brand of zero sugar ‘Honey substitute’ online by “Wholesome”. It is Monk Fruit sweetened so very low glycemic. Obvs not actual honey but does really well in drinks, yogurt etc… would defo recommend though not cheap.

Joey66 · December 2, 2024

Charles Hawtrey said:
There is a brand of zero sugar ‘Honey substitute’ online by “Wholesome”. It is Monk Fruit sweetened so very low glycemic. Obvs not actual honey but does really well in drinks, yogurt etc… would defo recommend though not cheap.

Anything with artificial sweetness in it I avoid chocolates etc as irs just a laxative.. unfortunately :confused:

Charles Hawtrey · December 2, 2024

Joey66 said:
Anything with artificial sweetness in it I avoid chocolates etc as irs just a laxative.. unfortunately

I would agree with anything that includes sucralose, allulose or anything else that is a chemically derived sweetener, however, after much research personally I find Monk Fruit sweetener - naturally dervived - to be excellent and not harmful for diabetics. As long as you look for the ones that are not combining Monk Fruit and Erythritol.
Of course everyone is different and any sweetener can cause the body to produce Insulin (Is diabetes really about sugar or about insulin?) but I have found Monk Fruit to be low glycemic and not produce spikes., using a CGM.
I am not sure how available it is in the UK but it is available in the US and online.

Joey66 · December 2, 2024

Charles Hawtrey said:
I would agree with anything that includes sucralose, allulose or anything else that is a chemically derived sweetener, however, after much research personally I find Monk Fruit sweetener - naturally dervived - to be excellent and not harmful for diabetics. As long as you look for the ones that are not combining Monk Fruit and Erythritol.
Of course everyone is different and any sweetener can cause the body to produce Insulin (Is diabetes really about sugar or about insulin?) but I have found Monk Fruit to be low glycemic and not produce spikes., using a CGM.
I am not sure how available it is in the UK but it is available in the US and online.

I got told by a consultant better to cheat a bit in small portions on special occasions etc than try sugar free items tried them at Birthday & Christmas presents they just give me the Tom tit's....
High carbs food turns to sugar ..awful desease caused in my case being put on a high dosage beta bloker BP tablet destroys your pancreas.... when I was in my late 40s ....

Charles Hawtrey · December 2, 2024

Joey66 said:
I got told by a consultant better to cheat a bit in small portions on special occasions etc than try sugar free items tried them at Birthday & Christmas presents they just give me the Tom tit's....
High carbon are also bad for a diabetic as they turn to sugar ..awful desease caused in my case being put on a high dosage beta bloke BP tablet destroys your pancreas.... when I was in my late 40s ....

A friend of mine was told by their Dr that it was better to drink regular Coke than Diet Coke - it’s the chemical sweeteners!! The stuff they put in the sugar free stuff is dreadful. Obvs if you’re a diabetic carbs are one of the enemies and if you read labels on the sugar free stuff they are still very Carb heavy. I’ve been a Diabetic for almost 30 years, caused by drinking too much beer and eating too many carbs. That said I have had time to research and try most stuff. Try the monk fruit if you can - its not cheating and although its expensive you need tiny amounts compared to sugars.

Joey66 · December 2, 2024

Charles Hawtrey said:
A friend of mine was told by their Dr that it was better to drink regular Coke than Diet Coke - it’s the chemical sweeteners!! The stuff they put in the sugar free stuff is dreadful. Obvs if you’re a diabetic carbs are one of the enemies and if you read labels on the sugar free stuff they are still very Carb heavy. I’ve been a Diabetic for almost 30 years, caused by drinking too much beer and eating too many carbs. That said I have had time to research and try most stuff. Try the monk fruit if you can - its not cheating and although its expensive you need tiny amounts compared to sugars.

Milk is a killer - I pay dear for sugar free oat milk low on carbs too as I am anti Lactose intolerance as milk stopped my insulin from working - sugarless oat low carbon milk is brilliant