Role of honey in Ayurvedic treatment --Healthy Nectar Why is Honey so important in Ayurvedic healing? download (4)Honey has a powerful therapeutic action because of its incredible antibacterial and antifungal properties. Due to these properties it is widely used for skin problems, such as cold sores (mixed with turmeric) and non-healing ulcers. It is often used in cough and lung medicines because it breaks up mucus. It is also used widely in aphrodisiacs which can be explained by honey being sourced from flowers which are the plant’s reproductive organs. According to the principle ‘like increases like’ honey has the potential to nourish our reproductive organs by increasing what Ayurveda terms ‘ojas’. It is hence a valuable rejuvenator and used in many rasayana formulas, such as Chywanaprash. Eating locally produced honey can also protect you against seasonal allergies such as hayfever and asthma. Additionally according to Ayurveda it is the best ‘yogavahi’ substance. This Sanskrit word refers to honey’s ability to carry the properties of medicines added to it. This is due to the fact that honey originates from flowers having different tastes and properties and itself has many latent therapeutic powers. As such honey is often used as a carrier of other medicines or herbs. What are the different types of honey in ayurveda? According to ayurveda, there are eight different types of honey: 1.Makshikam: Used in the treatment of eye diseases, hepatitis, piles, asthma, cough and tuberculosis 2.Bhraamaram: Used in the treatment when blood is vomited 3.Kshoudram: Used in the treatment of diabetes 4.Pauthikam: Used in the treatment of diabetes and urinary infection 5.Chathram: Used in the treatment of worm infestation, when blood is vomited and diabetes 6.Aardhyam: Effective for eye diseases, cough and anaemia 7.Ouddalakam: Increases taste and swarasudhi.Used in the treatment of leprosy and poisoning cases 8.Daalam: It increases digestion and helps in the treatment of cough, vomiting and diabetes. a. Honey should not be mixed with hot foods. b. Honey should not be heated The scientific view? Its easy to dismiss these thoughts as bunkum if you do not respect the wisdom of the Ayurvedic tradition. So where does modern science stand on this issue? One scientific paper looked at both heating honey and mixing honey with ghee in equal proportions, both deemed toxic by the ancient texts. This study showed that when honey is heated it produces a chemical called hydroxymethyl furfuraldehyde (HMF) as well as altering the chemical content in other ways (eg: increased peroxides). The study is looking at the effects on rats and is complicated but concludes that HMF “may produce deleterious effects and act as a poison in due course”, especially when heated honey is mixed with ghee. So what about the bees- considering honey is their Winter food? Phil Chandler, a pioneer of natural beekeeping writes that bees fed heated honey die to HMF being toxic to bees. He also states that some sources state that HMF may also be toxic to humans. However, other web-articles state that it is not toxic to humans and that much higher levels are routinely found in molasses and other sugar products. As usual, more research needs to be done on whether HMF is harmful to humans or not. I feel it is not rocket science that heating honey affects its properties. The fact that heated honey kills bees is enough for me to heed the Ayurvedic warnings and use something like coconut palm sugar or jaggary where heating is required.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 13:03:36 +0000
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