Honey, Part I

Honey has a long history in folk medicine of treating many disorders. It was even mentioned in the Holy Quran that a drink from bees' bodies is healing for men.¹

When I was in chiropractic school in the mid-1980s, my nutrition teacher said that honey was a better sweetener than sugar. Over the years, many of the more conservative nutrition publications I take have stated that there is little difference between honey and sugar, and that the notion of honey as a healthier alternative to sugar is an unsubstantiated wives' tale. Therefore, when a paper by Norri S. Al-Waili, MD, PhD (one of the world's premier honey researchers) on how honey affects the blood came across my desk, I was quite interested.²

The Study

Ten volunteers, who were medical staff members (doctors, lawyers, and technicians) from the medical center where the author works, volunteered for the one-month study. For two weeks, they followed a tightly controlled diet, had a blood test, and then continued the diet for two more weeks with the addition of 1.2 gm/kg body weight of local unprocessed honey, which was dissolved in 250 ml of water.

Translation

For those not metrically inclined, myself included, this translates as follows: A 70 kg person = 154 pounds. At a 1.2 gm/kg body-weight dose, this equates to 84 gm a day of honey, which on the surface seems like a tremendous amount. However, one tablespoon of honey contains 21 grams; therefore, the total amount of honey supplemented would be 4 tablespoons for a 154 pound person. This provides 240 calories, which for my nonmetrically inclined mind, is much less than I would have guessed. The following variables were tested after two weeks of the control diet, and again following the diet plus honey:

• copper (µg/dl)
• calcium (mg/dl)
• ferritin (ng/ml)
• iron (µg/dl)
• iron binding capacity (µg/dl)
• magnesium (mg/dl)
• phosphorus (mg/dl)
• zinc (µg/dl)
• beta carotene (µg/dl)
• vitamin C (mg/dl)
• glutathione reductase (mg/dl)
• eosinophils (%)
• hemoglobin (g/dl)
• white blood cells (k/ul)
• immunoglobulin E (IU/I)
• amylase (u/l)
• AST (IU/I)
• ALT (IU/I)
• alkaline phosphatase (IU/I)
• creatinine kinase
• lactic acid dehydrogenase (IU/I)
• uric acid (mg/dl)
• lymphocytes (%)
• monocytes (%)
• neutrophils (%)
• packed cell volume (%)
• platelet count (k/ul)
• red blood cells (million/ml)
• fasting blood sugar (mg/dl)

Comment

This article originally caught my eye because my knee-jerk reaction to 1.2 gm/kg body weight of honey in a normal individual was that the amount ingested was tremendous. This study only included 10 people. Therefore, it should be interpreted with the knowledge that there is an excellent chance that a greater sample size would change the results. For example, in the abstract, the author states that beta-carotene levels increased by 3 percent. In fact, most factors showed minute changes that would be notable in a larger trial. But with only 10 subjects, I disregarded small changes in zinc, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron binding capacity, glutathione, red blood cells, white blood cells, packed cell volume, neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, monocytes, and hemoglobin. However, that still left some very significant changes apparently caused by two weeks of consuming 4 tablespoons of honey daily. They are as follows:

Whether or not honey affects most people this way needs to be verified with a study containing more subjects. Having said that, this is a great example that food can act as a biological modifier. In the case of honey, due to its high sugar content, I would never have guessed that (even in a small study) it would have this much effect on various factors. I feel it can be safely extrapolated that other foods we consume can cause measurable changes as well. For example, how would two weeks of donuts and French fries, apples and oranges, or a quart of soda affect one's blood chemistry? I think in the next 20 years, we will see more research on how various foods affect various people.

References

1. Al-Waili, N.S. Topical honey application versus Acyclovir for the treatment of recurrent herpes simplex lesions. Med Sci Monit 2004;10(8):94-98.
2. Al-Waili, N.S. The effects of daily consumption of honey solution on hematological indices and blood levels of minerals and enzymes in normal individuals. J Medicinal Food 2003;6(2):135-140.

G. Douglas Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN
Brea, California
gdandersen@earthlink.net
www.andersEnchiro.com