Honey, the sweet and viscous golden liquid produced by bees, is often called the ‘elixir of life’ as it is packed with several essential nutrients and serves many health benefits when consumed or applied. In an earlier interaction with indianexpress.com, Dr Geeta Buryok, head of clinical nutrition and dietetics, Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh said that raw honey has “powerful health benefits in terms of healing wounds and fighting infections.”
Now, researchers from the University of Toronto have discovered that honey improves multiple key measures of cardiometabolic health — especially if the honey is raw and from a single floral source. They conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials on honey and found that “it lowered fasting blood glucose, total and LDL, or ‘bad’ cholesterol, triglycerides and a marker of fatty liver disease. It also increased HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol and some markers of inflammation“.
“These results are surprising because honey is about 80 per cent sugar,” said Tauseef Khan, a senior researcher on the study and a research associate in nutritional sciences at U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “But honey is also a complex composition of common and rare sugars, proteins, organic acids and other bioactive compounds that very likely have health benefits.”
Honey lowers blood sugar and cholesterol levels, study suggests (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock)
Khan explained that the study, however, doesn’t suggest starting to consume honey if you currently avoid sugar. “The takeaway is more about a replacement – if you’re using table sugar, syrup or another sweetener, switching those sugars for honey might lower cardiometabolic risks,” he said.
For the study, published in the journal Nutrition Reviews, researchers included 18 controlled trials and over 1,100 participants. The median daily dose of honey in the trials was 40 grams or about two tablespoons. It found that honey from a single floral source “consistently produced either neutral or beneficial effects” on the body.
Khan also revealed that processed honey loses many of its health effects after pasteurisation – typically 65 degrees Celsius for at least 10 minutes. “We need a consistent product that can deliver consistent health benefits,” he said. “Then the market will follow.”
Commenting on the study, Dr Bimal Chhajer, Cardiologist, former consultant at AIIMS and founder of SAAOL Heart Institute, said, “Unprocessed honey (the purest form with no added preservatives or flavours) is good for a person’s health because it consists of other common and rare sugars, proteins, and organic acids. Healthy sugar, like raw honey, not only helps in decreasing cardiometabolic risks but its consumption can also lead to consistent health benefits. While the study is new and a larger sample is required for conclusive proof, this is a step in the right direction to help bust myths and misconceptions among the general masses.”
He added that the consumption of raw honey, instead of added sugar, can help lower fasting blood glucose and the amount of bad cholesterol present in the blood because honey is a natural substance found in nature and is unprocessed, without any preservatives or chemicals. “Consuming 35-45 grams of unprocessed honey in a day, be it through tea, raw or any other way can lead to several beneficial effects on the human body. Although it’s not advised to shift to honey completely because the study is still new and conclusive evidence is needed,” Dr Chhajer said.
