Summary
Researchers examined whether natural honey could influence weight and metabolic markers in people with type 2 diabetes by randomly assigning 48 patients to either consume honey daily for eight weeks or avoid it entirely. Before and after the intervention, participants were weighed and provided fasting blood samples. While fasting blood glucose did not differ between groups at the end of the study, the honey group experienced several meaningful improvements: body weight, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides all dropped significantly, and HDL cholesterol increased. However, these benefits came with one important drawback—hemoglobin A1C levels rose in the honey group, indicating that overall blood sugar control worsened despite improvements in lipids and weight. Taken together, the findings suggest that honey may offer some metabolic advantages for individuals with type 2 diabetes, particularly in lipid management, but its potential to raise A1C means it should be consumed with caution.
PMID: 19817641
DOI: 10.3109/09637480801990389
Abstract
Objectives
We investigated the effect of natural honey on body weight and some blood biochemical indices of diabetic subjects.
Methods
Forty-eight diabetic type 2 patients were randomly assigned into two groups: the honey group received oral natural honey for 8 weeks, and the control group did not take honey. Before the onset of the study (week 0) and after 8 weeks, weight measurements were taken and fasting blood samples were drawn.
Results
After adjustment for the baseline values, there were no significant differences in the fasting blood sugars between the two groups. Body weight, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and triglyceride decreased (P = 0.000), and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol increased significantly (P < 0.01) in honey group. The levels of hemoglobin A(1C) increased significantly in this group (P < 0.01).
Conclusion
The results of this study demonstrate that 8-week consumption of honey can provide beneficial effects on body weight and blood lipids of diabetic patients. However, since an increase in the hemoglobin A(1C) levels was observed, cautious consumption of this food by diabetic patients is recommended.
Bahrami M, Ataie-Jafari A, Hosseini S, Foruzanfar MH, Rahmani M, Pajouhi M. Effects of natural honey consumption in diabetic patients: an 8-week randomized clinical trial. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2009 Nov;60(7):618-26. doi: 10.3109/09637480801990389. PMID: 19817641.