One of the most accessible and healing remedies used in folk medicine is honey. There is probably no such person who does not know about its benefits. However, there are also a huge number of doubts regarding the use of this product. One of which is the following - can it be added to tea.
There are several ways to drink tea with honey: you can drink it with tea, you can drink it as a snack, and you can also add a healthy dessert instead of the usual sugar. You can also make a real ritual out of the tea drinking process - prepare a drink, throw in a slice of lemon, cinnamon, and then at the very end, a little honey. You can choose the method of using this sweet natural delicacy that you like best. There will be benefits in any case.
It is important to remember that when the liquid temperature exceeds 60 degrees, the healing dessert loses almost all the components that make it useful. As a result, the tea will certainly be sweet, but it will not bring any benefits to the body. Therefore, you should not put honey in a very hot drink.
- vitamins;
- organic compounds;
- bee enzymes.
But it should be noted that this is also typical for long-term storage of the product. A year after the product has been left in a warm room, it loses many vitamins, beneficial enzymes lose vitality, and organic compounds decompose. The same result occurs from sun rays. But, if you follow the recommendations of experts regarding the storage of honey, it can be stored for an almost unlimited time. At the same time beneficial properties will be preserved.
For this reason, any food should be properly preserved. Namely: protect from ultraviolet radiation, prevent overheating.
There are few benefits from consuming heated honey; it can only compensate for lost energy. And the harm can be enormous, especially with regular use. This is why it is so important to use the healing product correctly.
Often honey is the only way to restore immunity when it comes to colds. This healing product is especially helpful if taking antibiotics is prohibited for some reason. And honey is a natural stimulant, has a large number of medicinal qualities, and also has virtually no contraindications.
Therefore, they say that the best medicine for pregnant women simply cannot be found. Honey will also help cure children from colds. The kids will love the sweet treat, and they will take this medicine with pleasure, asking for more.
A product that has not undergone heat treatment has the following properties:
- has an analgesic effect;
- has bactericidal properties;
- has an anti-inflammatory effect.
Also having antibiotic properties, honey is a probiotic. It promotes the growth of normal microflora. Thus, the appearance side effects associated with its use were not found.
Caution is important
An adult who has no issues related to hormonal levels, and whose immune system is stable, can count on the fact that honey can become a panacea for all diseases. If you regularly consume honey instead of sugar, you do not have to worry about the appearance of any colds. An important condition is moderation.
For example, using the product during pregnancy, young children or breastfeeding may raise many questions. This is because this product can cause allergies. And even if a person does not have an allergy from the moment of birth, it can appear with unlimited consumption of the product. Honey can also promote the appearance diabetes mellitus. Excessive consumption of the product may also result in extra pounds.
Options for using honey
The tradition of tea drinking rituals implies leisurely practice and plenty of time. There are few people who prefer scalding drinks.
As a substitute for sugar
The correct solution when replacing sugar with honey is to cool the tea to a temperature of 60 degrees. Only in this case the product will give all its healing properties. Honey will get rid of any inflammatory processes V oral cavity and all this without the need for rinsing. By the way, if you add honey to tea instead of sugar, the drink will be much sweeter.
A bite
This tea drinking option is also useful. It is important here to control the amount of food eaten. Because you can get more harm than good. Dosage is also necessary for those who monitor their own weight.
A simple way to limit the use of the product will help: tediously put the required amount of honey in a saucer (for an adult this is 3 tablespoons daily).
Morning tea
This will give the body the necessary tone, and its systematic use can relieve any metabolic disorders.
Contraindications
Honey has no contraindications as such. It should not be used if you are hypersensitive. It is also worth limiting its use for a number of diseases. In other cases, honey can be safely included in the diet in measured quantities.
It is important to remember that lemon is contraindicated for gastritis, and cinnamon can provoke excessive uterine tone. Therefore, pregnant women are strictly prohibited from using it.
Nutritionists recommend approaching nutrition issues with extreme caution. As you can see, a seemingly harmless product like honey has large number nuances in use. Even lemon and cinnamon have certain limitations.
