Is honey good or bad? Today I am going to talk about the pros and cons of honey and whether it is a good replacement for sugar

What is Honey?

Honey is a substance that is made from nectar (a sugar rich liquid from plants). It is made by bees in a bee hive and so can be totally unprocessed and natural. Honey contains about 80% sugar, 18% water and 2% vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Benefits of Honey

• Unprocessed honey contains antioxidants that have lots of health benefits like protecting you from cancer, decreasing ageing and improving your skin.
• Honey raises your blood sugar less than normal sugar
• Honey may fight inflammation
• Honey has been used to treat cuts as it can kill bacteria

Cons of Honey

• It is high in calories (64 calories in 1 tbsp of honey)
• It is high in sugar (80% sugar) which can have many bad effects on your body
• It is lower in vitamins and minerals compared to other foods

What Type of Honey is best?

Honey that is processed as little as possible is the best. Normally you can tell this by seeing how dark it is (the darker it is the better it is). When honey is processed the antioxidant and other nutrients are broken down or removed. If you can buy your honey locally, from a farmer then you know that it will probably be much better quality.

Should I Eat Honey?

Added sugars in food and drink are one of the biggest causes of weight related problems today. Whether you eat should eat honey depends on your goals. If you are trying to lose weight or diabetic then I would advise you to avoid all sugars and natural sweetness (agave syrup, maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar, cane sugar etc) because they provide a lot of calories and not many  other nutrients.

However there are many recipes where you need to use sugar and sweetners (especially in baking). So if you are healthy and regularly exercise then I would say that honey is a healthier alternative to normal sugar and fine in moderation.

It is difficult to say whether a food is good or bad because it depends on lots of factors. The normal rule is that most foods can be part of a healthy, balanced diet as long as they are only eaten in moderation. I hope this article has helped you understand honey better. If you have any comments or questions please share them here.