Things to avoid when using honey that everyone should know.

1. Uses of honey

Honey has a sweet taste and a neutral nature; it acts on the spleen, lungs, and large intestine meridians.

ButBoost your body's immunity and prevent infections.You should eat 5 teaspoons of honey daily, either with bread or with tea or fresh milk.

- Nourishing the body:Honey whipped with egg yolks, eaten once a day, will give you a rosy complexion and a healthy body. You can drink this continuously for a month, 2-3 times a week, maintaining this for 2-3 months a year.

ButRecovering strength after illness:Honey mixed with powdered Panax notoginseng, consumed in small portions with each meal, can help restore strength after illness. Mix 3-5g of Panax notoginseng with 2-3 teaspoons of honey and consume for about 15 consecutive days after recovery.

- Reduces symptoms of the common cold and flu:Drink a glass of warm lemon water with 2 teaspoons of honey added. Continue this until the symptoms disappear.

- Treating coughs:Take a fresh lemon, make incisions in the peel, then add a few teaspoons of honey, letting it soak into the entire lemon. Let it sit for about 1-2 hours, then cut it up and suck on the slices. This will help relieve coughs and can be used until symptoms disappear.

Note that it is important to choose pure, unadulterated wild honey from a reputable producer. Store the honey in glass containers or other materials that do not cause oxidation reactions with the honey's components.

2. Who should avoid using honey?

Although honey has many health benefits, it should not be used in the following cases:Infants and children under 1 year old are more prone to allergic reactions.Women who are pregnant.People with low blood pressure or low blood sugar.People who have recently undergone surgery, npeople with cirrhosis,Diabetes (depending on the severity of the disease, consult an endocrinologist).Digestive dysfunction (honey has a laxative effect, so people prone to diarrhea, chronic colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, or those currently experiencing diarrhea and bloating should not use it).People with a history of allergies to certain components of honey.

3. Major taboos to avoid when using honey that you must not forget.

- Honey is incompatible with raw onions and garlic:Honey should not be consumed with raw onions or garlic..These two things are incompatible because onions and garlic are hot and pungent, while honey is sweet and hot. The pungent nature depletes energy, and the two clash, leading to symptoms of internal heat and bloating. You can treat this by drinking licorice tea.

ButHoney and soybeans are incompatible:Combining honey with soy can cause bloating, constipation, and even death.

Soybeans are rich in nutrients such as protein and amino acids; they provide fats, carbohydrates, and various vitamins and minerals, which are very beneficial to the body. Although soybeans and honey are good for you, combining them can cause biochemical reactions with the enzymes, minerals, and plant proteins in both, leading to poisoning and diarrhea. The mixture of soybeans and honey can solidify in the stomach, causing difficulty breathing and potentially leading to coma.

How to detoxify after eating soybeans with honey:If food poisoning occurs from eating soy products with honey within the last 6 hours, the affected person needs to be made to vomit up all the ingested food. Inducing vomiting helps remove the contaminated food from the body.

ButBabies under one year old should not eat honey:Honey is rich in nutrients and a healthy food. Therefore, many parents add honey to the food or milk of infants and young children to adjust the taste and increase nutritional value.

However, experts point out that honey is not suitable for infants and young children under 1 year old. Honey is easily contaminated with botulinum toxin during fermentation and transportation, as bees can carry pollen and honey contaminated with botulinum back to the hive during pollen collection. Botulinum toxin spores can survive at high temperatures of 100°C.

Because infants, especially those under 6 months, have immature digestive systems and poor liver detoxification capabilities, botulinum toxin can easily multiply in the intestines and produce toxins, leading to poisoning.

ButDo not drink honey with hot water.:Honey contains a large amount of oxidizing solvents; mixing it with boiling water can destroy these solvents, producing many aldehyde sugars with OH radicals, which significantly alters the nutritional composition of honey.

Studies show that using hot water above 60 degrees Celsius to mix with honey significantly increases hydroxymethyl furfuraldehyde (HMF) – a naturally occurring carcinogen.

ButHoney should not be given to people with a "hot" constitution.People with a "hot" constitution may experience internal heat when consuming honey. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, honey has a warming nature. Those with a "hot" constitution, such as those who frequently experience internal heat, hot soles and palms, hot flashes in the head, mouth ulcers, belching, heartburn, etc., should avoid honey or, if they do use it, should do so in small amounts—1-2 teaspoons per day, for 2-3 days as needed.

In traditional medicine, "heat meeting heat causes madness." If honey is overused in people with a hot constitution, it can cause restlessness, discomfort, chest tightness, insomnia, etc.

- Interactions with Western medicines:Pure honey may interact with birth control pills, blood sugar lowering medications, etc., so avoid using honey with these medications.