Therefore, it should be remembered that everything is good in moderation. And above all, you need to listen to your body. So, if any unpleasant feeling arises from a certain product, then it must be excluded. Enjoy your tea!
The honey you buy at the market or in a store will already contain hydroxymethylfurfural.
According to European standards quantity hydroxymethylfurfural in honey should not exceed 40 mg per kilogram. For countries with hot climates, this figure is higher - 80 mg/kg. The thing is that there are no conditions under which carbohydrate breakdown products will not appear in honey: already in the apiary, honey is heated in the summer, even while in the honeycomb.
Standard hydroxymethylfurfural values make it possible to track the age of honey and the conditions under which it was stored and packaged for sale. However, there are no studies that would confirm the danger of this substance to human health.
The formation of hydroxymethylfurfural is directly proportional to the heating time and temperature. In honey that stands in the sun and is heated for a long time during the day, its amount increases slightly (not even 1.5 times). Moreover, when honey is cooled to a temperature of 18-20⁰C, this substance is partially deactivated.
For the sake of justice, it should be noted that oxymethylfurfural significantly large quantities, than in overheated honey, is found in all products that contain sugar, and the preparation of which requires heating to high temperatures.
How long can honey be heated without harming its quality?
Let's start with temperatures. To prepare for packaging, honey is usually dissolved in a water bath, where it is heated from 45 to 50⁰C. Such heating for two days does not lead to a significant increase in the amount of hydroxymethylfurfural, and the values of this substance remain within the normal limits of the standard.
When honey is heated to 80⁰C for 2 minutes and then rapidly cooled, hydroxymethylfurfural also does not have time to form in a more or less significant amount, the honey remains almost the same quality as before heating.
Thus, the amount of hydroxymethylfurfural in honey is directly proportional to the time and intensity of its heating.
With prolonged heating above 50⁰C, some vitamins and enzymes of honey are destroyed, which changes its biological properties.
Is it harmful to add honey to hot tea?
Now it’s logical to approach the key question.
Will it be formed hydroxymethylfurfural in honey, which was put in hot tea? Even if it does, it will be in a very small amount, completely insignificant. Honey dissolves in hot tea, and the concentration of sugars decreases. The acidity of the environment also decreases. The amount of honey that you added to the tea will not be capable of causing harm in any way, especially considering the insignificant fraction of the increase in the concentration of hydroxymethylfurfural.
And we have already mentioned that the danger of this substance has not been proven by anyone.
What about biological changes?
And here is the most interesting thing.
Honey does lose a significant portion of its vitamins and enzymes when heated in hot tea. But it is worth knowing that initially the concentration of vitamins in honey is not so high, and was previously exaggerated. This is not a vitamin preparation, although it contains vitamins.
But the destruction of potential proteins, enzymes, vitamins may even be beneficial for people who suffer from food allergies, as well as for young children who have an increased risk of allergies.
At the same time, heating honey allows it to exhibit its other beneficial properties. This is what O.N. writes in the magazine “Beekeeping”, No. 2, 2002. Mashenkov:
When honey is heated, enzymes and some vitamins are destroyed, releasing mobile metal ions that activate the action of many biological catalysts in the human body. If you eat heated honey, the ions of potassium, sodium, copper, zinc, magnesium, manganese, iron and other elements enter into reactions that ensure normal cell activity, and are also included in enzymes that regulate various chemical reactions.
Thus, the statement that putting honey in tea is harmful is not true. Enjoy delicious and aromatic tea and choose natural honey.
Natalya Trokhimets
Scientists believe that adding sugar to tea is not always justified, since, according to statistics, people who drink black tea without it are less likely to get cancer. This rule does not apply to green tea - sugar only enhances the positive healing properties of this drink and improves the absorption of catechins contained in green tea.
Catechins are powerful natural antioxidants that are present in both green and black tea.
Thanks to catechins, the effect is neutralized free radicals, which disrupt the functioning of body cells and provoke the development of malignant tumors. Catechins also delay the development of cardiovascular failure and diabetes. At the same time, tea contains much more catechins than vegetables and fruits, however, when adding more catechins to tea than necessary, catechins are noticeably lost. Milk creates a negative impact on the antioxidant potential of tea and significantly reduces its therapeutic effect in conjunction with its overall immune-stimulating benefits.
