Home > News

TUESDAY, March 30 (HealthDayNews) -- Here's some sweet news: New research provides more evidence that honey is healthy for you.

Nutritionists at the University of California, Davis, found antioxidant levels go up after people eat several tablespoons of honey a day.

"With honey consumption, we seem to be able to increase our body's defense system against oxidative stress," says Heidrun B. Gross, a university nutrition researcher. "This definitely makes [the case] for including honey in a healthy diet."

While its reputation as a decadent sweet may make it hardly seem like a health food, honey has long been rumored to have healing powers. Some people apply it to wounds, and it's a mainstay in the cups of hot tea people drink when we have colds and flu.

But scientists only recently began investigating whether it truly offers health benefits, Gross says, adding, "At this point, very little is scientifically proven."

With grants from the National Honey Board, Gross and other researchers in the United States have been analyzing honey's effects on antioxidants, which seem to protect the body from environmental harm, such as tobacco smoke and chemicals.

In the new study, Gross and colleagues told 25 people to eat between four and 10 tablespoons of buckwheat honey, depending on their weight, each day for a month. They could eat the honey in almost any form, although it couldn't be baked or dissolved in tea. Some put honey on toast or combined it with bananas and peanut butter, but many chose to simply spoon it out of the jar and straight into their mouths, Gross says.

The researchers presented their findings March 29 at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, Calif.

The scientists found levels of antioxidants rose in the people who ate honey. Experts believe antioxidants block certain types of cell damage caused by molecules called free radicals, which are caused by exposure to tobacco smoke and some chemicals. Foods rich in antioxidants help destroy free radicals, and scientists think they reduce the risk of diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke.

"Honey has its place in a balanced, healthy diet, and should be included in a healthy diet," Gross says.

Another honey expert, Nicki J. Engeseth, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign associate professor who has studied antioxidants and honey, agrees. The new study findings provide more evidence that honey is healthy even though 80 percent of it is sugar. "It's loaded with different compounds that appear to have strong biologic activity," she says, and honey may even have germ-killing properties.

So should you go to the supermarket and scarf up those little plastic bears full of honey? Researchers say it's still not clear if all honey is equal. The flavor and color of honey depends on which flowers are pollinated by the bees that produce it, and researchers don't know if some varieties are healthier to eat than others. In the case of this study, buckwheat honey comes from the buckwheat plant, is dark brown, and has a strong, distinct flavor.

Honey isn't right for everyone. Babies younger than 12 months should not eat honey because they may not be able to digest it properly, says Engeseth, who, like Gross, receives funding from the National Honey Board. Then there are the matters of the high content of sugar and carbohydrates in honey.

However, Gross says her subjects didn't gain weight during the month they were on honey therapy. "I asked people if the honey consumption affected their eating habits, and most people answered that they felt more full after eating the honey for breakfast. It seems to keep the stomach full for a little longer, and definitely quenched their urge for sweet stuff."

As for the risk of extra cavities, Engeseth says studies suggest that honey isn't a major factor in teeth decay, even though it's sticky and sweet.

"We don't recommend going out and substituting fruits and vegetables with honey," Engeseth says. "But if you're going to sweeten your tea with sugar or add it to baked goods, perhaps you could add honey instead."

More information

To learn more about antioxidants, visit the National Library of Medicine. The National Honey Board offers basic information about -- what else -- honey.

(SOURCES: Heidrun B. Gross, Ph.D. researcher, Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis; Nicki J. Engeseth, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; March 29, 2004, presentation, American Chemical Society annual meeting, Anaheim, Calif.)

Copyright © 2004 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.