What the texts say
The word for honey in the verse is kṣaudra. Charaka lists it among five accompaniments for curd, any one of which will do. The same verse says curd should not be eaten at night or hot. The next, 7.62, lists the illnesses that follow when these curd rules are ignored, from fever to severe jaundice.[1][2]
The modern view
An adjacent randomised crossover trial in healthy adults compared a probiotic yogurt with honey added against a heat-treated yogurt with sugar. Sixty-six people enrolled and 62 finished; each condition lasted two weeks. With the honey yogurt, levels of the probiotic bacterium rose, but gut transit time, gut symptoms, mood and thinking tests did not differ. The control differed in both honey and heat treatment, so the result cannot be put down to honey alone, and the trial did not test Charaka's rule.[3]
From the classical texts
Related
Curd and sugar (dahi-chini)
Charaka names sugar as one of the things curd should be eaten with. Dahi-chini is on his list of accompaniments, not his list of things to avoid.
FoodCurd (dahi) at night
Charaka and the Ashtanga Hridaya both say not to eat curd at night. Charaka lists fever, skin disease and jaundice among the illnesses that follow.
FoodHeated honey (garam shahad)
Charaka says hot honey, and honey for someone suffering from heat, lead to death. Sushruta also warns against honey with hot things.
FoodHoney and ghee in equal parts
Charaka and Sushruta both say honey and ghee taken in equal amounts are incompatible. Charaka files it under incompatibility by quantity.
Sources
- Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 7.61 (Naveganadharaniya Adhyaya).
- Charaka Samhita, Sutra Sthana 7.62 (Naveganadharaniya Adhyaya).
- Mysonhimer AR, Brown MD, Alvarado DA, Cornman E, Esmail M, Abdiel T, Gutierrez K, Vasquez J, Cannavale CN, Miller MJ, Khan NA, Holscher HD. Honey added to yogurt with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis DN-173 010/CNCM I-2494 supports probiotic enrichment but does not reduce intestinal transit time in healthy adults: a randomized, controlled, crossover trial. The Journal of Nutrition. 2024;154:2396-2410. PMID 38830472.
Updated 4 November 2026