Three Faces
of Honey
This
natural sweeter can be medicinal, toxic, or even fake
Honey is an ancient food with medicinal, nutritional and
cosmetic benefits. While honey is generally perceived as an excellent food, it
also has a bad and an ugly side. Here is a brief overview. The good Honey is
considered a medicine in Ayurveda, thanks to properties such as ruksha (fat
reducing when consumed, thus good for weight loss therapy), and sheetal
(cooling, so used for skin and blood disorders).
It is used in very small quantities because it enters deep into
the tissues when consumed orally. Many Ayurvedic medicines use honey as a
transporter. Honey is used to treat blood disorders, pneumonia, asthma, and
chest congestion, among other ailments.
The bad
If you do not consume honey properly, it can be poisonous. So...
Do not consume it together with an equal amount of ghee as the
combination is toxic. Do not cook, boil or bake with honey. Do not eat products
that use honey as a sweetener, but process and heat the honey during
manufacture.
The
ugly
Certain manufacturers sell honey that is actually made of sugar.
Here’s how to test for genuine honey:
Honey is an ant-killer. Place your honey on a tabletop; if it
attracts ants, it is sugar.
With very low moisture, honey does not soak into blotting paper.
Honey does not dissolve in water. Put a drop of honey on a teaspoon and try to
burn it. If it catches fire, it’s honey because it contains volatile compounds.
Kinds
of Honey
In the modern world, honey is categorised
according to the flower from which is it is sourced. But, Ayurveda categorises
it by the type of bee, recognising that the bee’s enzymes can make a difference
to the honey produced. There are eight types of honey, according to Ayurveda,
including Oudalaka, made from flowers that are slightly toxic, but made medicinal
by the bee’s enzymes.
HTBR 4FEB18
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