How many times have you woken up to a glass of warm lemon water mixed with honey? How many times have you added honey to your green tea or your glass of milk before going to bed?
There have been constant debates about how honey becomes poisonous when added to hot liquids. While some are in favour of these claims, others seem to believe it’s just a myth.
But is honey really that dangerous?
Honey has been an integral part of our lives since ancient times. It is considered an elixir that cures almost anything. From suppressing cough to reducing the risk of heart diseases, from treating wounds to facilitating good hair and skin – honey has always been ubiquitous.
What makes honey an elixir is the nutrients present in the honey including fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose. Its omnipresence in treating health-related issues is due to the presence of bioactive plant compounds and antioxidants. It contains nutrients like calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium and zinc and virtually no fibre, fat or protein.
But when this honey is heated over a certain temperature, the same nutrients that made honey an elixir, turn it into poison. What many don’t know is that honey shouldn’t be heated or cooked under any circumstance. It can be consumed at a monitored temperature but anything more than that can turn honey very toxic.
Honey contains natural sugars. Now the thing is, anything that contains sugar should not be heated at a temperature of 140 degrees and above. This is because when we heat something that contains sugar, it releases 5-hydroxymethylfurfural or HMF which is believed to be carcinogenic in nature.
Some Ayurvedic studies also claim that warm honey tends to cause ‘ama’ in the body, which is a toxic substance produced by the body in the case of indigestion. The honey slowly turns toxic in the body in the process of digestion, leading to the rise of many different diseases.
This is why Ayurveda claims that the best way to consume honey is in its raw, pure form. And this claim excludes the store-bought honey as well. In most cases, store-bought honey is processed through heating techniques under extreme temperatures, which has a harmful effect on the body. Not to forget that this honey is heavily processed and filtered too.
As the age-old claim goes – Honey is best consumed in its raw form. However, if you want to mix honey with certain liquids or food, you can wait for the temperature to cool down a little. Some people are convinced that consuming honey in warm liquids can be fatal. But the truth is honey becomes toxic only when it surpasses the 140-degree mark. It is best to wait for your food or drink to cool down to a normal room temperature before mixing this natural, sweet elixir with it.
Honey All Day uses a distinct cold-processing technique to avoid any deterioration in the nutritional value of honey. The raw honey collected from beekeepers goes through the cold-processing without being heated or filtered with additional fillers, thus keeping its nutritional value intact.
