Do honey’s health and healing claims stack up to the science?
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Honey is often praised for a range of health benefits, from soothing a sore throat and helping you get to sleep to healing woulds and lowering risk factors for diabetes and heart disease.
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Honey’s acidity has the potential to prevent bacterial growth, while its density and stickiness generates osmotic pressure (in the same way as quicksand) which restrain bacteria.
Other compounds in honey contribute anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.
But do the claims about honey for specific health problems and injuries stack up to science? Let’s check what the evidence says.
What’s in honey
Honey contains up to 20% water. The remaining 80% is made of simple sugars: monasaccharides that we rapidly digest. Fructose (32-28%) and glucose (26-31%) are the main ones, followed by small amounts of sucrose and others.
This can increase blood sugar levels to varying degrees. The glycemic index (GI) measures how fast blood sugars rise after eating or drinking. The GI of different Australian honeys ranges from 35 (low) to 72 (high), though most food labels don’t contain GI information.
Honey also has traces of vitamins (A, B1, B2, B6, C), minerals (potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc), amino acids (protein) and enzymes from plant, bee and insect secretions.
Nutrients vary depending on where the honeybees collected pollen, the time of honey harvest and how long it has been stored.
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