Folks have used caffeine, creatine, and protein shakes to energy up athletic performances for many years. However now health influencers and naturopathic medical doctors on TikTok have been doing one thing a bit of completely different recently to spice up their exercises.
They’re gulping down a spoonful of honey sprinkled with sea salt proper earlier than lacing up their sneakers.
They are saying it’s an affordable, pure pre-workout hack that gives a fast hit of vitality and helps your physique maintain on to hydration because of the electrolytes in salt. However does it truly work? And is it higher or worse than store-bought vitality drinks?
We requested registered dietitian Daisy Mercer if a spoonful of honey with a sprinkle of salt can actually enhance your exercise.
Well being advantages of honey
Honey accommodates anti-inflammatory compounds, together with flavonoids and polyphenols, in response to Mayo Clinic. It additionally has antioxidant properties that fight free radicals and scale back oxidative stress. So, with this sweetener, you’ll get some advantages you don’t discover in sugar or sugar-sweetened vitality drinks.
You’ll get energy-enhancing carbohydrates from any form of honey, however Mercer says you might get some further perks when you select a neighborhood honey. “Native honey might assist with allergic reactions,” she says.
That’s as a result of native honey is believed to comprise pollen from crops within the surrounding space.
The idea is that by ingesting small quantities of those native pollens by means of honey, the physique can construct up a tolerance and scale back allergic reactions when uncovered to them throughout allergy season.
This tip is extra anecdotal than science-baked, however there’s no hurt in making an attempt honey and discovering out if it helps you. TikTok swears by it.
Does it work?
In response to Mercer, this honey hack might add a bit of further one thing to your exercises.
“Honey is made up of easy, easy-to-digest carbohydrates, so it offers a fast hit of vitality that may be helpful in train,” she says. “It lets you really feel higher for longer whereas figuring out.” If you happen to strive it, you would possibly end up operating a bit of sooner, lifting a number of extra reps, or having a better time mountaineering uphill.
And it’s not simply the carbohydrates. The salt performs a task, too. “It helps preserve electrolyte stability,” Mercer says.
Although this salt-honey combo has some potential advantages, Mercer says it’s not precisely an equal swap for a industrial pre-workout drink.
“Evaluating honey with salt to a industrial pre-workout is an unfair and unreasonable comparability,” she says. “These merchandise have elements like caffeine, beta-alanine, citrulline, and plenty of different issues which can be proven to extend vitality and efficiency. Honey won’t provide you with as a lot vitality as 200mg of caffeine.”
Do I really want it?
If you happen to eat a balanced food regimen with sufficient carbohydrates, protein, and fats on a day-to-day foundation, you don’t really want honey or any form of pre-workout vitality drink in case your exercise is an hour or much less, in response to the American Faculty of Sports activities Medication. For most individuals it is sensible to stay to water.
Apart from, the science thus far doesn’t present a transparent payoff for this hack. Researchers have truly studied the affect of honey on train. A meta-analysis of 9 research printed within the journal Vitamins reported that honey isn’t any extra useful than different sources of carbohydrates.
It’s price remembering that one tablespoon of honey has greater than 17 grams of sugar. A pre-workout banana gives you fresher carbohydrates for across the identical quantity of sugar.
Simply don’t go to the fitness center hungry. “You will need to eat some form of vitality earlier than a exercise so you may really feel nice and supply your physique with what it must get you thru the train,” says Mercer.