Harm of tea with honey
Honey is much healthier than sugar - this is why it is often added to tea and drunk for colds. Scientists say this is not possible, since temperatures above 40 degrees completely destroy diastase (a valuable enzyme in honey), and more high temperature oxidizes fructose contained in honey and turns it into a carcinogen. The oxidation product can provoke the development of malignant tumors in the gastrointestinal tract, so putting honey in hot tea is highly not recommended, since the drink is quite harmful and, in fact, is poison.
In order for honey to be completely absorbed by the body, you need to eat it from a spoon with warm water - this way it will not lose its many beneficial properties.
The same should be done with lemon, which, under the influence of high temperatures, also loses vitamin C and many other useful components that are destroyed by boiling water. In order for the lemon to give all its vitamins intact, it should be placed in slightly cooled tea.
However, if life is not sweet without tea with honey, it can sometimes be consumed - for example, as a remedy for insomnia. Take a walk before bed and drink a cup of this at night delicious drink which will help you relax and quickly calm down the excited nervous system. If you feel a slight perspiration, it means that the honey has begun to remove accumulated toxins from the muscles and taking the “medicine” was not in vain.
“Even honey, if taken as medicine, is bitter” - that’s what people say. Can honey be considered a medicine, and tea with honey - healing? And when does honey turn from a healthy sweetness into poison?
We will tell you in this article what honey is, what its varieties are, whether you can drink hot tea with honey, and how to heat honey correctly.
What is honey made of: chemical composition
Honey is a viscous substance that has been familiar to everyone since childhood for its cloying sweetness. It is collected by bees, mainly in late spring, and people extract it from honeycombs. Everyone knows what honey looks like, most people have tried it at least once, but few people have thought about its composition. But he is very rich.
Honey mainly consists of carbohydrates. In addition to them, the sweets include: water, acids, including gluconic acid, amino acids and proteins, trace elements, bacteria, yeast and volatiles essential oils. The amount of all these substances in honey is insignificant.
Sometimes honey contains pesticides and antibiotics - this is the work of unscrupulous sellers. This is why honey on the market or in a store should be treated with caution. However, honey may also contain natural toxins. This is already the responsibility of the bees or even the flowers from which the bees collect nectar. In nature, there are flowers with poisonous nectar. There are not so many of them and bees prefer not to collect such nectar, but it happens that it still ends up in the honeycombs.
Types of honey and their benefits
Honey is an invaluable substance in its properties, but you need to know what varieties there are, how they differ and what ailments they are suitable for treating.
Meadow honey has a calming effect, helps relieve migraines, get rid of lack of sleep, and heal the respiratory organs. Meadow honey will benefit people who experience problems with the heart, vascular system, stomach and skin.
Kidneys, anemia, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal diseases should be treated with forest honey. Nectar collected by bees from the flowers of rowan, viburnum, willow, linden, black maple and hawthorn contains keratin, B vitamins, vitamin C, as well as E, K and PP.
May honey ripens three to four months after harvest. It is well absorbed by the body, as it is rich in fructose. Insulin is practically not needed to break down fructose, so drinking May honey is considered to prevent diabetes and protect the pancreas.
Buckwheat honey- This is a storehouse of iron and protein. They treat anemia. Constant consumption of buckwheat honey ensures the active functioning of the hematopoietic organs, improves blood composition, restores the liver and accelerates cell regeneration.
Recommended for seasonal colds, ARVI and even flu linden honey. It lowers temperature and activates sweating. Due to its anti-inflammatory properties, it is effective in treating inflammation of the kidneys, gallbladder and gastrointestinal tract.
Acacia honey strengthens the nervous system, relieves headache and helps with insomnia. This is the most popular and healthy variety of honey. It can be eaten by children, pregnant women and people suffering from diabetes. It has pronounced antimicrobial and antibacterial properties. Treats dermatitis, gastritis and ulcers.
Clover honey good for women with gynecological diseases, also helps treat the respiratory system. The main properties of clover honey are expectorant, antimicrobial and diaphoretic.
