Benefits of Honey

Honeybees make honey, a sweet, viscous substance. These Bees produce honey from the sugary secretions of plants or secretions of other insects. The best honey for human consumption comes from honeybees that are commercially available. It is broadly classified into two types, raw and regular. It is raw honey extracted from the honeycomb, whereas regular honey is processed before it is bottled. Both kinds of honey have health benefits and are used in cooking.

Chemical composition and common names-

Ayurveda also refers to honey as Makshika, which literally means “made by bees” in English. Honey is also known in Sanskrit as Madhu, which means sweet. Honey mainly consists of fructose, glucose, sucrose, maltose, and other complex carbohydrates.

Ayurvedic properties and therapeutic benefits of honey–

Honey has Madhura, which is a dominant sweet taste followed by Kashaya, which is an astringent after-taste. Honey is light to digest and causes dryness in the body. It is easily and deeply absorbed and reaches the Strotasa (micro-channels) even at the cellular level. The best quality of the honey will not spread quickly and will settle at the bottom when poured in water. Honey also balances the Kapha and Pitta Dosha. Ayurveda claims that direct heating of honey will lead to the formation of toxic compounds.

Health Benefits of Honey

Honey has immense health benefits. Ayurveda considers it as the best adjuvant for medicine consumption or as a natural sweetener. It is ideal to use Honey that is one year old, for therapeutic purposes. Some of the benefits of honey are as follows:

• Improves appetite.
• Beneficial for eye health.
• It is easily digestible, so that it can replace complex sugars.
• Useful in treating cough and cold when mixed with medicines as an adjuvant.
• Natural detox agent hence promoting fat loss.
• Improves digestion and absorption.
• Improves liver function by enhancing the secretion of enzymes.
• It is clinically studied for proven health benefits in cancer patients and metabolic disorders.

Ayurvedic Uses and home remedies:

• Mixing ginger powder with honey relieves coughs and sore throats.
• Consuming one tb spoon of honey followed by a glass of warm water regularly on an empty stomach boosts metabolism and aids weight loss.
• Local application of honey is useful for mouth ulcers.

Related article –  9 ways to how to detox your body naturally (theayurvedco.com)