Because sweet foods tend to be high in calories, it's natural to assume that honey contributes to weight gain. While honey is a calorie-rich food, it's not particularly fattening. As with any food, you'll need to control how much honey you eat to avoid taking in more total calories each day than you need. Using small quantities of honey in place of sugar may even help you cut calories, making weight gain less likely.
Calories in Honey
Because honey is high in calories, eating a significant amount of honey regularly could cause weight gain. A 100 g portion of honey contains 304 calories, which works out to 64 calories per tbsp., according to the USDA National Nutrient Database. Eating 125 calories a day more than you need for weight maintenance would theoretically cause you to gain 1/4 lb. each week, or 13 lbs. a year. You could take in this amount by eating just 2 tbsp. honey every day.
Sugars in Honey
Honey is around 40 percent fructose and 36 percent glucose, with the remainder being other substances. Granulated table sugar is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose. Your body is better able to use glucose for energy than fructose, and fructose is more likely than glucose to be stored as fat. Although excess calories from either honey or table sugar can lead to fat gain, notes Dr. Robert Lustig in an interview for the University of California San Diego, honey may be less damaging to your body because it contains less fructose.
Honey and Weight Managment
Adding honey to your diet without exceeding your caloric needs may not promote weight gain. Normal-weight and obese people with diabetes who ate honey daily for eight weeks experienced significantly improved cholesterol profiles, along with an insignificant decrease in body weight, discovered a study published in the "International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition" in November 2009. Because those eating honey developed raised hemoglobin A1c levels, an indication of poor blood-sugar control, the study's researchers recommend that people with diabetes use caution when adding honey to their diets.
Honey as a Substitute for Table Sugar
Because honey is thicker and sweeter than table sugar, you may find you need less of it to flavor your foods. Honey provides 64 calories per tbsp., while 1 tbsp. table sugar has only 48 calories. If you normally use 1 tbsp. sugar daily, but need only 1/2 tbsp. honey a day, you'll save 16 calories. This means as long as you consistently use significantly less honey than sugar, honey won't add more calories to your diet than sugar would. Honey, especially the darker varieties, also contains small amounts of health-supportive antioxidants that table sugar doesn't. This is another reason to consider honey as a table sugar alternative.
References
- USDA: National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
- University of California: Forbidden Fruit?; July 2011
- Columbia University Health Services: Honey vs. Sugar, Which is Healthier?; May 1995
- The University of California San Francisco; On the Spot, Dr. Lustig Responds; Dr. Robert Lustig;October 2006
- "International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition"; Effects of Natural Honey Consumption in Diabetic Patients: An 8-Week Randomized Clinical Trial; M. Bahrami, et al.; November 2009
- Michigan State University: Honey a Source of Antioxidants; 1998
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