According to Ayurveda honey (madhu) is sweet/madhura in taste (rasa), astringent/kashaya in post digestive taste (vipaka), It is heavy (guru), dry (ruksha) and cold (sheeta). It aggravates vata, scrapes kapha and normalizes pitta and cleanses the blood. Honey contains fructose, glucose, sucrose and maltose. It also has proteins, vitamins, minerals and enzymes in it. It has high nutritional and medicinal value. It is often called a pre-digested food because if we put honey on the tongue, it gets absorbed straight into the circulation. As it contains sugars which are quickly absorbed by our digestive system and converted into energy, this can be used as instant energizer.
Honey is anti bacterial, good for healing, helps to induce a sound sleep, and increase ‘ojas’ (vitality). It is an anti oxidant, good for eyes (eye sight), useful in asthma, urinary tract infections, cough and worm infestations. Newly collected (fresh) honey increase body weight and is mild laxative. Old honey (more than six months old) helps in metabolism of fat and removes ‘kapha’/mucus from the body. According to Ayurveda, honey is ‘yogavahi’ and can penetrate into deep tissue and enhances the qualities of substance with which it is mixed. Often Ayurvedic medicines are prescribed to be taken with honey. This is to enhance their medicinal qualities and increase the tissue penetration. Eat a teaspoonful of honey daily and enjoy the benefits. Honey should not be heated directly on fire, however it can mixed into warm (not very hot) drinks.