Honey in drinks

Old Git On A Bike

I have not had honey for a long time, and my other half just started buying some recently, I was looking at the label and saw it had something like 35 grams of carbohydrates per teaspoon, sounds good to me, I was wondering if anyone used it in their water bottles mixed with other stuff, and if so, have you seen any benefits from it?

i did a quick forum search for honey and all I could find relating to drinks was this post:

On the ride I eat Trek bars and drink water laced with Honegar (1 part cyder vinegar 1 part honey) this is good for rehydration and keeps Arthur at bay.

In my bottles, I normally have a bit of salt, blackcurrant squash and apple juice topped up with water, I think I'll give it a try in future with a spoon or two of honey mixed in to give an extra energy boost, you could even take a few spoons of the stuff out in one of those small sealable plastic bags, light and takes up no room, better still, do they sell honey in sachets anywhere? Your thoughts on honey?

Whytepeak

Honey is good stuff, but wouldn't go crazy - you wan't to lose weight right. That said honey is yummy. It can be hard to get it dissolve into the solution, i get honey precipitate if i don't heat the liquid.

Old Git On A Bike

Hi Whytepeak,

Yeah, I suppose it would be alright dissolving the honey in some hot water before mixing it with the other liquids, having said that, it might slightly congeal again once it hits the cold liquid, hmmm, think I'll make a bottle up tomorrow to see exactly what it does.

I don't think the weight gain side of it would be too drastic, if you're out on a longish ride, you will burn more calories to offset the honey intake anyway, not sure, but off the top of my head I think it was either 50 or 80 calories per teaspoon.

ride_whenever

Honey is fine, usually once it has dissolved it doesn't come out again because honey is basically a sugar solution, and sugar and water mix in any proportion.

counterculture

buy a squeezy bottle of honey, that way you can carry it with you, and if you start to fade then you can have a scoosh

Sarnian

I used to use this www.honeystinger.uk.com when I was doing middle distance tri's and long road/mountain bike rides, I found It worked very well.

Soggz

If you suffer from hayfever, take LOCAL honey to combat it.
You need to be taking it for a month or two before summer hits, but it does help...LOCAL honey only though.

dunker

i have it daily in tea and on whatever cereal i'm eating. dunno if it's doing me any good but does taste nice.

The Northern Monkey

honey's ok... isn't gonna make you put on weight.

Personally, i'd use golden syrup instead of honey... but then again I wouldn't us that either.

In regards to the OP, what your drinking sounds fine without the honey. The honey will alter the concentration of your fluid and may reduce your fluid uptake.

If you make your drink up using the recipes HERE you'll be providing you body with the best chance to rehydrate.

If your looking for a better way to introduce more carbs during a ride, try jellybabies, flapjack, fig rolls, energy bars or similar. That way your geting the best of both worlds.

Link in my sig explains the importance of keeping hydrated!