Milk and honey: Is it good to have them together?
Milk and honey
Honey and milk both are packed with essential nutrients and are known for their amazing health benefits. Honey is known for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, while milk is a rich source of protein, calcium and lactic acid. They are nature’s most sacred treasures. But do you think they are equally effective when consumed together?
The health benefits
Honey and milk is a classic combination. It does not only have a calming effect but has been researched for its medicinal properties as well. Replacing your regular sugar with a spoonful of honey in your milk can have the following potential health benefits.
Improve bone health
Milk, being one of the greatest sources of calcium helps to improve your bone health. It is also rich in potassium, which is an essential nutrient that can help to regulate the blood pressure level.
Good for lungs
Drinking milk with honey is an effective remedy to prevent respiratory problems. The warm beverage kills and flushes out bacteria to ease respiratory tract infections. It is also an effective remedy when suffering from a sore throat.
Fight stomach infection
The drink’s antibacterial and antioxidant properties destroy infection-causing bacteria in the stomach. It helps to restore the good gut bacteria and speed up your recovery from any stomach ailments.
May improve sleep
As mentioned earlier, honey and milk have a calming and comforting effect on our brain. Drinking this concoction right before going to bed may help to improve your sleep quality.
The humour surrounding milk and honey
It is believed that mixing honey in a hot drink makes the beverage toxic. However, this statement is not entirely correct. The problem is with heating the honey. It is a common notion that heating anything with sugar can release a chemical called 5-hydroxymethylfurfual or HMF, which is carcinogenic in nature.
As per a study carried out by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, honey, when heated (>140°C) and mixed with ghee produces HMF which may act as poison in due course. When we put it in milk, the optimal temperature of the beverage is much less than 140 degrees. So it's better not to heat honey. Boil the milk and let it cool down for 10 minutes before adding honey in it.