The Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم drink: honey with cold water
8 things that happen when you drink water with honey on an empty stomach.
Honey is one of the foods that has been used for centuries. It is an excellent source of nutrients beneficial to health.
However, many people are not aware of honey's special healing properties when it is mixed with water.
How to prepare honey water?
Ingredients:
One cup of water (cold or lukewarm) .One tablespoon of honey.
Preparation:
Mix the honey and water. The density of this mixture should be similar to blood plasma. The body takes little time to absorb this mixture. It provides many medicinal benefits.
The benefits of the water and honey mixture:
It eliminates the mucus found in the lungs (particularly useful for people suffering from colds and fever).It prevents and eliminates parasites and bleeding in the digestive tract.It fights bronchitis and colds and strengthens the immune system.A slight increase in waist size after a few days of consuming this remedy should not be a cause for concern. The body very quickly returns to its normal appearance.It has antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties.It eliminates the buildup of toxins from the body and intestines.It is useful for people suffering from uncontrolled urination during the night.It makes the skin younger, brighter, and silkier.
How should you drink honey water?
Drink the mixture in the morning on an empty stomach to avoid problems and feel the best effects. Don't forget to drink this potion very quickly. You can also use this mixture before going to bed.
It is best to prepare the mixture just before use.
"He used to drink honey mixed with cold water; this keeps the body in good health, for drinking this mixture or lapping it up on an empty stomach dissolves the lymph and cleanses the lining of the stomach, removes its viscosity, rids it of waste, warms it in moderation, clears its obstruction, and it has the same effect on the liver, the kidneys, and the bladder.”
Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, in his book “At-Tib an-Nabawy” page📖184, chapter on beverages.
Honey in the Qur'an and the Sunnah
"From their bellies comes a drink of varying colors, in which there is healing for people" (an-Nahl, 16:69). The Prophet ﷺ said: "Healing is in three things: a sip of honey, a cut from hijama, or cauterization by fire, and I forbid my community from cauterization" (al-Bukhari 5680). Aisha reported that he loved sweets and honey (al-Bukhari 5682), and the hadith of the man with the sick stomach, to whom he had honey given three times, is found in both Sahih collections. What the professor cites from Ibn al-Qayyim, "he used to drink honey mixed with cold water," comes from the chapter on beverages in Prophetic Medicine, where he explains that this drink "melts phlegm, washes the stomach, clears it of its waste, and warms it in moderation," and does the same for the liver, kidneys, and bladder.
Why cold water, and why on an empty stomach
Ibn al-Qayyim insists on this: cold water, not hot. Heated honey loses some of its enzymes and fragile compounds (heating above 40°C degrades some of its antibacterial properties); dissolved in cold or lukewarm water, it retains them. On an empty stomach, the mixture passes quickly into the empty stomach and acts on the lining without being mixed with food: this is the "washing" he describes. The professor adds that the density of the mixture is close to that of plasma, an image that says the same thing: it is a drink that is easy to absorb.
- A glass of water (200 ml), cold or at room temperature, never boiling.
- A tablespoon of raw, unheated honey, preferably dark (the professor mentions jujube honey elsewhere).
- Stir until dissolved, drink right away, in the morning before eating; in the evening at bedtime for coughing.
- Once a day is enough; as a course of two to three weeks during cold season, or long-term at a small dose.
The "8 benefits" put to the test
| What is claimed | What we know |
|---|---|
| Mucus, colds, bronchitis, coughing | True. The Cochrane review concludes that honey relieves acute cough in children better than no treatment or placebo, and as well as certain syrups (Cochrane, 2018); a meta-analysis of 14 trials found an effect on the frequency and severity of upper respiratory infection symptoms (BMJ Evid Based Med, 2021) |
| Antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal | True for bacteria, on contact: hydrogen peroxide, acidity, sugar concentration, compounds specific to each honey (Asian Pac J Trop Biomed, 2011). On wounds and the throat, yes; "throughout the whole body" after ingestion, not proven |
| Parasites and digestive bleeding | Partially. Honey soothes the lining and helps with gastroenteritis (see diarrhea); it does not treat a parasitic infection or bleeding, which need to be treated medically |
| Boosts immunity | Indirect. A good food, antioxidants; no evidence of a measurable "immune" effect in humans |
| Eliminates toxins | No. It is the liver and kidneys that eliminate toxins; honey does not "detoxify" |
| Nighttime bedwetting | Tradition without evidence. A spoonful of honey at bedtime is an old remedy; no trials |
| Younger-looking skin | Not by mouth. As a mask on the skin, honey moisturizes and heals, that is a different matter |
| Waistline | Caution. Honey is a sugar (80%); a spoonful a day has no consequence, but it does not cause weight loss |
Contraindications and precautions
Never give honey before age one, even diluted, even a trace: risk of infant botulism. Diabetics should count a spoonful of honey as sugar (15 g of carbohydrates) and should not take it on an empty stomach without monitoring their blood sugar. "Supermarket" honey cut with syrup does not have the properties of raw honey: choose a harvested, unheated honey, see choosing your honey. Honey does not break the obligatory fast: the drink is taken at suhoor or iftar. Finally, honey is a companion, not a replacement: a cough lasting more than three weeks, a high fever, or shortness of breath should be seen by a doctor.
Frequently asked questions
Is honey on an empty stomach in the morning a sunnah?
The Prophet ﷺ used to drink honey in cold water, and Ibn al-Qayyim recommends taking it on an empty stomach. This is not a religious obligation, it is a prophetic health habit, followed for its benefit.
Hot water or cold water?
Cold or lukewarm, as Ibn al-Qayyim states: heated honey loses some of its properties. No honey in a boiling drink.
How much honey per day?
A tablespoon in a glass of water, once a day, is enough. Honey remains a sugar: beyond two spoonfuls a day, the benefit is lost.
Does honey water help you lose weight?
No. It can replace a worse sugar, and the morning drink sometimes curbs hunger, but no study shows weight loss. A spoonful a day does not cause weight gain either.
Can honey water be given to a child?
After age one, yes: it is even the best-documented cough remedy for children, a teaspoon at bedtime. Before age one, never.
