At least 20 percent of all adults in the U.S. suffer from some form of arthritis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although this painful, debilitating inflammatory condition is sometimes thought of as a natural part of aging, your diet may play a role in preventing and improving symptoms of arthritis. Folk practitioners have been using honey for centuries to treat a variety of ailments, and honey's nutritional properties may help it fight the inflammation that causes arthritis.
Nutrition and Antioxidants
Honey contains the B-complex vitamins, minerals such as calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and zinc, as well as some amino acids and antioxidants. Antioxidants help protect against harmful free radicals and reactive oxygen species that have been linked to various chronic diseases, including arthritis. A review in a 2003 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" reported that buckwheat honey increased the antioxidant activity of blood plasma in healthy adults and concluded that substituting honey for other sweeteners could improve antioxidant defenses.
Honey and Inflammation
Inflammation is your body's way of protecting itself against injuries, but when that process goes haywire, inflammation can harm the tissues it was meant to heal. This can lead to rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and a host of other medical conditions. Researchers in India performed tests on rats using manuka honey, a honey from New Zealand that contains more nutrition than any other type. The study results, published in "Phytotherapy Research" in 2008, found that the honey led to significant decreases in inflammatory bowel disease in the rats. This research held out promise that honey could be an effective tool at fighting other inflammatory diseases, like arthritis.
Honey and Arthritis
Siddha medicine is a traditional Indian practice that uses formulas such as kalpaamruthaa, consisting of a nut milk extract, dried powder from the Indian gooseberry fruit and honey. A study published in "Chemical-Biological Interactions" in 2008 showed that the formula fed to arthritic rats resulted in improvements in symptoms that were attributed to the antioxidant flavonoids, tannins and vitamin C. Another study on rats at the University of Ilorin, in Nigeria, showed that honey consumption reduced arthritis symptoms at doses of 2, 6 and 10 g per kg of body weight. Results were published in the "Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine" in April 2011.
Considerations
Honey is generally recognized as safe for most adults or children, although children under 12 months should not given raw honey due to a risk for botulism poisoning. Honey is made from a variety of pollen types and may cause allergic reactions if you are allergic to the particular pollens found in a given honey product. Avoid honey made from plants from the genus Rhododendron, often called "mad honey" because it can cause honey intoxication with mild paralysis, dizziness, vertigo, blurred vision and convulsions.
References
- Centers for Disease Control: Arthritis Statistics
- "Phytotherapy Research"; Effect Of Different Doses of Manuka Honey in Experimentally Induced Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Rats; A. Prakash, et al.; November 2008
- "Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao"; Effects of Honey on Inflammation and Nitric Oxide Production in Wistar Rats; B.V. Owoyele, et al.; April 2011
- "Chemical-Biological Interactions"; Salubrious Effect of Kalpaamruthaa, a Modified Indigenous Preparation in Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis in Rats--a Biochemical Approach; R. Mythilypriya, et al.; May 2008
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Honey with High Levels of Antioxidants Can Provide Protection to Healthy Human Subjects; D.D. Schramm, et al.; March 2003
- "Food and Chemical Toxicology"; Poisoning by Mad Honey: a Brief Review; I. Koca and A.F. Koca August 2007
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