HONEY The golden, sugary nectar of nature has a variety of special nutritional and medicinal qualities.
When the Vedic civilization first emerged, honey was regarded as one of the most amazing gifts to humanity.
Current studies verify that the sticky, sweet substance does, in fact, have a variety of special nutritional and therapeutic qualities.
Learn about honey’s advantages from both ends of the spectrum and why it’s useful for much more than just tea sweetening by continuing to read.
The Nutritional Value Of Honey
In honey, the three main sugars are sucrose, fructose, and glucose. Of all the sugars, glucose is the most basic. It is found in fruit and vegetable juices as well as in the blood of living animals.
It is necessary for our bodies’ oxygen metabolism and restoration. Compared to glucose, fructose crystallizes more readily and aids in tissue growth. Fructose and glucose combine to form sucrose.
The gooey material called dextrin, which is present in honey in trace amounts, is what gives it its high digestibility.
The pollen in honey is found to contain all 22 amino acids, 28 minerals, 11 enzymes, 14 fatty acids, and 11 carbohydrates, according to recent research.
Natural Advantages As Stated In The Old Ayurvedic Texts
Because honey contains a lot of dextrin, it enters the bloodstream directly and has multiple health benefits.
Honey And The Process Of Digestion And Elimination
Honey is said to be beneficial to people who have weak digestion in the ancient Ayurvedic texts.
Hyperacidity and constipation can be effectively treated with a spoonful of fresh honey combined with the juice of half a lemon in a glass of lukewarm water and taken first thing in the morning.
The texts of Ayurveda state that honey functions as an emetic and laxative to help expel waste when it is present in the alimentary canal due to undigested food and other toxins.
The Relationship Between Iron And Honey
The iron, copper, and manganese that honey contains play a major role in its remarkable ability to help the body produce hemoglobin.
Red blood corpuscles and hemoglobin balance are said to be maintained by it, according to ancient writings.
Honey and the health of your lungs
In Ayurveda, honey is considered to be very helpful for maintaining respiratory balance and lung function.
Additionally, according to Ayurvedic texts, honey can be a very helpful remedy for a sore throat or painful cough.
The upper respiratory tract’s mucous membrane is soothed by it as a demulcent (soothing) agent. Its inclusion as an ingredient in different cough syrups is therefore common.
Honey And Your Complexion
Honey has the potential to soothe skin when applied externally. Because of this, it frequently appears in homemade Ayurvedic face masks along with turmeric or oatmeal.
The Reason Honey, You Should Never Overheat
Given all of its health advantages, honey is a fantastic addition to any diet. Regretfully, heating honey for commercial purposes results in the loss of many of its nutritional properties.
“Nothing is as troublesome as the Ama caused by improper intake of honey,” stated Ayurvedic scholar Charak in his ancient writings.
According to Ayurveda, ama, or toxic, undigested matter in the body, is thought to be the primary cause of most illnesses.
When toxins accumulate in the body, they can serve as a haven for a variety of unpleasant health issues. Charak makes it abundantly evident that heating honey produces undesirable effects and makes it extremely difficult to digest.
The state of modern science supports this. According to a study, heating honey results in the production of hydroxymethylfurfuraldehyde (HMF), a chemical that has been connected to toxicity and potential carcinogenic effects in certain forms.
Honey’s chemical composition is also changed in other ways by heating. For example, it raises the peroxide levels, which are known to have harmful effects.
The Best Way To Consume Honey
According to Ayurveda, honey should ideally be consumed raw and unheated; baking and cooking with it should be avoided.
Try your hardest to stay away from baked goods, breads, cereals, and other “health food” items that contain cooked honey.
Enjoy putting honey in your steaming tea? Don’t worry at all! A spoonful of sweetener can be added, but only after the liquid has cooled to a warm temperature.
1. Using honey in baked goods
Bread, muffins, and cookies can all benefit from the moisture and delicate sweetness that honey brings to baked foods.
It’s important to keep in mind that honey is a liquid sweetener when using it in baking, so you might need to modify the recipe’s liquid and dry ingredient amounts.
To avoid over-browning, you can also lower the oven’s temperature by 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Honey works well in place of white sugar. We recommend using our honey instead of brown sugar as the ideal replacement for syrup.
