Honey's distinctive flavor and texture lend themselves to tea, breakfast pastries and hot buttered biscuits. However, honey is higher in calories than granulated table sugar and many other added sweeteners. Honey affects your diet by adding empty calories to your meals. MayoClinic.com and other health organizations recommend that you consume honey and other added sugars very sparingly.
About Honey
Honey is made up primarily of water and two simple sugars, glucose and fructose -- honey contains pure carbohydrates, plus protein and fat. According to the National Honey Board, honey also contains phytochemicals, organic acids, trace vitamins and minerals, and enzymes, which give honey the properties of an antioxidant. Due to its high fructose content, honey tastes 1 1/2 times sweeter than plain table sugar, an added sugar. In the context of your diet, honey is considered an added sugar.
Added Sugar
Nutritious foods such as fresh fruit and milk contain natural sugars in small amounts. However, the American Heart Association, or AHA, notes that you don't need added sugars such as honey for optimal nutrition and health. Honey affects your diet in much the same way as any added sugar; added sugars give you carbs in varying amounts. For example, people on a diabetic diet don't receive any benefit from substituting honey for regular table sugar. MayoClinic.com indicates that added sugars don't have an impressive number of essential nutrients. Along with honey and table sugar, other added sugars include molasses, corn sweetener, high fructose corn syrup, raw sugar, cane sugar, fruit juice concentrates and any ingredient on the ingredients panel that ends with "-ose."
Honey Calories
One tablespoon of honey contains around 60 calories and 15 total carbohydrates, on par with a tablespoon of molasses. The same amount of table sugar contains 50 calories, as does brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup and maple syrup. Eating too much honey or other added sugars can lead to obesity, elevated blood pressure and high blood triglycerides, which can ultimately result in serious health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, says the Cleveland Clinic. Too much added sugar also can cause tooth decay. From a dietary standpoint, MayoClinic.com says people who eat too much sugar might have poorer nutrition because they miss out on healthier options.
Keep Added Sugars Low
A little honey in your diet is fine, as long as you consider the calories you get from added sugars as part of your discretionary calories -- the calories you can spend on less-nutritious foods. You probably need far fewer added sugar calories than you think. According to the AHA, adult women should get no more than 100 calories from honey or other added sugars; adult men should get no more than 150 calories.
References
- National Honey Board; "What Is Honey?"; 2011
- MayoClinic.com; "Added Sugars: Don't Get Sabotaged by Sweeteners"; April 2011
- American Heart Association; "Sugar and Carbohydrates"; June 2011
- MayoClinic.com; "Diabetes Foods: Is Honey A Good Substitute for Sugar?"; Dr. M. Collazo-Clavell; November 2010
- Cleveland Clinic; "Eating Too Much Sugar? Time to Tame Your Sweet Tooth"; M. Ohlson; December 2009
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