From:
Carol J Owens
Date: 2010-06-24 06:51:02 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] The reason for honey
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
[See caution below post.]
There was a question about using the honey in Bob Church's Chicken
Gravy. I used to keep bees when I lived in a more friendly climate so I
know something about this subject.
Honey bees are social insects, many doing a little for the common good
of the colony. The workers, who are sterile daughters of the queen,
reach an age where their job is to go forth and collect nectar from
flowers and pollen at the same time. The pollen is collected in little
hairy baskets on their back legs and brought back to the hive to feed
the larvae. It is stored in some of the cells of the combs. The nectar
collected is stored in a special "stomach" and brought back to the hive,
where it is well, regurgitated but it also has been mixed with an enzyme
that breaks apart the sucrose (sugar) molecules into dextrose and
levulose, and after it has been dried down to become thick it stays in
the cells of the comb to be used as food to maintain the colony through
the winter. That's the reason for the bees to make the honey but of
course, beekeepers take most of the honey for consumption from their
managed hives. . The sugars of honey are now monosaccharides and are
ready for use by the body, and they help keep the blood glucose steady
rather than spiking the way regular sugar (sucrose) does. That is why
the small amount of honey is in the gravy recipe. It helps give the
insulinomic ferret some energy to keep going. Bob know what he's doing
and I don't play with the recipe although I am considering how to adjust
the ingredients for a diabetic ferret. I am waiting for an answer to that.
Carol J. Owens
Ferret Friends, Inc.
Tucson AZ
[Well, I looked up vet and human refs to find out
if there is a difference in how the pancreas
deals with honey vs. sugar and the medical
ones seem to indicate that there is no
difference except a little one in processing speed:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/diabetes/an00425
http://www.ferret-universe.com/health/insulinoma.asp
http://miamiferret.org/treatment.htm
Caution is indicated, but if I recall right the amount
in the recipe is tiny, isn't it?
Adjusting recipes for medical conditions is a common
practice and is done for human diets, too.
Info from those more versed in endocrinology?
-- Moderator]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
ferrethealth-digest@yahoogroups.com
ferrethealth-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
ferrethealth-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/