A mixture of warm milk and honey is often used in the treatment of throat ailments. This combination of natural products is extremely successful, as honey and milk complement each other, enhancing the overall therapeutic effect.
Milk is almost a complete complex of substances necessary for human health and life. It is not for nothing that the first few months of life, an infant can fully eat exclusively breast milk. Of course, cow's or goat's milk differs in composition, but, nevertheless, it contains one of the most complete lists of useful compounds.
This includes a rich protein fraction, including essential amino acids, fats and carbohydrates - the body's energy fuel, vitamin complexes, trace elements, etc.
Honey is a beekeeping product, known for both its taste and medicinal properties for many hundreds of years. The composition of honey contains about 150 different compounds that have biochemical activity, one way or another benefit our body. Scientists still cannot come to a consensus on whether honey should be considered a common food product or classified as a medicinal substance.
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The honey-milkshake contains antioxidants, an almost complete list of vitamins, essential trace elements (in particular, calcium), etc. Thanks to this, the mixture has anti-inflammatory, emollient and antibacterial effects at the same time. These three effects work together to reduce the intensity of a sore throat:
- Reducing the severity of inflammation directly affects pain.
- The softening and enveloping effect protects the mucous membrane from temperature, chemical and mechanical damage.
- The antibacterial effect helps in the fight against the direct cause of throat disease, which is most often caused by pathogens.
Important! Honey is a highly allergenic substance. Therefore, before starting such treatment, it is necessary to make sure that the patient does not suffer from individual intolerance to bee products.
In addition to the above characteristics, the milk-honey mixture has a number of other beneficial effects:
- normalization of the functions of the digestive tract;
- sedative effect and improvement of night sleep;
- cosmetological effects (improving the condition of the skin and hair);
- creating an energy reserve for the whole day, etc.
Milk with honey recipe
This is the simplest of the throat treatment mix options and includes only warmed milk and honey. To prepare this liquid, put 1 tablespoon of honey in half a liter of warm milk and dissolve thoroughly. One glass of this solution should be drunk every evening before bedtime. It is useful to add a teaspoon of lemon juice to the glass just before use. But you need to take the mixture right away, since lemon juice causes the milk proteins to curdle.
With honey and butter
Heat half a liter of milk and add 30 grams of fresh butter to it. Make sure the oil is completely dissolved. Let the liquid cool to 35-40 ° C and add 1 tablespoon of liquid honey. The mixture must be drunk before going to bed in the amount of 1 glass. Immediately after use, you should wrap yourself up in a blanket warmly and try to sleep. It is not recommended to talk, drink or eat anything - this will reduce the therapeutic effect.
A recipe that includes milk, honey, and throat butter may be useful to modify by adding some vegetable juices. The resulting drink will lose its attractive taste, but will have a more pronounced therapeutic effect. It is recommended to use juice of black radish, carrot, pumpkin and even onion as such additives. The volume of this component is 1 teaspoon per 1 glass.
With soda and honey
This recipe will be especially useful if the sore throat is caused not only by inflammation of the mucous membrane, but also by an intense cough, which is a common symptom of colds. To prepare this mixture, take half a liter of warmed fresh milk and dissolve 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of liquid honey in it.
This solution should be consumed immediately after preparation. In this case, milk envelops and soothes the mucous membrane of the throat, and baking soda suppresses the cough reflex. In many situations, a dry, "tearing" cough disappears immediately after the first fluid intake, which significantly alleviates the patient's condition and reduces the severity of the sore throat.
Important! Milk with the addition of honey and soda is recommended to be consumed exclusively after meals. Thanks to this, such a mixture will not irritate the gastric mucosa.
Milk with honey for a sore throat caused by a strong cough is useful in two more recipes:
- In 1 cup of hot milk, put 1 teaspoon of aniseed, the same amount of liquid honey and a pinch of baking soda. Let the solution cool on its own to room temperature. In case of severe cough symptoms, take this remedy by mouth up to 10 times a day.
- Take 1 cup of oat grains, add to 1 liter of milk and cook over low heat until the grains swell strongly. Filter the liquid through cheesecloth, cool to 40 ° C and dissolve 50 g of butter and 2-3 tablespoons of honey there. Take in the same way as in the previous recipe.
With honey, onion and garlic
This blend does not taste good, but it is very effective in combating the direct cause of sore throat - a bacterial infection. The composition of garlic and onion contains phytoncides - specific substances of plant origin with a pronounced disinfecting effect. Once on the mucous membrane of the throat, these compounds effectively destroy microorganisms on the surface of the tonsils. D
To prepare the mixture, peel and finely chop 1 medium onion. Then take 2 large garlic cloves and crush into pulp. Put these two ingredients in half a liter of milk, put on fire, let it boil and boil for 5 minutes. Then filter the resulting liquid through cheesecloth. Cool the milk to 40 ° C and add 4 tablespoons of liquid honey there. Make sure that the honey is completely dissolved, and drink this liquid half a glass after each meal. The unpleasant aftertaste that this recipe possesses can be easily mitigated by adding 2-3 peppermint leaves to the still hot milk.
Application features
The above recipes are contraindicated not only in the case when the patient is allergic to honey, but also in case of intolerance to dairy products. This symptom is due to a lack of lactase, an enzyme necessary to break down milk sugar. Lactase deficiency is common in some races and is also common in older people.
Honey, as well as other beekeeping products, is not recommended for use in children under the age of 3 years. This is due to the physiological immaturity of the child's immune system and, as a result, the high risk of an allergic reaction.
Important! Mixtures containing honey and milk are capable of raising the temperature of a person's body for a short time. Therefore, if in the course of the illness the patient's temperature reached 38 ° C or more, then it is better to refrain from using such recipes.
Be sure to make sure that the milk itself is not too hot. Firstly, a liquid with a temperature of more than 50 ° C serves as a strong enough irritant for the sore throat, making the situation worse.And secondly, the medicinal compounds that make up honey are sensitive to temperature effects. In an environment that is too hot, these substances disintegrate, lose their structure and, accordingly, lose their therapeutic effect. The optimum milk temperature for dissolving honey is 30-40 ° C.
