Enzymes are very important elements in human chemistry. They are proteins made by cells. Enzymes are facilitators in various biological functions. For example, they are what help to break down larger molecules of starch, fat, and protein. This is an essential part of healthy digestion. In the video below, David Wolfe Explains Enzymes in layman's terms.
My Notes:
Whenever we heat and filter raw natural food, something has to happen to it. The National Honey Board (NHB) wanted to know just how much honey changes after this process so they funded the research. The NHB contracted with American Analytical Laboratories to test honey samples. These samples were taken before processing and then again after processing. The main aim was simple. It was to find out to what degree any or all of the minerals, antioxidants and enzymes altered. The results of this research were inconsistent. They showed a great deal of variability between the samples from the same supplier. It was the same situation for samples across different suppliers. This made it difficult to draw anything more than general conclusions. The levels of variation were just too great to make specific claims.
It's true that heating and filtering does reduce the final quantity of enzymes in honey, but that's not the end of the story. What else materialized from this research is that processing is not the totally destructive process that some would have us believe. The fact is that heating and filtering honey does not completely eliminate all enzymes. Moreover, it doesn't have a negative effect on honey’s mineral and antioxidant levels either. In some cases, with some minerals, levels increased after processing.
You can read or download a copy of the full report here:
Nutrients found in honey (Amounts will vary according to the floral type of the honey) include:
- Niacin
- Pantothenic acid
- Riboflavin
- Thiamine
- Vitamin B6
Minerals found in most honeys include:
- Calcium
- Copper
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Manganese
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
- Sodium
- Zinc
Summary
Be careful what you read. There are perhaps over 30 commercial producers of honey in the US. It's true that their honeys have no traces of pollen. But it's not true that they lack beneficial vitamins and enzymes as so many articles suggest. Other write-ups imply that the majority of golden honey seen at local grocery stores is dead. It might be slightly lacking compared to its raw, unpasteurized counterpart, but not by much.