Cooking Honey Is A Disaster Waiting To Happen

Honey makes everything better. A low-glycemic alternative to sugar, honey is a sweet treat without the consequences of excessive sugar consumption. What's not to love? Not only is it a healthy option for a delectable sweetener, but it's also versatile.

You might think honey is reserved for topping off parfaits or drizzling atop smoothies and bananas, but in the culinary world, honey is used in a wide range of recipes — even savory ones. Honey-infused barbecue sauce makes for an irresistible pulled-pork sandwich and the golden sweet stuff can even be used to mellow out the heat in a too-spicy batch of soup — who knew? And like grandma used to say, a spoonful of honey a day keeps the doctor away.

While there are a million and one ways to use honey, there's just one catch — you should never cook it. Although warm honey drizzled over apple pie sounds like a dessert sent from heaven, you'll be glad you opted-in for regular, room-temperature honey.

Honey is a nutrient-dense food high in antioxidants, probiotics, amino acids, and anti-inflammatory properties. Long story short, honey is a healthy ingredient. But when you heat it up, you're eliminating all of the good stuff and changing its chemical makeup entirely. Once honey is heated, it kills the enzymes that give honey its healthy reputation. Polyphenols are the cancer-preventing antioxidants found in honey, but when heated, those too are destroyed.

According to Ayurveda, an ancient Indian medicinal system, consuming cooked honey can even make you sick. Ayurvedic medicine claims that eating honey that's been cooked past 115 degrees Fahrenheit is considered toxic to the body.

Although there hasn't been much scientific research regarding the Ayurvedic claims, it's been proven that heating honey does in fact eliminate most of the healthy, naturally-occurring ingredients that can help prevent disease, soothe colds, and reduce bodily inflammation. Plus, heating honey dulls its sweet flavor and fragrant aroma.

In order to warm up honey without compromising its health benefits, try heating it up in a honey-warming blanket. Honey-warming blankets are a kitchen tool specifically designed to heat your honey without debasing all of its nutrient-rich elements.