Drinking tea with honey for colds is the most common advice of our caring grandmothers. However, the question of whether it is possible to put honey in hot tea these days causes a lot of controversy.
The content of the article
- 1 What is the essence of the problem
- 2 Scientific view
- 3 Oxymethylfurfural
- 3.1 People’s opinion
- 3.2 Scientific evidence
- 4 How to drink tea correctly
- 4.1 Herbal teas
- 5 Common questions
What is the essence of the problem
On the one hand, this is the recommendation of many reference books on traditional medicine, according to which honey is put in teas or boiled in water along with some herbal mixture.
On the other hand, there is no consensus even among folk healers. For example, in the collection “Health on the Wings of a Bee”, which contains monastic recipes for the use of bee products, it is strictly forbidden to treat with honey.
Topic article:
Can honey replace sugar?
Scientific view
Bee honey is not just sweetness. It is a unique natural product with a perfectly balanced chemical composition. A therapeutic effect is expected from its reception – health benefits.
Its quality is checked by laboratory means. Strict standards have been set for flower nectar collected and processed by bees. They are recorded in GOST.
After checking the next batch of honey, the laboratory issues the appropriate paper, which allows it to be sold on the market. That is, we must understand that the quality of a medical product is extremely important for our health.
And laboratory studies have shown that the resistance of honey when heated is low… What does this mean? With prolonged heating, the original nutritional and medicinal properties are lost, and the chemical composition changes.
At the same time, short-term heating to a temperature of 70-73 degrees for one or two minutes, and then sharp cooling to +25 degrees is used on an industrial scale for pasteurization of a honey product. This technology does not actually affect the quality.
But at home, especially when it comes to tea drinking, such a technological process is impossible. From which the obvious conclusion follows: high temperature has a detrimental effect on the honey product.
Here are some simple yet eloquent lab numbers:
- from +40 to +60 degrees – destruction of phytoncides, which are natural antibiotics;
- in the region of +50 – loss of bactericidal properties;
- above +60 – a sharp decrease in enzymatic activity, as indicated by invertase activity and diastase number in a laboratory test;
- up to +70 and above – the destruction of vitamins;
- above +80 – the destruction of fructose and a change in the composition of sugars.
Oxymethylfurfural
According to the level of oxymethylfurfural, the laboratory checks the natural origin of the honey product and its quality.
According to the requirements of the Russian GOST (19792-2001), its indicator should not be more than 25 milligrams for each kilogram of the honey product… This is a rather strict requirement to protect the markets from stale or incorrectly heated product.
A chemical compound is an intermediate product formed during the decomposition of sugars. The higher the storage temperature, and the longer the honey product is stored, the more oxymethylfurfural it contains. It is not in the nectar just pumped out. Also, education slows down if the temperature regime is + 5 … + 10 degrees. Freezing to -5 completely stops the decomposition process.
A study in rats has shown that the compound is potentially carcinogenic and toxic. But in humans, no statistical relationship has been found between oxymethylfurfural use and disease.
People’s opinion
At the same time, it is widely believed that a heated honey product contains carcinogens that cause cancer in humans. And according to this theory, the answer to the question of whether it is possible to add honey to hot tea is quite predictable.
The product undergoes prolonged heating, because tea is not drunk until it cools down. So, theoretically, there is an excess of oxymethylfurfural in it. In the process of metabolism, adducts with proteins or DNA can be formed, although mainly the products of metabolic processes in the human body are excreted in the urine.
Scientific evidence
But Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Back in 1975, he conducted studies proving that the intake of oxymethylfurfural in the body in an amount of 2 milligrams per kilogram of weight for a person is not dangerous.
Much more than in honey, this chemical compound is found in foods and drinks that are not at all tested for its content! For example, in roasted coffee (up to 2 milligrams per kilogram) or Coca-Cola (up to 000 milligrams per liter).
How to drink tea correctly
Here’s what experienced apitherapists advise:
“Suck a single dose of honey in your mouth like candy until it is completely dissolved. Then, after fifteen minutes, drink a hot herbal tea, such as chamomile or lime. With this use, the therapeutic effect for the throat, bronchi, lungs with colds will be most noticeable. “
Herbal teas
As herbal raw materials, you can use:
- mint – to relieve stress, improve sleep, good stomach function;
- lemon balm – to calm the nervous system;
- linden blossom – to fight viral infections of the throat, lungs;
- thyme herb – for sputum discharge with a strong cough;
- raspberry leaves or berries – to lower the temperature, as well as for sore throat, runny nose;
- Echinacea herb – for general strengthening of the body, increasing immunity;
- chamomile flowers – to normalize the digestive process, with colds;
- rose hips – to combat vitamin deficiency, normalize the work of the gastrointestinal tract.
Herbal raw materials are taken in the amount of one to two teaspoons… Brewed with a glass of boiling water. Infused for at least 15 minutes. It is filtered after cooling to 40 degrees. Then the drink is mixed with one or two teaspoons of the honey product.
Rosehip berries must first be chopped in a blender. Then a tablespoon of raw materials is poured into a thermos of 0,5 liters of boiling water and insisted overnight (at least five hours). In the morning, the infusion is diluted in half with boiled water and drunk with honey.
Such use of a honey product allows you to preserve all the healing properties, since high temperatures do not affect the vitamin composition, the content of biologically active substances, and the state of sugars.
On a note! Incorrectly heated honey does not crystallize at all, and also has a characteristic caramel aftertaste.
🌻: About the correct heating (melting) of candied honey
Common questions
Below are the answers to the most common questions asked by beekeepers and apitherapists.
Can I drink tea with honey while losing weight?
Of course, if the drink is warm. Also, do not exceed the daily dosage for your age. Usually, adults consume a maximum of one tablespoon at a time. Since the bee product is high in calories, it is better to drink this tea in the morning.
To read:
Diet and honey – can they be combined?
Can you drink green tea with honey?
Yes, this drink promotes weight loss. They drink it not hot and always in the morning. At this time, the metabolism is most active. Also green tea is suitable for fasting days. The recommended amount of honey product per cup is one teaspoon.
Can I put honey in boiling water?
You should not do this, as the healing effect will be lower. It is better to dissolve the honey product in warm boiled water. A similar answer to the question, can honey be poured with boiling water.
🌻:
Why and how do they drink water with honey?
It is up to you to decide whether you can drink tea with honey. And asking this question, keep in mind – a drink chilled to +40 and below does not pose any danger to the chemical composition of the honey product, as well as your health.
