Folks have used caffeine, creatine, and protein shakes to energy up athletic performances for many years. However now health influencers and naturopathic docs on TikTok have been doing one thing a little bit totally different these days 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 a reasonable, pure pre-workout hack that gives a fast hit of vitality and helps your physique maintain on to hydration due to 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 line with 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 it’s possible you’ll get some additional perks in case you select an area honey. “Native honey could assist with allergy symptoms,” she says.
That’s as a result of native honey is believed to comprise pollen from vegetation 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 attempting honey and discovering out if it helps you. TikTok swears by it.
Does it work?
In line with Mercer, this honey hack could add a little bit additional one thing to your exercises.
“Honey is made up of easy, easy-to-digest carbohydrates, so it supplies a fast hit of vitality that may be helpful in train,” she says. “It permits you to really feel higher for longer whereas figuring out.” When you strive it, you would possibly end up working a little bit sooner, lifting just a few extra reps, or having a neater time mountain climbing uphill.
And it’s not simply the carbohydrates. The salt performs a task, too. “It helps keep 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 substances like caffeine, beta-alanine, citrulline, and lots of different issues which might be proven to extend vitality and efficiency. Honey is not going to provide you with as a lot vitality as 200mg of caffeine.”
Do I really want it?
When you 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 line with the American Faculty of Sports activities Drugs. For most individuals it is smart to stay to water.
Moreover, the science thus far doesn’t present a transparent payoff for this hack. Researchers have truly studied the impression of honey on train. A meta-analysis of 9 research revealed within the journal Vitamins reported that honey isn’t any extra useful than different sources of carbohydrates.
It’s value remembering that one tablespoon of honey has greater than 17 grams of sugar. A pre-workout banana offers you brisker carbohydrates for across the identical quantity of sugar.
Simply don’t go to the fitness center hungry. “It is very important eat some form of vitality earlier than a exercise so you’ll be able to really feel nice and supply your physique with what it must get you thru the train,” says Mercer.
