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“When heated, honey loses all its beneficial properties,” this information is known from more than one book on beekeeping and the culinary field. Unfortunately, sometimes it is hard to give up honey combined with delicious tea! However, when honey is added to hot drinks and dishes, it turns into ordinary sugar.
So what to do? Heat it or not?
Opinions differ: some believe that then honey becomes carcinogenic and others ignore all warnings. We decided to find out what happens to honey when heated and how dangerous it can be for the body.
8 interesting facts
Heat
When honey is heated, it releases hydroxymethylfurfural, which is a substance that belongs to potential carcinogens. In the group of poisons it ranks 9th and is practically impossible to eliminate from the body. It affects the central nervous system and promotes the development of malignant tumors.
Sweets and other foods
The mentioned substance is present in all sweets that were heated during the production process! This includes baked goods, compotes, candies or jams. However, the record for the content of this substance is held by instant coffee.
Content hydroxymethylfurfuralu
Comparing products by hydroxymethylfurfural content, honey is not the most dangerous. Sweet soda contains 300mg / kg, roasted coffee 2000mg / kg and honey only 25mg / kg.
Daily allowance
Scientists have recalculated the permissible daily allowance that we can take without harm. It is 2 mg / kg of body weight.
Heat
If you heat honey to a temperature of 45 ° C, its enzymes are destroyed and therefore it loses its value. However, when the temperature exceeds 60-80 ° C, it then becomes a carcinogenic product. This is the reason why it is not recommended to add it to hot drinks such as tea, boiled milk or mulled wine.
Quality
The more honey is exposed to heat, the more its quality deteriorates.
Water bath
Honey is beneficial when it is exclusively a fresh product, without heat treatment. If you still must heat it sometimes, do so using a water bath. In order not to lose its beneficial properties, the temperature should not exceed 40 ° C.
Storage
Studies have shown that honey deteriorates not only from excessive heating, but also from storage at temperatures higher than 20 ° C.
Since it is a beneficial product, let’s not allow it to be degraded by improper handling and thus harm our health. Avoid unnecessary dissolving of honey at high temperatures and enjoy its true taste.
