Free The Healing Powers of Honey by Cal Orey Page B

didn’t have paperwork that was required.) Once we crossed the border, the closer to the city we got, the more disoriented I felt, not accustomed to being like a honey bee in a swarm. The locals spoke fluent French. (I did not.) The street signs were foreign and the metric system on food labels confused me. I was lost, but I had my dog that was American.
    One night my canine companion and I spent in a forest off the main road. We snuggled up in my sleeping bag. Another creature comfort I enjoyed was the foods I guarded stuffed in my backpack: fresh fruit, nuts, whole-wheat bread, peanut butter—and a jar of clover honey. It was a reality TV show real-life moment when I used my finger to scoop out the creamy butter and gooey honey. And yes, I shared a bit of honey, butter, and bread with Tiger (today reminding me of Cerberus, the three-headed dog who was fed a honey cake).
    Tiger and I had cuddled and slept in the backyard of Quebec, on beaches in the Florida Keys amid wildflowers, on an Indian reservation in Arizona, in a cornfield in Kansas, and in the back of a pickup truck under the stars at a motel in Tennessee. From truck stops to national parks, this dog and I were inseparable, like bees and their beekeeper. Tiger was my protector and sounding board. It was comfort foods, honey, peanut butter, and whole-grain crackers from the United States, that didn’t spoil, kept me energized—and I shared with my best friend.
    And while I didn’t know it then, later on as a health author I learned I was eating foods of the Mediterranean diet—heart-healthy honey and peanut butter (in moderation) with a dog that provided heart health benefits, too, by keeping my blood pressure down during stressful and lonely times.
    MY BUZZ ON THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET AND HONEY
    So, what is the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, anyhow? There’s no one “Mediterranean” diet. As the American Heart Association explains it, at least 16 countries border the Mediterranean Sea. Naturally, diets, including French, Italian, and Spanish, differ in the foods of choice. But the deal is, there still is a common thread in the cuisine of the diets.
    That means, if I got my long-awaited trip to Europe (especially France, Greece, and Italy), while the dishes I’d savor would be different, the staples would share similarities. The upside of the Mediterranean diet, notes the AHA, is that folks who eat the average Mediterranean diet (in which more than 50 percent of fat calories come from monounsaturated fat, usually from olive oil) eat less saturated fat than you’ll find in the typical American diet. And heart disease in Mediterranean countries is still lower in numbers than in the United States, where it’s the number one killer for both women and men. And longevity is still higher in Mediterranean countries.
    The AHA believes that these facts may be due to not just the Mediterranean diet but also lifestyle choices, such as getting more physical activity and having a strong social support system. The jury is still out for the AHA before they recommend people follow a Mediterranean diet.
    Another food pyramid of interest—author Steven Pratt, M.D.’s SuperFoodsRx HealthStyle Pyramid, has similarities to the Oldways traditional Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. His daily pyramid includes fruits (3–5 servings), vegetables (5–7 servings), whole grains (5–7 servings), non- or low-fat dairy (1–3 servings), fish with bones (1–3 servings), dark green leafy greens (1–3 servings), healthy fats (1–2 servings), and up to 100 calories daily of buckwheat honey—as well as aerobic exercise most days (30–90 minutes) and 8 or more 8-ounce glasses of water.
    The SuperfoodsRx Healthstyle Pyramid and Oldways traditional Mediterranean diet and lifestyle can keep you working like a worker bee. If you follow the Mediterranean path, you can keep slim and fit like Frenchwomen can and do because of