When honey stops helping and starts harming
Honey is sweetness. It contains a lot of carbohydrates, which means the calorie content of honey is high. Depending on the variety, it ranges from 300 to 450 kilocalories per hundred grams of product. Diabetics and people who are prone to obesity are not recommended to eat honey. No, of course, you can pamper yourself, but nothing more.
Allergy sufferers may experience nausea and vomiting after consuming honey; in addition, hives, high fever, and even asthma attacks are likely. In this regard, it is better not to give honey to children under two years of age. And after two years, you shouldn’t overdo it, because too much honey eaten can lead to caries. To avoid unpleasant consequences for teeth, it is better to rinse your mouth after eating honey.
There is an opinion that purchased honey is also harmful. However, this is not entirely true: it is simply not useful. At factories, preservatives are added to honey, and then it is distilled through filters. This is done for cleaning, uniform color, and to make it more convenient to pour into jars. At the same time, the taste properties of honey are preserved. Therefore, for those who are not looking for benefits, but simply like to enjoy honey, there will be no difference between honey from an apiary and from a store.
Also, the beneficial properties of honey begin to evaporate even after a year of storage. And this despite the fact that the honey itself may not spoil for many years. The best time to use honey for medicinal or prophylactic purposes is immediately after collection and within 12 months.
Honey in hot tea: benefits and harms
Honey is wonderful useful product, which can turn into poison in a few seconds. This transformation does not depend on the sellers (if they did not heat the honey), the addition of preservatives and bees, it’s all about heating.
Is it possible to add honey to hot tea instead of sugar? Honey should not be heated or added to hot tea, hot coffee, water or milk: it becomes hazardous to health.
Already when heated to 40 degrees, honey begins to lose its healing properties and turns into a sweet fructose syrup; after 45 degrees, the product changes composition, all enzymes collapse, and honey becomes more harmful than beneficial.
With further heating to 60 degrees and above, a substance is formed in honey - oxymethylfurfural. If this terrible substance is constantly consumed as food, then the risk of malignant tumors in the digestive tract increases tenfold.
In addition, when honey is heated, saccharides turn into carcinogenic substances. Their frequent use negatively affects the functioning of the kidneys, blood vessels, liver, stomach and intestines. General poisoning of the body occurs.
Conclusion: Hot honey is harmful to health, so hot tea and honey are incompatible.
Therefore, hot honey can be used exclusively for cosmetic purposes, especially since its consistency will facilitate this.
But it is better to use honey with tea or coffee, as they say, as a bite - it’s both tasty and healthy.
How to heat honey correctly
If you need heated honey, you will have to adhere to some rules.
Rule ONE. Never use a microwave to heat honey. With this heating method, honey loses all its beneficial properties within a minute.
Rule TWO. Use a water bath. In this case, the beneficial properties of the product are preserved. After the water in the bath boils, the gas must be reduced to a minimum. The most important thing in this heating method is to control the temperature of the water; if this is not done, the effect will be like in a microwave.
How to control the temperature of honey: the water is brought to a boil, then the gas is reduced, and the water slowly continues to boil. Place a container of honey on top of a saucepan of water, but the honey in the container will not immediately heat up to 100 degrees. The temperature will rise gradually, and you will have to monitor it with a thermometer in your hands (you stand and control that the temperature of the honey does not exceed 40 degrees).
Is it possible to put this honey in hot tea or hot milk? Yes, if the temperature control technology is not compromised. Honey is harmful to health only if it is heated above 60 degrees, but if the temperature of honey does not exceed 40, it will retain all its beneficial properties.
The most famous and useful bee product is honey, often used in recipes. traditional medicine. Along with cooking recipes healthy mixtures and decoctions, you can often find recommendations not to put honey in a hot mixture. Our article will tell you why this should not be done and what will happen if you ignore this advice.
What processes occur under the influence of temperature?
To prepare the honey mixture, hardworking bees use plant pollen, adding many more useful substances in the process. This gives the product a characteristic smell and taste, and also provides many beneficial properties. At the same time, most organic compounds do not tolerate heat, being destroyed or transformed into harmful substances. Vitamins and organic acids are destroyed at elevated temperatures, and from everything useful composition Only minerals and carbohydrates remain in honey. This mixture will retain some of the taste and calorie content, but the benefits from it will be much less.
