Adding Honey to Tea | Benefits? Reasoning? Cons?

This article is all about honey. It has been on my mind since I did an article on adding milk to tea, Milk & Tea | History? Benefits? Reasoning?. I have wondered if any other tea additions could have an impact on your tea. I personally love honey, but I usually only use honey in my tea when I am feeling sick or have a scratchy throat. So I want to do a full investigation of the impact that honey has on tea. Fun first fact: honey in tea can amplify the benefits of green and black tea.

Benefit #1) It can help your Seasonal Allergies

Local honey is incredibly beneficial for your allergies. This is why I try and only buy local honey, which is extremely hard to do when local honey could be $7 for a large jar and Costco has honey for 5.99 for 2–3x the (non-local) honey. Local Bees get their pollen from local plants which could be the very allergins which you react to. By having that local honey, you are helping your body better fight those seasonal allergies. A spoonful a day keeps the allergies away! Well, it might help. Either eating the spoonful raw or incorporating it into your tea, it helps! This honey is also unprocessed and pure in most cases. When the honey is purer, its medicinal benefits (anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial) are stronger. By putting local honey into your tea, you are helping your allergies and the added benefits of drinking tea (also buying local honey helps local bee farms maintain their bees and bee equipment).

Benefit #2) Can Help with Menstrual Cramps

Drinking hot tea with honey can help with overall body blood flow which helps ease the pain that comes with menstrual cramps. Do keep in mind that any caffeinated teas can actually make cramps worse, so brew decaffeinated tea (such as herbal or rooibos tea) and add honey!

Benefit #3) Help Squash Sickness Symptoms

Coughing? Honey helps with that. Sore throat? Honey can help with that too! Having tea with honey can help coat your throat and soothe any irritation there. It also can help break up mucus in the back of your throat and ease coughing naturally. This could be especially helpful before bed (if you find yourself coughing and waking up in the night).