Is honey better than sugar?

MonaRaeHill

Richard Heath is wrong, so is MedWatch. While honey may not cure allergies, it can certainly help tame them. Not all research is good research and western medicine assumes if there are no studies, then it can't be true. That's erroneous tunnel vision type thinking. It's what they pay 100,000 for, to become doctors and adopt the same tunnel vision.

The sting from honeybees has been proven, in very small studies, to alleviate (and often even reverse), arthritis. Honey is a much better choice, then sugar, because it is a whole food (as it happens, being a beekeeper, I do have research somewhere, showing this.......I'll look for it, if anyone is interested).

I'm sure hard-core vegans will disagree, but honey is part of an intensive land stewardship, in that the beekeeper has to create a symbiotic relationship with their bees. This relationship is on a very micro level, but in turn, causes a macro effect, especially when it comes to micro-climates.

If you choose honey, instead of sugar, you are becoming part of a small minority, desperately trying to save the honeybee, especially if you buy it locally, from your neighborhood beekeeper. The honeybee is responsible for pollinating over 80% of the food we eat, (now that we are all dieters, and all).

I will try and locate the studies I have on my computer.........if you wish to see them, feel free to email me.

TheDevastator

It has nothing to do with the type of pollen in the honey. What helps allergies is the vitamin, mineral and enzyme content of the honey especially the B vitamin content. Most honey has added corn syrup and is pasteurized and/or heated in some other way so it's not going to help. Raw Manuka honey is one of the more nutrient dense types.

Also something isn't debunked just because there is little to no official evidence, it just means no one has done the proper studies.

We'll still need to see some studies. Believe me nothing would make me happier than this to be true,
I've suffered for years with pollen allergies. I also have worked at an apiary and ferment many different types of raw unpasteurised honey frequently to make mead. I've used Linden, wildflower, orange blossom, clover, buckwheat and many other raw honeys. I partake in them frequently. N=1, I've never seen any respite from seasonal allergies even though I eat more raw honey than probably most on this forum and probably more than our naturopath.

The main problem with dealing with some type of illness is you have to look at all the nutrient deficiencies someone has. Are they getting enough of the full spectrum of nutrients and does their body need more than the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) of certain nutrients?

These sites cover the main nutrients:

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/
http://www.whfoods.com/nutrientstoc.php

I would check if you are getting enough Vitamin C, Beta Carotene, B Complex vitamins(the main ones especially niacin), and Vitamin D.

I would say raw honey would only help people that have a deficiency in one or several of the nutrients it contains.

mockchoc

Sugar tastes better than honey in most things so I don't care. I use so little it's not important.

FredDoyle

Vitamin D.

I would say raw honey would only help people that have a deficiency in one or several of the nutrients it contains.

You're moving the goal posts from the original claim.
Maybe eating more thimble berries would give the missing nutrient and only a very few honeys would contain it.

zyxst

I use sugar because I like it. Also, I just wanted to find this later.

Portly_Priest_no_more

Not sure about the honey vs. sugar debate, but I too like oatmeal. I've taken to putting jams/jellies in my oatmeal, preferably the naturally sweetened ones. Sure, it adds colour to the oatmeal, which may or may not be a good thing for you, but it does add a measure of sweetening to the meal.

TheDevastator

Vitamin D.

I would say raw honey would only help people that have a deficiency in one or several of the nutrients it contains.

You're moving the goal posts from the original claim.
Maybe eating more thimble berries would give the missing nutrient and only a very few honeys would contain it.

I'm not looking at any claims made by others, only what I believe. I also was talking about your allergies. To help them you need to deal with your overall health not just trying to eat one "super" food and that's it but by making sure your nutritional needs are met.

To get on topic: I believe raw sugarcane juice and raw honey are great foods. Store bought honey and white sugar aren't going to kill you in moderation. My choice would be raw honey mixed with butter on fresh toasted bread.

FredDoyle

Vitamin D.

I would say raw honey would only help people that have a deficiency in one or several of the nutrients it contains.

You're moving the goal posts from the original claim.
Maybe eating more thimble berries would give the missing nutrient and only a very few honeys would contain it.

I'm not looking at any claims made by others, only what I believe. I also was talking about your allergies. To help them you need to deal with your overall health not just trying to eat one "super" food and that's it but by making sure your nutritional needs are met.

To get on topic: I believe raw sugarcane juice and raw honey are great foods. Store bought honey and white sugar aren't going to kill you in moderation. My choice would be raw honey mixed with butter on fresh toasted bread.

