Many bodybuilders turn to processed supplements for their nutritional needs. But raw foods are some of the most nutritionally dense, anabolic foods bodybuilders can use. Raw eggs, milk, organic beef are simply loaded with naturally occurring protein, vitamins, and other substances that trigger anabolism. Raw wildflower honey is another powerful natural food that bodybuilders should most definitely have in their cabinet. And most importantly, it contains something that helps with amino acid absorption which in turn influences anabolism.
What is raw wildflower honey?
Raw wildflower honey is honey that is processed from honey bees that get their pollen from flowers in the wild. Bee farmers will sometimes have wildflowers growing on their property, but the farmers cannot control the bees fly. Therefore in the spring, the bees can fly to any wildflower to collect the nectar and bring it back to the hive.
The raw wildflower honey that Proteinfactory sells is sourced from a local farm in New Jersey. In the morning, a scout bee will leave the hive and search for flowers with nectar. The scout bee will return to the colony and tell the worker bees where the flowers are. They do this by doing a “bee dance.” The dance tells the other bees exactly how far the honey is and in what direction. In the case of Protein Factory, raw wildflower honey, the honey bees mostly collect their nectar from the black locust tree that is native to New Jersey. The black locust tree is a wild tree that has bunches of white flowers on it that resemble a bunch of grapes. The black locust tree blooms in late May into June. The honey bees gather the nectar from these flowers, which could be up to 3 to 4 miles away from the hive.
The bees then return the nectar from the flowers to the hive. They then regurgitate the nectar into a cell that the other bees in the hive have prepared. This is called the honeycomb. The honeycomb contains the wet honey. The bees then dehydrate the nectar using their wing muscles and then use beeswax to cap it off.
An interesting note is that one honey bee can only make about one tbs of honey in their entire lifetime. Some older colonies can make about 100lbs for the entire season. The younger, smaller colonies can only make about 50lbs of raw wildflower honey.
Inside the bee colony, the honey is kept at about 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Benefits of Raw Wild Flower Honey For Bodybuilders.
Honey has been used for sports nutrition use for decades. But over the years, bodybuilders have been using more supplements than food to get their nutrients. However, mother nature provides all the nutrients bodybuilders need to gain muscle, and raw wildflower honey is one of them.
What Does Raw Wildflower Honey Contain?
Raw honey mainly consists of carbohydrates. 40% fructose, 30% glucose, 5% maltose, 1 % sucrose, and 0.5% vitamins and minerals. This makes it a perfect carbohydrate source for athletes. I have personally had never heard of an athlete complaining about digestive issues when consuming honey pre or post-workout.
Raw honey contains digestive enzymes to help absorb carbohydrates and protein. Raw honey contains diastase, which is also known as amylase, which digests carbohydrates so they can be utilized by the body. Next, honey contains the digestive enzyme invertase, which breaks down sucrose. Next for protein, peptidase, which is known as a proteolytic enzyme, breaks down proteins into amino acids.
Therefore, one can firmly state that adding raw honey to a protein shake will help the body absorb and digest more amino acids, crucial for muscle recovery and repair.
Ideas For Raw Honey
Pre Workout
2-3 tbs Honey Muscle
1/3 cup Muscle Shake
handful of blueberries
1 tsp leucine peptides
or
Post workout
2-3 tbs of raw honey
1 tsp of creatine
1 banana
handful blueberries
1/4 Oatmuscle
2 tbs Peptopro
2 tbs of whey isolate
Meal Replacement
2 tbs of raw honey
1/4 mod 6 carbs
juiced vegetables
1/3 cup of muscle shake
1-2 of flax oil
Weight Gainer
3-4 tbs of honey
1/4 Oatmuscle
1/4 cup of Growth Pro Peptides
1 tsp of Advanced BCAA
Banana
Strawberries
3-4 tbs of flax oil
Weight Loss
1-2 tbs of honey
1/3 cup of Lean Pro Peptides
Added to Pomegranate, cranberry, or another bitter type fruit or vegetables.
Alex Rogers is a supplement manufacturing expert. He has been formulating, consulting, & manufacturing dietary supplements since 1998. Alex invented protein customization in 1998 & was the first company to allow consumers to create their own protein blends. He helped create the first supplement to contain natural follistatin, invented whey protein with egg lecithin, & recently imported the world’s first 100% hydrolyzed whey.
