Honey’s highlights
Honey really is so more than sweetness. It’s an ancient medicine, dating back to 2000 BC, and its medicinal use is now validated by modern scientific research. Honey is a nutrient, a drug and an ointment.
Made by the honey bee (Apis mellifera), honey a unique mix of sugars, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, proteins and plant compounds. It has proven antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, wound healing and immune supporting effects. Science is showing it soothes coughs, supports brain and metabolic health, and can ease side effects of some cancer treatments.
And, different honeys have different strengths. For example manuka for antimicrobial action (against around 60 species of bacteria), thyme and buckwheat for coughs, stingless bee honey for neuroprotection. In general raw, unprocessed honey is shown to carry more of these benefits than processed varieties.
Honeymoon Folkore
The word honeymoon is said to have appeared in English in the 1500s, as a metaphor describing the first month of marriage – a time as sweet as honey, but, like the moon, destined to wax and wane!
In parts of Europe newlyweds were encouraged to drink mead – a fermented honey wine, for a lunar month after their wedding. Mead was thought to bring fertility, joy, and good fortune, and this custom may have helped honey stick in the idea of a honeymoon.
Made of more than sweetness
Honey is about 20% water and 70% sugars. The sugar is mostly fructose and glucose, but also a smaller amount (2g/100g) of trehalose (which is 2 glucose molecules together). Trehalose is a vital energy source for bees to regulate sustained flight and to protect their cells against stress. Research now links trehalose with human health too, including autophagy (cellular clean-up), metabolism control, inflammation, aging, neuroprotection, and potentially anticancer activity.
But beyond the sugar, about 10% of honey is a complex mix of enzymes, amino acids, vitamins (A and C), minerals (like copper, manganese, selenium, and zinc), and phytochemicals like flavonoids, phenolic acids, and aromatic compounds. This is the bioactive part and it varies depending on the flowers, region, season, type of bees, and how the honey is processed and stored. It shapes honey’s colour, aroma, flavour and its medicinal effects.
Antimicrobial action
Unheated honey has antimicrobial action against pathogenic bacteria including Helicobacter pylori, and some antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and food spoilage bacteria. Honey’s antiviral and antifungal actions have been studied less, but it’s shown active against candida and a number of virus types including rubella, HIV (decreasing patient viral load), herpes viruses, and is also being investigated against coronaviruses.
These effects come not only from its acidity and high sugar content, but from natural compounds like hydrogen peroxide, methylglyoxal (from glucose metabolism), and plant-derived essential oil compounds gathered by the bees from aromatic herbs. For example, thymol from thyme is a strong antimicrobial and is used in mouthwashes and disinfectants.
Wound healing
Controlled clinical studies confirm honey’s role in speeding wound healing, especially in diabetic ulcers and abscesses, and particularly where conventional modern therapeutic agents fail. It keeps wounds moist, reduces inflammation and infections, and forms a protective barrier against infection. Honey has also been shown to help the body clear away damaged tissue, deodorise malodorous wounds and stimulate non-healing wounds.
Burns
Honey is used in some burn units, where a dressing accelerates wound healing. But a combination of honey-milk is shown in research to have the greatest effects. At the physic garden we find a combination of honey, aloe vera and drops of lavender essential oil is remarkably effective for soothing pain and inflammation and promoting healing after burns (though not for use deep burns). Honey has also proved helpful for oral mucositis in cancer patients undergoing radiation.
Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects
Honey is rich in phenolic compounds, which help protect the body from oxidative stress which is associated with aging and chronic disease. Clinical studies show honey increases antioxidant activity in the blood.
Soothing coughs
Controlled trials comparing honey to common cough medicines (containing for example diphenhydramine) have shown to be more effective in easing night-time cough in children with respiratory infections, so improving both their sleep and their parents’. Not only does honey outperform standard treatments for coughs and colds in a review of 12 clinical trials in people of all ages, people recovered one to two days faster when taking honey. Honey has also been shown to ease pain after tonsillectomy and to improve oral health measures in stroke patients.
Sleep
A mixture of milk and honey is well known traditional bedtime drink and research has now shown for example, that when given to coronary patients it improves their sleep quality compared to the control group.
Effects on blood sugar and metabolism
Despite being sweet, honey sugars behaves differently from ordinary sugar. Meta-analysis studies show raw and clover honey can lower fasting glucose, as well as cholesterol, and triglycerides. Its glycaemic index (GI) is generally lower than sucrose, though it varies by variety – eg., Acacia honey has a lower GI than Tupelo honey.
In both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, honey caused a lower blood-sugar rise than sucrose, though more research is needed to understand long-term effects. In addition, honey may also stimulate diseased beta cells in the pancreas and this is a key future therapeutic in diabetes.
Metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome – the cluster of risk factors that raise the risk of heart disease and diabetes, may also benefit from honey. Research shows honey can:
• Lower blood sugar compared to sugar
• Support healthy weight
• Improve cholesterol balance (lower LDL and triglycerides, raise HDL)
• Enhance insulin sensitivity
• Protect blood vessels through its antioxidant properties
Cancer support
Honey may also help with complications of cancer treatment. Studies show it reduces mouth pain and inflammation and soreness of the digestive tract (mucositis), and it can improve white blood cell counts in patients with low neutrophils (neutropenia) when used as a supplement.
