Rock Sugar or Mishri is eaten by all as mouth freshner mixed with fennel seeds and is just loved by kids. Well, I can say that because my kid just loves to have mishri. We use it daily as offering to God and as soon as I enter my worship room, my son will jump in asking for mishri ☺. And with that his daily habit of saying good morning to God has also developed.

Rock Sugar, Rock Candy or Sugar Candy or Crystal Sugar is made of relatively large sugar crystals and is a healthier substitute to sugar. It is a healthful candy which is made of sugarcane syrup and therefore are tiny unrefined form of sugar. It contains various medicinal properties and essential nutrients. Also, it acts as an energy booster. 

As per Ayurveda, Mishri is a coolant and has vata and pitta reducing properties. This is not the case with sugar as it is refined and chemicals like sulphur, caustic soda and phosphoric acid are added to it which have heating properties and therefore, aggrevates pitta. While sugar candy is unrefined and free of such chemicals and hence, is considered as a healthier substitute to sugar. 

Let us discuss in details the various benefits that one can derive from consuming it.

1. The consumption of rock sugar helps in relieving cough and sore throat. The various medicinal properties and nutrients helps in relieving these conditions instantly. These home remedies are beneficial for releasing the excess mucus. Mishri or rock sugar with black pepper powder works wonders in such cases.
2. The consumption of rock sugar also helps in increasing the hemoglobin levels and also regenerates blood circulation in the body. Low levels of hemoglobin can cause various problems like anemia, pale skin, dizziness, fatigue and weakness, hence, rock sugar works like a rescuer in this case.
3. The consumption of mishri at the end of your meal along with some fennel seeds acts as a mouth freshener and also helps in digestion. The digestive properties of rock sugar starts the digestion process immediately and hence, is very useful.
4. The consumption of mishri after food along with fennel seeds also uplifts your sluggish mood and acts as an energy booster. So, apart from refreshing your mouth it also refreshes your mood.
5. It is a healthier substitute to sugar and is free from the chemical and refining process and therefore, it is advisable to replace sugar with mishri.

There are innumerable benefits of this sweetener but do not forget that it is sweet and hence, it should be consumed within limits. Also, one should consult a doctor before adding it to their diet, if they are suffering from diabetes or any other diseases.

Now comes the most important question of which mishri to buy?

We often get confused between which mishri to buy. I mean I also think that buying small cubes mishri is much easier to use but my dear friends, these are not the ones that you should buy. One should buy big crystals mishri that are available. There is a thread inside them which keeps the large pieces intact. We need to remove those threads and use these mishri for consumption. These are the healthier ones as they do not go through the refining process like the smaller similar sized cube mishris.

So hope this blog was useful for you and help you understand better why I use mishri in most of my recipes and not sugar. ☺

lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu..