Honey: Uses & health benefits

In this Article (Index)

A natural food with many uses.

• What is Honey?
• Honey's physical properties
• Historic Uses
• Composition
• Nutritional Value of Honey
• Health properties of Honey
• Polyphenols in honey
• Prebiotic properties of Honey
• Is honey a Probiotic?
• Adulteration
• Risks, Safety and Side Effects of Honey
• Replacing Sugar for Honey in your cooking

What is Honey?

Honey is a natural substance produced by bees. Of the 20,000 bee species, only eight are honeybees. The honey that we consume is produced by Apis mellifera bees.

The bees gather a sweet substance secreted by flowers called nectar. They may also collect substances exuded by plants or plant-sucking insects. A bee colony or bee hive can have up to 60,000 bees and they can visit up to 50 million flowers each day, as far as 3 miles (5 km) from their hive.

The bees digest the nectar and their stomachs break it down into sugars that won't crystallize or solidify, a process known as "inversion."

The bess then pass this inverted sugar to other worker bees who place it in small hollow hexagonal cells made of wax for storage. Here they beat their wings to dry the honey and seal the cell with wax.

Almost 1.8 Million metric tons of honey are taken from the hives and used by humans. (1)

Physical Properties of Honey

Honey never spoils and does not require refrigeration. It can be stored in a dry place at room temperature. This is due to the high sugar concentration, its acidic pH and the natural presence of hydrogen peroxide and gluconic acid that prevent microbial spoilage. (15)

It is a highly viscous substance with an acidic pH of almost 3.9. (2)

Historic Uses of Honey

The ancient Egyptian papyrus (The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus) written 3600 years ago. It mentions honey for its medicinal and cosmetic properties. Using it to treat cuts, broken bones, and skin wounds by applying it as a lint saturated with a honey (by·t) and grease ointment.
It also mentions it as a cosmetic for beautifying the face, using 1 part of each of these ingredients: alabaser kernels, natron kernles, northern salt and honey. Mixed together and anointed. (6)

The Greek physician Hippocrates (c. 460 BC- c. 370 BC) used it to treat and heal old ulcers, recent wounds on male genitals and ulcers on the head and ears. (13)

The Babylonians, Hittites, Chinese, Romans, and Mayans have also used it for ist therapeutic properties.

Composition

Honey's composition is variable and depends upon the location of the hives and the flowers used by the bees to make it.

It is roughly a mixture of different types of sugars (80-85%) with water (15-17%) and proteins (0.1-0.4%). It also contains vitamins, minerals, enzymes and organic acids, as well as phenolic compounds. Honey is considered a nutritious, healthy, and natural food, whose composition is highly variable depending on its botanical and geographical origin [4]. It is mainly composed of a mixture of different sugars (80–85%), water 15–17%, and proteins (0.1–0.4%) [5], but it also contains enzymes, alkaloids, organic acids, vitamins, minerals, and phenolic.(1)

Its mixture of sugars is mostly made up of monosaccharides (fructose), and some glucose. There are also small amounts of disaccharides (sucrose, and galactose), trisaccharides (melezitose, maltotriose), and oligosaccharides.

Fructose is what makes honey much more sweeter than regular sugar, white and brown (sucrose).

It contains gluconic acid, and tiny amounts of acetic, formic, and citric have been found. These giv it its acidic pH.

Honey contains all nine essential amino acids and all nonessential amino acids except for asparagine and glutamine. The most prevalent one is the nonessential aminoacid proline.

Its content of vitamins is low, with folate (Vitamin B9) being its main component, followed by Vitamin C. It also has traces of up to 31 minerals, mainly potassium. Other minerals found in most honeys are sodium, sulfur, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and chlorine (2).
See the following section for more details.

Nutritional Value of Honey

Below are the nutritional facts of honey. (7)

It does not contain gluten, caffein or cholesterol.

Health Properties of Honey

It has been used in traditional medicine to treat throat infections, asthma, tuberculosis, eye diseases, digestive issus such as hiccups, hepatitis, worms, and constipation. For healing of wounds, and ulcers.
It is also an energy-dense food.

Its bioactive, plant-derived phytochemical ingredients (mainly its phenolic compounds) are said to have antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, cancer-preventive effects and these could make it suitable to treat type-2 diabetes, wounds, cancer, asthma, and gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and neurological disorders. (1),(2).

Polyphenols

These compounds are made by plants and consist of one or more aromatic rings with hydroxyl groups (a phenol, a type of alcohol).

The amount of these phenolic compounds in honey is highly variable and depends on its variety, geographic location, storage condition, climate, harvest time. It can range from 0.65 to 84.17 mg⁄100 g.

They consist mainly of flavonoids and phenolic acids like: Rosmarinic acid, Caffeic acid, Coumaric acid, Cinnamic acid, Mandelic acid, Gallic acid, Vainillic acid, and Siringic acid. (1)

Detailed List of Honey's Health Benefits

• Improves Cholesterol values
• Blood Sugar and Diabetes
• Lowers blood pressure
• Promotes Weight loss
• Cardiovascular Health
• Digestive Health
• Antiseptic and antimicrobial on wounds
• Honey and Asthma

Improves Cholesterol

A study reported that consuming 70 g⁄day of honey for 6 weeks improved the blood lipids in young healthy men aged 18-30 in comparison to a control group that ingested sucrose (regular sugar). It lowered the levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and the "bad" low-density lipoproteins (LDL), and increased the values of "good" high-density lipoprotein (HDL). (1)

A statistical metanalysis using data from 33 trials with 1,105 participants found that "honey reduced... total cholesterol... low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ... fasting triglycerides ... and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol." However, there were significant differences between subgroups depending on the type of honey used (flower sourcer) and honey processing methods.
Clover, robinia, and raw honey were the most effective. (3).

Another random study in 2008 found that honey had the same effect. (11)

Blood Sugar and Diabetes

Honey improves insulin sensitivity and reduces blood glucose. A randomized study following 100 healthy and diabetic post-menopausal women in Malaysia found that eating 20 g⁄day of Tualang honey over a period of one year, caused "in the fasting blood sugar" levels.(8)

The metanalysis mentioned further up also found that "honey reduced fasting glucose... showing beneficial effects on fasting glucose." (3).

Lowers blood pressure

The Malaysian study (8) also noted "a significant decrease in the diastolic blood pressure ... in the Tualang Honey group."

Promotes Weight loss

A randomized trial using 37 healthy subjects found that an intake of 1.2 g per kg of body weight daily of a mixture of different types of clover honey led to a lower intake of sugars, carbs and energy in comparison to a control group ingesting sucrose. (9)
Another randomized study using healthy, young nonobese women, showed that ingesting 450 kcal of honey vs. eating the same amount of energy as sucrose, delayed the response of the hormone ghrelin after eating a meal. Ghrelin stimulates apetite and is known as the "hunger hormone." Honey also increased the PYY3-36 response. PYY3-36 is a peptide produced in the gut that contributes to the feeling of satiety. So both responses help reduce the feeling of hunger. It also blunted the spike of sugar in blood which is a benefit as it reduces glucose intolerance. (10)

Yaghoobi et al. (11) studied a group of overweight subjects who received either 70 g of honey or 70 g of sucrose per day over the course of 30 days. Those eating honey experienced "a mild reduction in body weight (1.3%) and body fat (1.1%) ."

Cardiovascular Health

A review of 25 studies and trials (12) concluded that there is sound evidence of the cardioprotective effect of honey. It attributed this effect to the ability of honey to reduce blood pressure, act as an antioxidant, improve lipid metabolism, it reduces heart-muscle cells' death (cardiomyocyte apoptosis) which is a cause of stroke, heart attacks (myocardial infarction), and heart failure. Honey also helps restore heartbeats and reduce myocardial infarct areas.

Digestive Health

Honey has been used to treat gastrointestinal illnesses since antiquity. (1)

Honey has an antimicrobial activity upon pathogenic microbes like species of Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli , Enterobacter, Yersinia enterocolitica, Campylobacter , and Clostridium difficile. (4)

Antiseptic and antimicrobial on wounds

We have mentioned futher up its ancient use in Egypt and Greece to heal wounds.
We now know that honey not only has a soothing effect, but that it acts in different ways as an antibacterial agent. (5)

• Its antioxidant properties come from its polyphenol conent.
• The high concentrations of sugars and very little water that causes osmotic stress which limits the growth of microorganisms in the wound.
• The acidic pH of honey also limits the growth of germs.
• Honey also produces hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) a major antibacterial compound that is released continuously by honey as its glucose is oxidized into hydrogen peroxide by an enzyme found in the honey.
• Its anti-inflammatory properties help reduce healing time by supressing the presence of infalmmation-causing cells at the wound, and promote the production of a special type of cytokine that allows wounds to heal normally.

However, honey is not better than conventional treatments for wounds (using chlorhexidine, clotrimazole or povidone-iodine). Nevertheless, availability, low cost and lack of adverse effects make it a "natural" alternative for this purpose. (1)

Honey's therapeutic properties for skin disorders

McLoone (2016) (17) reviewed scientific studies on the therapeutic properties of honey concerning skin disorders and reported that:

• The antioxidant content of honey and its antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties positively encourage the wound healing process in burn wounds.
• Acacia honey and Brazilian green propolis (BPE) have been effective in the treatment of tinea infections.
• Kanuka honey from New Zealand was efficacious in the treatment of rosacea.
• Herpes simplex outbreaks on the lips: healing time were similar for honey and acyclovir.

Honey and Asthma

Honey has been historically used to treat sore throat and cough by taking it orally. However, in the case of asthma, inhalation is a better way to administer honey. Honey nebulisation has been shown to be effective in treating upper acute asthma in paediatric patients. In animals, a study has shwon that it may inhibit the development of asthma by acting on the over-production of mucus and eliminating the excessive growth of goblet cells (goblet cell hyperplasia) in the airways. (14).

Prebiotic properties of Honey

Prebiotic Foods are those that stimulate the "good" microbes in your gut. Non-digestible carbohydrates are an example of a prebiotic food. They are not absorbed in the small intestine and reach the colon intact where they are used by the bacteria there. This leads to stimulation of the immune system, it regulates the microbiota, supresses pathogens, increases the anti-inflammatory cytokines and lowers pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Although honey's main carbohydrate is sugar, and it is digested in the upper gut, it also contains small quantities of di-, tri-, and oligosaccharides, that reach the lower gut without being digested, and exert prebiotic effects.

Research shows that oligosaccharides extracted from honey promote the growth of beneficial fecal bacteria like bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, and reduce the numbers of the potentially harmful bacteroides and clostridia. (4)

Is it also a Probiotic?

As lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in the honeybee's gut are involved in the production of honey; it should considered a fermented and, consequently, probiotic product. Probiotics (found in yougurt, kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut , tempeh, and kimchi , among other foods), help reduce inflammation and leaky gut, they also influence the composition of the intestinal microbiota. (1)

Adulteration

Hioney is adulterated with sugar or other cheaper sweeteners. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tests samples taken from imported honey to stop adulterated product from reaching consumers. In a (report) published in April 2024, the FDA disclosed that between April 2022 and July 2023, the agency collected 107 samples of imported honey and found 3 samples (3%) were adulterated. For the same period in 2021-2022, they had tested 144 samples of which 10% were adulterated.
To avoid problems, buy a reputable brand of honey.

Risks, Safety and Side Effects of Honey

Honey is considered as generally safe in adults and children over 12 months old. It is also likely safe for topical use on the skin for treating minor sores and wounds; also as a sweetener and as a cough suppressant. (16)

Don't give honey, not even a tiny taste, to babies under the age of 1 year. It can cause a rare condition known as infant botulism, provoked by spores of Clostridium botulinum that can grow and proliferate in the baby's gut causing a serious illness as it releases a dangerous toxin. This can be fatal (less than 1% of the cases). (15),(16)

Allergies and sensitivity to honey and its components are rare (affecting less than 1 person out of every 100,000) but they can occur. Several allergens found in honeybee venom have been deetected in honey, proteins found in honey and pollen from different plants can also cause allergies in sensitive people. (15),(16).

See a physician immediately if adverse reactions take place after ingesting honey (like, wheezing, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, fainting, or rash and stinging if applied to the skin).

People with type-2 diabetes should note that honey contains sugar and should be used in moderation.

Contaminants

Honey contains What are Microplastics?; over 150 different pesticides and a range of heavy metals have also been detected in honey. (15)

Honey as a Cosmetic

Visit our webpage where we describe the use of honey in homemade cosmetics

Replacing Sugar for Honey in your cooking

As honey contains fructose, it is much sweeter than regular table sugar.
You will use less honey than sugar, the substitution ratio is roughly 1⁄2 to 2⁄3 cups of honey for each 1 cup of sugar.

As honey is a sticky liquid you will have to adjust the other liquids in your recipe. For each 1 cup of honey you add, remove 1⁄4 cup of the other liquid ingredients. Do this proportionally to each liquid ingredient.

Sugar burns at a higher temperature than honey so you should drop the oven temperature by 25°deg;F (roughly 12°C) when baking it will prevent your dish from browning too soon.

As honey is acidic, add an extra 1⁄4 tsp of baking soda to your recipe, it will improve the rise of your dish.