A gastronomy expert has said that raw honey could be one of the reasons why the residents of Ikaria could be living to 100.

The Greek island is known as one of the world’s blue zones, places where people live for particularly long periods of time, and experts are trying to work out why people in these places live for so long.

One of those experts, Diane Kochilas, who lives on the island says that raw honey could be contributing to Ikaria’s residents’ longer lives.

Honey, be it raw or not, has long been known to have a range of health benefits that could contribute along with other factors to increasing someone’s lifespan.

According to reports, one resident of Ikaria said an island recipe featuring garlic, ginger, sage and honey was the “penicillin of his generation” whilst another referred to it as “natural Viagra”.

Whilst the potency of honey in regard to sexual health has not been investigated, other studies have looked into other areas in which honey could help.

One BMJ article published in 2021 concluded: “Honey was superior to usual care for the improvement of symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. It provides a widely available and cheap alternative to antibiotics.

“Honey could help efforts to slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance, but further high quality, placebo-controlled trials are needed.”

Meanwhile, another study published in 2020 assessing honey’s ability to help combat colds and flu concluded: “We found that for combined symptoms, cough frequency and cough severity, honey is actually better than usual care…We also could not recommend a particular ‘dose’ or ‘route’ for taking honey, as we included so many different formulations.”

Alongside potentially helping with coughs and colds, experts from CBD.co have also supposed that honey could help with snoring.

A spokesman told GloucestershireLive: “Honey boasts impressive anti-inflammatory properties, which can work wonders for reducing snoring.

“When your throat is less irritated and inflamed, your airways are more open, making it less likely you’ll snore. Try mixing one teaspoon of honey into a cup of hot water, chamomile tea, or ginger tea.

“You can enjoy this cosy cup sometime between dinner and bedtime. It works really well as part of a soothing pre-bed routine to help you wind down and relax.”