2. Honey as a Natural Sweetener
Oatmeal, yogurt, smoothies, and many other foods can all benefit from the subtle sweetness that honey brings to a dish.
Honey has a lower glycemic index than traditional sweeteners like sugar, so it won’t cause your blood sugar levels to spike unexpectedly.
This is so that the body can release energy more slowly and steadily since honey contains a combination of glucose and fructose, which are absorbed by the body at different rates.
To get the right sweetness level when using honey as a sweetener, the proper amount must be used.
Most recipes allow you to replace sugar with honey in a 1:1 ratio; however, keep in mind that honey has a more intense flavor and a denser texture than sugar, which may impact the overall taste and texture of your dish.
Because of this, it’s advised to start with a lower quantity of honey and increase or decrease according to taste.
3. In salad dressings
Using honey as a natural sweetener in salad dressings is just one of the many ways you can use it in your cooking.
Honey can elevate a simple salad to a new level by contributing nuance and complexity to the overall flavor thanks to its inherent sweetness and distinct tangy taste.
A homemade honey mustard dressing is an easy and fast salad dressing recipe that you can try at home.
To make a delicious and tangy dressing that goes well with any salad, you’ll need to whisk together a few ingredients, like honey (we recommend using our honey for this recipe), Dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
A honey balsamic vinaigrette is another delicious option to think about. For those who enjoy the savory and sweet blend of their food, this dressing is a great choice.
The main ingredient in this recipe is honey. The honey helps counteract the acidity of the balsamic vinegar, and the mustard adds another taste dimension.
Together, these ingredients create a well balanced dressing that goes well with any salad.
4. Utilizing Honey in Drinks
Honey can enhance the taste and sweetness of both hot and cold drinks, like lemonade and tea. Brew your preferred tea, then add honey and fresh lemon juice to taste to create a honey lemon tea.
Make sure to let your boiling water cool down for a few minutes before adding the honey when using it in tea.
This keeps the honey from being exposed to excessive heat and helps keep all the healthful components of the honey intact.
Honey sweetened lemonade can be made by mixing fresh lemon juice, honey, and water in a pitcher for a refreshing drink.
5. How to Take Honey All Medically
One of the most popular and adaptable natural remedies in the world is honey.
Honey has been used for centuries to treat a wide range of illnesses, from burns and wounds to common colds.
Honey is not only delicious but also a safe, natural substitute for medications. It is simple to include in your diet. Here are five methods for using honey as medicine to enhance your overall health and wellness.
6. Soothing a sore throat
A good home remedy for sore throats is honey. It can help relieve a sore throat and lessen inflammation because of its antibacterial and anti inflammatory qualities.
One tablespoon of honey should be diluted with warm water or tea and consumed multiple times a day as a remedy for sore throats. To increase vitamin C, you can also add a few drops of lemon juice.
7. Handle Burns and Wounds
For thousands of years, honey has been used as a natural treatment for burns and wounds. Its antimicrobial and anti inflammatory qualities can hasten healing and lower the risk of infection.
Apply a small amount of raw honey to the injured area and wrap it with a bandage to use honey for wounds and burns.
Until the burn or wound has healed, change the bandage every few hours and keep going. Our honey is a great option for this kind of care.
8. Activate Your Defenses
Honey is a natural immune system stimulant that can aid in defending your body from bacteria and viruses.
Its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and high antioxidant content can support the health of your immune system.
To strengthen your immune system, add a tablespoon of raw honey to your tea or smoothie every day.
Honey can also be consumed straight out of the jar with a spoonful. Because all of our kinds of honey are pure, raw, and natural, they all effectively strengthen your immune system!
9. Alleviate Allergies
Because it soothes the throat and reduces inflammation, honey can help with allergy symptoms.
Additionally, it’s thought that eating tiny amounts of local honey can help your body become less sensitive to local pollen and miniature
10. Boost Your Digestion
Honey has been demonstrated to enhance digestion by lowering inflammation and encouraging the growth of beneficial gut flora.
Also, it functions as a natural prebiotic, supporting the growth of beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract.
To help with digestion, add a teaspoon of raw honey to your tea or smoothie every day. For a boost to digestive enzymes, you can also combine it with apple cider vinegar.