That is why honey and honey are completely incompatible, because boiling water will destroy almost all useful substances, and with prolonged heating, carcinogens are formed in the mixture. Why this happens can be explained from the point of view of chemical processes, because temperature in such cases serves as a catalyst that triggers such transformations in the honey product. As a result of such reactions, another compound is formed - hydroxymethylfurfural. This substance is a strong carcinogen and, if consumed regularly, can lead to the formation of tumors and irreversible changes in the body. Elderly people are at risk, because the threat oncological diseases increases with age-related changes in the body. In addition, patients with already diagnosed gastrointestinal pathologies should not take risks, because in this case there is every chance of aggravating the underlying disease and triggering tumor growth in the gastrointestinal tract.
How to prevent unwanted transformation?
It is quite possible to avoid the negative processes that occur when honey is heated. To do this, you need to remember that the critical temperature at which negative changes begin is 60 degrees. Is it possible to put honey in hot tea? Absolutely not, but by waiting until the liquid has cooled down sufficiently, you can safely enjoy your favorite drink, receiving all the possible benefits from it.
In addition, several important nuances should be taken into account:
- Some types of honey are practically insoluble in liquid (sunflower or rapeseed, for example), so it is better to eat them as a bite.
- Recommended amount of bee product: no more than two teaspoons per cup of tea. Exceeding the volume will not bring additional benefit, but may provoke a negative reaction from the body.
- By adding honey to hot tea, you not only deprive yourself of the beneficial qualities of the product, but also endanger yourself, because harmful carcinogens begin to form in it. It is believed that such a product can provoke the formation and growth of tumors, as well as cause intoxication of the body.
- The optimal liquid temperature is 40 degrees. Honey will dissolve well in this drink and will not be hazardous to health. In addition, this is the optimal temperature for drinking liquids during illness - this way the body will not need to expend additional strength and energy to reduce the temperature of the infusions taken.
- For lovers of hot tea, we can recommend drinking honey as a bite. This will help provide the body with everything it needs, but without risk to health. By the way, it is necessary to take into account that hot drinks and dishes are prohibited if you have problems with the gastrointestinal tract, and are also dangerous for dental health. That is why it is better not to add honey immediately after brewing tea, but to wait for it to cool partially - it is both healthier and safer.
- For greater benefits, many beekeepers recommend not eating honey as a bite, but dissolving it in the mouth. This way, all valuable substances are quickly absorbed and enter the digestive tract. You can drink honey with tea after it has dissolved, which will provide additional benefits and a pleasant taste.
It is best to refrain from consuming hot honey, as this can provoke an undesirable reaction in the body. To do this, when preparing any recipes, you must first mix all the other ingredients, and add the required amount of honey to the cooled mixture. This is how all healing mixtures and decoctions are prepared, as well as cosmetics use of valuable honey product.
How to properly store and use honey
It must be taken into account that long-term storage of honey in unsuitable conditions also affects the quality of the products. A well-lit place, as well as constant overheating, is not suitable for this. Under such conditions, the transformation of organic acids into toxic compounds will also occur, albeit at a slightly slower pace. In order to ensure maximum safety of the product, you must follow several rules.
How to properly preserve all the benefits of honey:
- Always purchase a fresh and high-quality product, because if stored improperly, the beneficial properties may be lost.
- It is advisable to allocate a separate place for storage (in a closet, cellar, on the veranda), protected from direct sunlight, high humidity and pollution.
- You should not heat thickened honey so that irreversible changes do not occur in it.
- Adding honey to baked goods and hot dishes is unacceptable, as is baking meat products with honey (there are many similar recipes).
You can learn more about the benefits and harms of bee products from the attached video.
Traditional recipes using honey are extremely useful and help with many ailments. They are often used for the treatment and prevention of colds, which means they require the use of hot decoctions. Our article will tell you whether it is possible to add honey to hot tea and how to preserve the healing properties of the bee product without unwanted changes.