In winter, we like to reach for honey, many of us add it to our tea to avoid catching a cold. It’s a very good way, but we have to remember that with some mistakes it can lose a lot of nutrients and therefore it doesn’t work as it should. What not to do with honey? How not to store it?
During the winter evening, we like to reach for a warm tea with honey. However, it will not always be full of vitamins and minerals that support the body. Honey is known for its health benefits and has also been proven to be non-perishable, which means you can store it in any way you like. However, this is not entirely true. Honey does not spoil, but it can lose its nutritional value. After that, even adding it to tea during a cold, for example, will not support the body.
How to store honey so that it does not lose its nutritional value?
In honey, we can find a lot of vitamins and minerals that support the activity of the whole organism, including the digestive and immune systems. This ingredient is often referred to as the oldest antibiotic in the world. Its beneficial effects are proven by hundreds of studies, but we often forget that too much heat can destroy the valuable nutrients in honey.
Who hasn’t left a jar of honey by the stove or a warm kettle? When we add this ingredient to cakes or teas, we often put it in a warm place, which can have negative effects. High temperatures destroy many trace elements in honey. In addition, not screwing up the container is a frequent mistake. so honey absorbs water, odors and other elements from the environment, which also does not serve its health-promoting properties. It is best to store honey in a cooler room away from the stove. The ideal temperature should be 18-20 degrees °C. If we have a cellar or a pantry where it is around 10-15 degrees °C, we can store honey there as well – a lower temperature will definitely be better than a higher one. We don’t have to store open honey in the refrigerator, but if we have the space, nothing prevents us from storing it there, but we have to remember that it crystallizes afterwards.
What to avoid when adding honey to tea?
Honey is most often added to teabut in order to preserve its health-promoting properties, you need to be aware of one very important thing – it should not be added to boiling water. Honey begins to lose its nutritional value at temperatures above 40 °C. That’s why it’s not worth adding it to the infused tea right away, it’s better to wait until it cools down and then add this sweet and healthy addition.
In addition, we should remember not to give honey with metal spoons. Honey has an acidic reaction and therefore can cause metal corrosiontherefore we should not leave metal spoons in it. Wooden ones would be a better choice. Of course, we can mix tea and honey with a standard spoon.
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