Thanks for your thoughts.
It's been an ongoing experiment for 40 years.

cyclebummer

Darn sure taste better.

Anecdotaly, a tbls of raw, local honey/day stopped frequent attacks of diverticulits and acute bronchitis. Nearly two years free of both after years of multiple attacks. No other change in diet or lifestyle. Just the honey. Such will make a believer and evangelist.

If you become a convert, buy only honey with a local addess and preferably, a phone # on the label. All other is suspect.

FredDoyle

Darn sure taste better.

Anecdotaly, a tbls of raw, local honey/day stopped frequent attacks of diverticulits and acute bronchitis. Nearly two years free of both after years of multiple attacks. No other change in diet or lifestyle. Just the honey. Such will make a believer and evangelist.

If you become a convert, buy only honey with a local addess and preferably, a phone # on the label. All other is suspect.

Sorry, but that is a post hoc rationalisation. It could have been anything else, or even the waxing and waning of the types of afflictions that the naturopaths live upon.
Glad your conditions have cleared up though.
Surely won't hurt to keep enjoying local honey and supporting your local apiary.
Drink mead!

crevices

i just throw in some sweeteners in my oatmeal lol so much easier

creatureofthewind

I know this thread is a little overdone OP, but I was wondering the same as you. So I researched both sugar and honey on wikipedia and google. With all the combined information I came up with, honey is slightly very slightly better for you. I don't want to get in why I feel that because, this seems too much of a debate for me..
My vote is honey, but if you have to have sugar, then it's not the end of the world.

JustAnotherCalorieCounter

Well honey is higher in calories. But I think as long as it fits into your calories, who cares?

richardheath

It has nothing to do with the type of pollen in the honey. What helps allergies is the vitamin, mineral and enzyme content of the honey especially the B vitamin content. Most honey has added corn syrup and is pasteurized and/or heated in some other way so it's not going to help. Raw Manuka honey is one of the more nutrient dense types.

Also something isn't debunked just because there is little to no official evidence, it just means no one has done the proper studies.

So if it nothing to do with the type of pollen, then why is the claim so often made that local honey should be used? The rationale often given (if anybody actually tries to rationalize it) is that it is the local pollen.

So, we agree then that the pollen is irrelevant.

So what you are now claiming is that the very low mineral and vitamin content of honey is some magic switch for the immune system? And that these nutrients can't be gotten in higher amounts from other sources? Looking at some labels, honey has about 1-4% of the RDA for a few B vitamins.

And enzymes? How does bee invertase help immune function, once eaten and digested?

Look, I'm not knocking honey. It tastes good. I just would like some evidence of the touted health benefits. Is that really an unreasonable request?

Hezzietiger1

it's more natural than table sugar.. but still sugar.

richardheath

Richard Heath is wrong, so is MedWatch. While honey may not cure allergies, it can certainly help tame them. Not all research is good research and western medicine assumes if there are no studies, then it can't be true. That's erroneous tunnel vision type thinking. It's what they pay 100,000 for, to become doctors and adopt the same tunnel vision.

The sting from honeybees has been proven, in very small studies, to alleviate (and often even reverse), arthritis. Honey is a much better choice, then sugar, because it is a whole food (as it happens, being a beekeeper, I do have research somewhere, showing this.......I'll look for it, if anyone is interested).

I'm sure hard-core vegans will disagree, but honey is part of an intensive land stewardship, in that the beekeeper has to create a symbiotic relationship with their bees. This relationship is on a very micro level, but in turn, causes a macro effect, especially when it comes to micro-climates.

If you choose honey, instead of sugar, you are becoming part of a small minority, desperately trying to save the honeybee, especially if you buy it locally, from your neighborhood beekeeper. The honeybee is responsible for pollinating over 80% of the food we eat, (now that we are all dieters, and all).

I will try and locate the studies I have on my computer.........if you wish to see them, feel free to email me.

OK, so I'm wrong. Show me where I went wrong.

And I'm not knocking beekeepers or honey here (I've made mead from local honey), although you appear to feel free to knock my profession. I'm only questioning the health claims. If there is true evidence for it's efficacy, then it should be available, right?

ninerbuff

Body breaks down both to simplest form to absorb. So no.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

totallyforgiven

I don't if it is me, but if you get local honey from a trusted farmer, who doesn't do all of the processing, Real Natural Honey, it would be 1000 times better for you, then sugar which is high processed.:happy:

Firststar16

anything you can lick the spoon after is always better..

writemusic4him

Yes..or you could use agave syrup. If you kind of have a bit of a plain oatmeal, a flavored agave syrup could be fun.