Paleo Retiree writes:

Remember that New York Times article from a few months ago about the world’s longest-lived people? They’re the inhabitants of Ikaria, a small Greek-owned island in the Eastern Aegean, just off the coast of Turkey.

After gathering all the data, [the researcher] and his colleagues at the University of Athens concluded that people on Ikaria were, in fact, reaching the age of 90 at two and a half times the rate Americans do. (Ikarian men in particular are nearly four times as likely as their American counterparts to reach 90, often in better health.) But more than that, they were also living about 8 to 10 years longer before succumbing to cancers and cardiovascular disease, and they suffered less depression and about a quarter the rate of dementia. Almost half of Americans 85 and older show signs of Alzheimer’s. (The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that dementia cost Americans some $200 billion in 2012.) On Ikaria, however, people have been managing to stay sharp to the end.

Besides the expected easygoing Mediterranean lifestyle — “We wake up late and always take naps,” says one of the island’s doctors — to what do the people of Ikaria owe their longevity and their good spirits? There’s hummus, goat’s milk and olive oil … A traditional, community-oriented level of development … A tea made from local herbs …

And then there’s the honey of Ikaria. “They have types of honey here you won’t see anyplace else in the world,” the doctor interviewed in the article says. “They use it for everything from treating wounds to curing hangovers, or for treating influenza. Old people here will start their day with a spoonful of honey. They take it like medicine.”

This was something that I — as a lover of good food who always buys his honey wild, who adores inexpensive luxuries, and who by the way wouldn’t mind enjoying a long and upbeat life — couldn’t resist exploring. So off I went and placed my order.

Verdict: It really is extraordinary, and in ways both strange and wonderful. For one thing, the bottles arrived in a sticky, semi-leaky state. They weren’t cracked but they didn’t radiate “FDA-approved, American-supermarket-level of hygiene” either. Those Ikarians really don’t seem to worry about a lot of the things that we who are lost in the world of modern western consumerism do.

As for the way the honey of Ikaria tastes: It’s very rich and viscous, and it has notes and fragrances that are earthy, woodsy, floral and caramely. It’s so distinctive, in fact, that I’d be wary of using it in recipes that call for honey — it’d add too much of its own character, I suspect. But as something on a dessert or in tea, it’s startlingly good. Stirred into a small pot of Greek yogurt or drizzled over some raw-milk cheese, it’s downright magnificent.

I don’t suffer from allergies, so I can’t report on whether it will cure any of those. I haven’t yet used it as a poultice, and I haven’t started taking a spoonful of it in the morning as a medicine either. As for whether or not I’ll live forever ….  I’ll try to remember to get back to you in a few decades about that. So far, though, the honey of Ikaria has demonstrated ample powers as a mood-booster.

Bonus links

• Learn more about Ikaria.
• Which honey to buy?