Natural Honey has Beneficial Health Effects that may Reduce the Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

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Re: Natural Honey has Beneficial Health Effects that may Reduce the Risk of

Cardiovascular Disease JoAnn Guest Jul 10, 2005 17:54 PDT

 

 

http://www.herbalgram.org/standardprocess/herbclip/review.asp?i=43931

 

Al-Waili N. Natural honey lowers plasma glucose, c-reactive protein,

homocysteine, and blood lipids in healthy, diabetic, and hyperlipidemic

subjects: comparison with dextrose and sucrose. Journal of Medicinal

Foods. 2004;7(1):100-107.

 

The consumption of sugars (e.g., fructose and sucrose) is associated

with many undesirable metabolic effects, such as elevations in blood

pressure and in triglyceride, insulin, homocysteine, and C-reactive

protein (CRP) concentrations, all of which are risk factors for

cardiovascular disease. However, the consumption of sugar in the form of

natural honey—which consists of the sugars fructose, glucose, and

fructose—is associated with beneficial health effects, such as

reductions in triglyceride and glucose concentrations and elevations in

blood antioxidants, serum proteins, and white blood cell counts. Honey,

a natural product of honeybees, has been used for medicinal purposes

since ancient times for the treatment of skin ulcers, wounds, and

respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urinary diseases. The authors

investigated the effects of natural honey on blood glucose, lipids, CRP,

C-peptide, and homocysteine concentrations in healthy, hyperlipidemic,

and diabetic subjects relative to the effects of artificial honey,

dextrose, and sucrose.

 

Seven separate experiments were conducted at the Dubai Specialized

Medical Center and Medical Research Laboratories, Dubai, United Arab

Emeritus.

 

• Experiment 1: effects of dextrose (75 g) or natural honey (75 g) on

plasma glucose, insulin, and C-peptide concentrations in 8 healthy

adults aged 25–42 years.

 

• Experiment 2: effects of dextrose, natural honey, or artificial honey

(35 g of dextrose and 40 g of fructose) on cholesterol and triglyceride

concentrations in 9 healthy adults aged 25–42 years.

 

• Experiment 3: effects of natural honey on blood glucose, lipid,

homocysteine, and CRP concentrations in 8 healthy subjects aged 25–48

years.

 

• Experiment 4: effects of natural and artificial honey on triglyceride

and total cholesterol concentrations in 6 hypercholesterolemic subjects

aged 35–55 years and in 5 hypertriglyceridemic subjects aged 45–60

years.

 

• Experiment 5: effects of natural honey on blood lipid and CRP

concentrations in 5 patients aged 40–60 years with elevated cholesterol

and CRP concentrations.

 

• Experiment 6: effects of dextrose (70 g) or natural honey (90 g) on

blood glucose concentrations in 7 adults aged 40–62 years.

 

• Experiment 7: effects of sucrose (30 g) or natural honey (30 g) on

plasma glucose, insulin, and C-peptide concentrations in 5 diabetic

patients aged 40–62 years.

 

In experiment 1, dextrose resulted in greater elevations in glucose,

insulin, and C-peptide than did natural honey. In experiment 2, natural

honey resulted in a slight decrease in cholesterol,

low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides and a

slight elevation in high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). In

experiment 3, natural honey decreased cholesterol by 7%, LDL-C by 1%,

triglycerides by 2%, CRP by 7%, homocysteine by 8%, and glucose by 6%;

HDL-C increased by 2%. In experiment 4, natural honey tended to lower

and artificial honey tended to elevate triglycerides, total cholesterol,

and LDL-C in the hypercholesterolemic and hypertriglyceridemic subjects.

In experiment 5, honey decreased cholesterol by 8%, LDL-C by 11%, and

CRP by 57% in subjects with elevated cholesterol, LDL-C, and CRP

concentrations. In experiment 6, plasma glucose was significantly (P <

0.05) lower after honey than after dextrose consumption. In experiment

7, honey resulted in earlier and greater elevations in glucose, insulin,

and C-peptide concentrations than did sucrose.

 

Natural honey was more effective in decreasing total cholesterol and

HDL-C in healthy and hyperlipidemic persons than was artificial honey.

The observed differences in the effects of artificial and natural honeys

on cholesterol may have been the result of the presence of certain

substances in natural honey that are not present in artificial honey.

Further research is needed to determine the identity of these

substances. Honey consumption resulted in decreases in blood lipid,

homocysteine, and CRP concentrations in healthy and hyperlipidemic

subjects. Compared with dextrose and sucrose, honey caused greater

reductions in plasma glucose in diabetic patients; therefore, natural

honey may be a better source of carbohydrates and sweeteners than

sucrose for diabetic patients. Natural honey also reduced the

concentration of CRP, a marker of inflammation. Thus, it appears that

honey has anti-inflammatory properties that make it " a suitable nutrient

to be used in acute or chronic inflammatory conditions. " The observed

homocysteine-lowering effect of honey may have resulted from honey's

content of antioxidants and minerals. The main limitations of these

studies were the small samples sizes and the relatively short duration

of testing. Therefore, the authors recommend that longer-term studies be

conducted in a greater number of subjects to substantiate the findings

of the present studies.

 

—Brenda Milot, ELS.

_________________

 

 

JoAnn Guest

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DietaryTi-

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