7 Things That Can Happen to Your Body When You Have Honey With Milk

When you combine milk and honey, you're getting two foods with important nutrients as well as other components that can affect your body in some well-known and some surprising ways. Both honey and milk can help your body know it's time to rest, but these functional foods can do more than that when it comes to having an impact on your health.

1. Promotes Sleep

Honey plus milk is a well-known home remedy for sleeplessness. Both contain tryptophan, an amino acid (protein building block that helps the body release the hormones serotonin and melatonin, which can calm you and let your body know that it's time to sleep.

A small clinical trial of older individuals found that after three days of having milk and honey twice daily, their sleep improved.

Milk and honey can also help the gut microbiome (the community of microbes in the gut), which supports good sleep ang general health. They contain prebiotics (nutrients that promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria) and probiotics (living friendly bacteria normally present in the gut).

2. Good For Strong Bones

Calcium and vitamin D are closely linked to strong bones, and milk is a well-known and important source of both:

• Calcium is a mineral you must obtain from food. If you have insufficient calcium in your system, your body will take it from your bones, which can weaken them.

• Vitamin D is essential for various body functions, including aiding in the absorption and retention of calcium. Milk is fortified with vitamin D, meaning it is added to it.

The many antioxidant and anti-inflammatory micronutrients in honey could help reduce the risk or slow the progression of osteoporosis (progressive bone loss). In a study using animal models, honey also appeared to aid in the healing of fractures.

3. Could Promote Wound Healing

Honey and milk may offer some benefits when applied to the skin, rather than consumed as a drink, although research is only preliminary.

In an animal study on rabbits, one group had honey applied to a wound, a second group had milk applied, a third group had a combination of honey and milk, and a fourth the antibiotic cream sulfadiazine. The third group, which had the honey-milk combination, showed faster healing.

4. Can Promote a Healthy Heart

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends two to three servings of fat-free or low-fat dairy products daily as part of a heart-healthy diet.

While the AHA continues to recommend limiting whole milk, which is higher in saturated fat, newer studies have shown that whole milk may not be detrimental to heart health. Research shows that whole milk can help incrase beneficial high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and is not linked to increased blood pressure.

Honey could work in tandem with milk to help your heart. Studies have shown that honey can reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels (which are associated with heart disease) as well as lower your overall cholesterol.

5. You Take in Calories

One cup of whole milk contains approximately 150 calories. A tablespoon of honey adds about 64 additional calories. You could use milk with honey for a snack. Balance the benefits of milk and honey with your overall diet and calorie intake to avoid adding unwanted pounds.

6. You Take in Added Sugar

While honey is a natural product, it is considered "added sugar" in the diet. The sugars in honey are mostly glucose and fructose. The American Heart Association recommends limiting added sugars to no more than 6% of total daily calories (which would be about 2 tablespoons of honey).

The primary sugar in milk is lactose, and it is not considered an added sugar.

6. Can Be Hard to Digest

People with lactose intolerance have difficulty digesting the lactose in milk and may have symptoms such as nausea, gas, diarrhea, or bloating after drinking milk. If you have difficulty with dairy products, find lactose-free milk to use with honey for its health benefits.

Honey contains fructose, which some people have difficulty digesting. Fructose is included in the group of carbohydrates called fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols (FODMAPs) that can be poorly absorbed by the small intestine.

Honey is considered a high-FODMAP food, which can trigger certain digestive conditions, such as irritable bowel syndrome.

7. Raises Risk of Some Skin Conditions

In people up to the age of 30, consuming milk and other dairy products heightens the risk of developing acne. Young children with eczema have an increased prevalence of milk allergy.

Allergic reactions to honey are very rare, but not unknown and can cause hives (urticaria). Honey can also cause more serious reactions, such as swelling or difficulty breathing (anaphylaxis).