Hay-fever support?
Some people say eating local honey eases hay-fever (pollen) allergies. This idea is similar to incremental allergen exposure therapy, where the body is gradually introduced to small amounts of an allergen to build tolerance over time. This method of medical therapy does show high success rates when carried out consistently over several years.
Scientific studies confirming the same effect for honey haven’t yet been completed, so the evidence remains anecdotal. Still, many suggest taking a spoonful of local honey daily from mid-February or early spring, well before hay-fever symptoms usually begin. At the very least, it will help soothe symptoms through its natural healing properties – the science-backed effects to help ease allergy symptoms include:
- Anti-inflammatory effects, helping reduce swelling and irritation in airways and sinuses, easing congestion and discomfort.
- Antioxidant effects from flavonoids and phenolic compounds that help combat oxidative stress, a key player in allergic reactions.
- Antimicrobial action, by helping prevent and soothe secondary infections like those arising from prolonged congestion, thanks to its antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties.
- Mucosal soothing, since honey coats the throat, relieving irritation, dryness, and cough.
- Immune modulating properties since emerging research shows that certain honey compounds can down-regulate major inflammatory pathways like pro-inflammatory cytokines.
So while honey is not yet scientifically supported in allergy treatment, it’s scientifically supported to be anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, soothing, and immune regulating, making. In addition, it’s possible that giving local honey regularly to children – over the age of 12 months, would boost pollen exposure in our increasingly urban lives, and therefore decrease hay-fever.
Alcohol metabolism – prevent drunkedness!
Honey has been shown to clinically reduce blood alcohol concentration and reduce intoxication time. In one study, freshly harvested Nigerian citrus honey reduced both the intensity and duration of alcohol intoxication when taken with alcohol. It’s been shown to enhance the activity of the enzyme that breaks down alcohol – alcohol dehydrogenase. Again, different honeys have different efficacy, and studies are ongoing but fructose content and the phenolics in honey play a part.
Immune booster
Honey has been shown to be a natural immune modulator. Research shows it can stimulate the immune system by enhancing lymphocytes, boosting phagocytic (pathogen and cell debris engulfing) activity, and regulating the release of key pro-inflammatory cytokines (including tumor necrosis factor and interleukins). At the same time, honey also demonstrates anti-inflammatory effects, suppressing the over-expression of these same cytokines when inflammation is excessive.
This dual action, both stimulating and calming the immune response, has been linked to honey’s strong antioxidant capacity from its rich content of phenolic compounds. By reducing oxidative stress, honey helps maintain immune balance and protect tissues from damage. Supporting this, a randomised controlled trial found that honey consumption lowered oxidative stress and reduced lymphocyte DNA damage following exercise, and this was attributed to its high antioxidant potential.
Neuroprotection
Widely studied for its neuroprotective effects and potential to help lower neurodegeneration, various honeys show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticholinesterase (increasing our memory and awareness signal acetylcholine) actions. Neuroprotective effects are linked to polyphenol content, with quercetin and gallic acid being the most prominent.
Does the type of honey matter?
As we’ve seen not all honeys are equal. Manuka honey is shown effective against infections, though not as strong in cancer-related benefits. Thyme and buckwheat honey is shown to have strong antimicrobial and cough-soothing properties. Thyme honey and raw tropical stingless bee honey are shown particularly rich in phenolics, with neuroprotective effects.
In general though, raw, unprocessed honey tends to preserve more beneficial compounds, and usually have a lower GI, than processed honey.
Bee thankful
As the physic garden beekeepers help look after the bees and put the honey into pots and wax into balms, we’re reminded that every drop is both food, preventative medicine and medicine – just like the medicinal plants the nectar is gathered from. Honeys healing power is probably older than human history, but it’s now verified by modern scientific research. Drizzled on warm bread, stirred into tea or milk, or used with care in healing, we are so grateful so the bees connecting nature with our wellbeing.
Want to be a bee keeper?
Find out more – make your own honey and help support bees, biodiversity and your health.
Cautions
- Do not give honey to infants under 12 months because of the risk of botulism
- Use with caution in diabetes
- Some advice limits honey in gout, though moderate amounts of pure raw honey may be acceptable.
- New research verifies a traditional Ayurvedic warning, showing that if taken regularly and long-term, a honey and ghee (butter-fat) combination may actually be harmful to health. Recent research shows that this combination long-term may produces an oxidative stress-mediated toxicity, inflammation, causing for example weight and hair loss and affect the skin.
Sample References
Molan, P.C. (2001). The potential of honey to promote oral wellness. General Dentistry, 49(6), 584-589.
Jull, A.B., Cullum, N., & Dumville, J.C. (2015). Honey as a topical treatment for wounds. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (3), CD005083.
Aljadi, A.M., & Kamaruddin, M.Y. (2004). Evaluation of the phenolic contents and antioxidant capacities of two Malaysian floral honeys. Food Chemistry, 85(4), 513-518.
Palma-Morales M, Huertas JR, Rodríguez-Pérez C. A Comprehensive Review of the Effect of Honey on Human Health. Nutrients. 2023 Jul 6;15(13):3056. doi: 10.3390/nu15133056. PMID: 37447382; PMCID: PMC10346535.