Including honey in your diet and medicinal practice is a delicious and natural way to improve your health and well-being. If you want the best medicinal benefits, use raw, unprocessed honey and see your doctor before using it as a treatment.
Honey offers many advantages, including antibacterial and antioxidant qualities, in addition to adding a delicious flavor and natural sweetness to your baking and cooking.
Honey can be used in a plethora of ways, such as beverages, baked goods, glazes and marinades, salad dressings, and baked goods.
Discover a world of delicious flavors and health advantages by getting creative and experimenting with the various ways to incorporate honey into your favorite recipes.
The Effects of Honey on the Doshas
Honey has calming properties for both vata and kapha doshas due to its sweet taste (rasa), warming effect on the digestive tract (virya), and sweet post-digestive effect (vipaka).
When taken excessively, especially in hot weather, it can aggravate pitta. Still, it is said that “young” raw honey (less than six months old) balances pitta.
Vata dosha should consume honey in moderation and opt for more liquid forms due to its drying properties.
What quantity is excessive? Although raw honey has many therapeutic benefits, it is a sticky sweet and one can consume too much of a good thing.
Use much less for pitta and much more for kapha and vata, using a teaspoon at a time and up to a tablespoon daily. Consider it a decorative element for your food and drinks.
Honey is suitable for all doshas when applied topically.
Honey Throughout The Seasons
Understanding the seasons helps us to be in harmony with the Earth’s cycles. It’s time to nourish and warm the vata dosha for those of us on the planet who are approaching autumn.
However, pitta dosha still requires attention as summer draws to an end.
Right now, honey is the best medication available. It encourages the gradual strengthening of agni that happens naturally during this season (see graph below).
Its warm, drying properties can help dispel dampness and chill without severely upsetting pitta in areas that have seen intense rains or floods.
If you live in a place where fires that are destructive still occur frequently, hold off on using a lot of honey until the flames have subsided.
Better options would be organic coconut sugar or other cool sweeteners, especially when combined with copious amounts of rose water and calming moisture from the outside!
Additional Things to Think About
Honey, like everything in Ayurveda, has potential benefits and drawbacks based on usage and application.
As we have already covered, in order to fully enjoy this sweet nectar, it is imperative that it be prepared properly, used in accordance with the doshas, and synchronized with the seasons and environment.
Here are some additional crucial considerations to make, regardless of whether you are an experienced honey consumer or are thinking about incorporating it into your diet for the first time.
- Considering the Honey’s Origin
The fundamental tenets of Ayurveda are the revered recognition of our interconnectedness with nature and the idea that the well being of the natural world is correlated with our own.
As a result, it’s essential to think about the sources of our foods and herbs as well as how we can support and safeguard these natural resources.
Bees collect and process honey, which is the concentrated form of nectar from flowers. A honey’s flavor and therapeutic qualities are influenced by the flowers that go into making it.
- Ghee and honey
Ghee and honey are frequently mixed to create a potent rejuvenator that can act as a tonic for all of the body’s tissues.
Honey and ghee should not be combined in equal parts by volume, but rather by weight, according to Ayurveda. Ghee is not nearly as heavy as honey. Three teaspoons of ghee are equal in weight to one teaspoon of raw honey.
Mixing one teaspoon of honey with three teaspoons of ghee is not a good idea. It is said that these ratios irritate the skin and stomach.
- Replacements for Honey
Are you looking for vegan warm sweeteners? Think about molasses and jaggery, which is dried sugar cane juice.
Both are similar to honey in their arrangement of hot virya, sweet vipaka, and sweet rasa. However, they both mostly elevate pitta and kapha while calming vata.
They’re not as good at carrying other herbs as honey, but they’re still great builders, especially molasses for building the blood.
Conclusion
Honey is a natural remedy that has helped in many ways, including healing scars and improving the quality of the skin.
The honey can be eaten on its own or mixed with warm water to make a beverage.
It is important to remember, though, that ingesting honey in excess can cause health issues. As such, it is always advised to speak with a healthcare provider before using honey medicinally.
Its anti inflammatory qualities aid in wound healing, energy enhancement, and skin improvement.
