Miracle food dates and health benefits

According to Neal Barnard, M.D., author of several books on the healing properties of foods, certain foods are excellent painkillers, especially green leafy vegetables and beans. Date is one of those miracle foods which helps flush out toxins, lubricates and cushions your joints, helps relieve congestion and keeps your body in balance.

Health benefits of dates have made them the best nourishment for muscles development.
Dates are the fruits grow on the palm tree belonging to the family of Arecaceae of the genus: Phoenix and scientifically named as Phoenix dactylifera. The tree is believed to have originated in the lands around the banks of Nile and Euphrates rivers.
Date palm is now extensively cultivated for its edible fruit in warmer climates across all the continents.

Dates are rich in minerals like calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium. Calcium is an important mineral that is an essential constituent of bone and teeth, and required by the body for muscle contraction, blood clotting, and nerve impulse conduction. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells. Magnesium is essential for bone growth.
The fruit has adequate levels of B-complex group of vitamins as well as vitamin K. It contains very good amounts of pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), niacin, pantothenic acid, and riboflavin. These vitamins are acting as cofactors help body metabolize carbohydrates, protein, and fats. Vitamin K is essential for many coagulant factors in the blood as well as in bone metabolism.

Health benefits of dates: 

•  Wonderfully delicious, dates are one of the most popular fruits with an impressive list of essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, required for normal growth, development and overall well-being.
• Fresh date is made of soft, easily digestible flesh with simple sugars like fructose and dextrose that when eaten replenishes energy and revitalizes the body instantly; thus, for these qualities, dates are being used to breakfast during Ramadan months. 
•  The fruit is rich in dietary fiber, which prevents dietary LDL cholesterol absorption in the gut. It is also a good bulk laxative. The fiber content helps to protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time and as well as binding to cancer causing chemicals in the colon. 
•  They contain many health benefitting flavonoid polyphenolic antioxidants known as tannins. Tannins are known to have anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-hemorrhagic (prevent easy bleeding tendencies) properties. 

•  They are a good source of Vitamin-A (contains 149 IU per 100 g), which is known to have antioxidant properties and is essential for vision. Vitamin A also required maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamin A is known to help to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
•  The fruit is very rich in antioxidant flavonoids such as beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. These antioxidants have the ability to help protect cells and other structures in the body from oxygen free radicals and thereby found to be protective against colon, prostate, breast, endometrial, lung, and pancreatic cancers. Zeaxanthin, an important dietary carotenoid selectively absorbed into the retinal macula lutea where it is thought to provide antioxidant and protective light-filtering functions; thus it offers protection against age related macular degeneration, especially in elderly populations. 
•  Dates are an excellent source of iron, contains 0.90 mg/100 g of fruits (about 11% of RDI). Iron, being a component of hemoglobin inside the red blood cells, determines the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. 
•  In addition, They are good in potassium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that help controlling heart rate and blood pressure; thus offers protection against stroke and coronary heart diseases.

According to the modern medicine survey, it is known that dates are useful in preventing abdominal cancer. 

Useful links:
 * Health Benefits of Dates

 * Top 10 Health Benefits of Dates

The Miracle Food Honey and its benefits

Honey is miracle food which has healing properties for many ailments. The amazing benefits found in honey have less to do with nutritional value and more to do with antioxidant and microbial properties that are unique to this natural sweetness.

Honey is composed of simple sugars, such as sugar-like glucose and fructose that are used quickly by the body. It was man's first and most reliable source of sweetener and an excellent substitute for sugar.

Honey is a remarkable viscous liquid, prepared by the bees from the nectars of various plants. It has occupied a prominent place in traditional medicines throughout world history. The ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Chinese, Greeks and Romans employed honey for wounds and diseases of the gut. When the Children of Israel were in Egypt or journeying through the desert, their promised goal was a 'land flowing with milk and honey'.

The Quran describes the process of its formation by bees and the medical values of it and of the other bees' products.
Honey is mentioned in the Bible 61 times and two times in the Quran.

The four main products from the bees are:- Royal Jelly, Bee Pollen, Propolis and Honey.

They have been used for last few centuries by civilizations around the world to treat a wide variety of ailments and medical conditions.

They are multipurpose substances that in some forms can be applied externally to the skin and in other forms ingested as a food or supplement.

Bee Products are Mother Nature's most incredible gift to our planet, packed with vitamins, minerals and essential amino acids, bee products may provide us with essential nutrition to help with our fast-paced lifestyles.

It follows that the Quran tells us about the healing effects and the medical values of the Bees products that include the Honey.

On the other hand, the Bible says nothing about the Bees products and about their healing effects.

Healing effects of miracle food honey:

Antibacterial and antifungal properties: These properties of honey are well established. Undiluted honey inhibits the growth of bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, certain gut pathogens and fungi such as Candida albicans. At a concentration of 30-50%, honey has been shown to be superior to certain conventional antibiotics in treating urinary tract infections. The exact mechanism of the anti-microbial effect of honey remains obscure. Low pH, osmotic disruption of pathogens and the presence of bactericidal substances, collectively called inhibine may all play a part.

Anti-diarrhoeal properties: At a concentration of 40%, honey has a bactericidal effect on various gut bacteria known to cause diarrhoea and dysentery such as Salmonella, Shigella, enteropathogenic E. coli and Vibrio cholera. In one study, honey given with oral rehydration fluid was shown to reduce the duration of bacterial diarrhoea in infants and children.

Wound-healing and anti-inflammatory properties: Honey is of value in treating burns, infected surgical wounds and decubitus ulcers. Honey is very viscous, enabling it to absorb water from surrounding inflamed tissue. For example, a study in West Africa showed that skin grafting, surgical debridement and even amputation were avoided when local application of honey to wound promoted healing, whereas conventional treatment failed.

In another study, wound healing was accelerated by application of honey in women who had undergone radical vulvectomy for vulval cancer. Also, it has been suggested that honey may be useful in the treatment of chronic, foul smelling ulcers seen in leprosy.

Anti-tussive and expectorant properties: These anti-cough properties of honey are related to its capacity to dilute bronchial secretions and improve the function of the bronchial epithelium.
Nutritional properties

Uncontaminated honey is a healthy, easily digestible, natural and energy rich food. It contains carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, enzymes and vitamins. One tablespoon of honey provides 60 calories and contains 11g of carbohydrates, 1mg of calcium, 0.2mg of iron, 0.lmg of vitamin B and 1mg of vitamin C.

Honey is widely available in most communities but its medical potential remains grossly underutilised. Its mode of action remains incompletely understood and the healing properties of honey in other clinical and laboratory situations requires further evaluation. The miraculous beneficial properties of honey, so beautifully ex-pressed in the holy Qur'an and Sunnah 14 centuries ago expose the reluctance of modern science to accept and exploit this 'traditional remedy'.

Sources: The Honey in Bible and Quran
- Bees and the Hidden Miracles of Honey

More studies:

* The healing power of honey: From burns to weak bones, raw honey can help

* 'Honey Nutrition Facts'