Before vineyards there was honey and before there was wine there was mead. Mead is an alcoholic drink of fermented honey and water. In other words, it's a wine product that ferments honey instead of grapes.  Honey wine is perhaps the oldest alcoholic drink known to mankind.

My Notes:

Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water. It's sometimes made using various fruits, spices, grains or hops. Mead made with hops produces more of a beer drink than a wine. The hops produce a sort of bitter, beer-like flavor and also act as a preservative for the beverage.

The Benefits of Mead

• Contains chrysin (a flavonoid found in honey)
• Reduces cardiovascular risk factors
• Helps maintain gut flora
• Environmentally friendly

Let's look at each of these in turn:

Chrysin

Mead is loaded with compounds, one of which is a type of flavonoid called chrysin. The research into chrysin shows that it has the ability to constrain the spread of, and induce cell death in cancer cells. Another health benefit of chrysin is its ability to suppress neuroinflammation. Neuroinflammation is an inflammation of the nervous tissue. This suggests that mead may be a protective agent for a range of neurodegenerative diseases caused by inflammation.

Mead for Heart Health

Natural honey is known to reduce cardiovascular risk factors. Mead contains natural honey and is therefore beneficial to heart health, in moderation of course. This is particularly the case for those who have an elevated risk for cardiovascular disease.

Good for the Environment

OK, so mead in moderation is good for you. It's also a beverage that is good for the health of the planet too. The production of mead doesn’t require the cultivation of any land. This minimizes its environmental impact greatly. Moreover, those who drink mead in place of other alcoholic drinks help to support beekeepers.  These are the guys who strive to keep a threatened honeybee population alive and well. The whole world needs honeybees to sustain agriculture and the diet of peoples. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one third of all the food we eat requires pollination by bees.

The Alcoholic Content of Mead

The alcoholic content of mead can range by quite a lot. It can be around 8% alcohol by volume (ABV) to more than 20% ABV. What makes mead stand out from most other alcoholic drinks is its sugar content. The majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar comes from bee's honey. Just like other wines, mead can be carbonated or naturally sparkling. It can also be dry, semi-sweet or totally sweet.

Honey mead helps to build good (friendly) bacteria within the gut. Here's a study that looked at Ethiopian honey wine. Scientists collected samples from ten production units at different production times. The samples were then analysed for their microbial flora (abstract below).

Yeast and lactic acid flora of tej, an indigenous Ethiopian honey wine: variations within and between production units.
Food Microbiol. 2006 May;23(3):277-82. Epub 2005 Jul 6. | Bahiru B, Mehari T, Ashenafi M.

Summary

Archaeological evidence has shown that mead started more than 9,400 years ago in Northern China. There is no other alcoholic drink known to man that is older than mead. Not beer, not wine, or any spirits. When consumed in sensible moderation, mead can provide the consumer with a range of health benefits.

Mead is a somewhat simple beverage, but don't let that put you off. It may only be raw honey mixed with water and yeast, but once it's fermented the end product is really rather special. The variations of mead are endless too. When produced in the same way as wine, it can vary anywhere from very dry to very sweet and everything in between. As with honey, the taste of mead can vary depending on whatever flowers the bees are feeding on.

Anyone who is keen to support their health and contribute towards the health of the planet will want to check out the world's oldest tipple.