Don't ruin your diet because of misconceptions! If you use honey instead of sugar but your weight doesn’t change, read on.
When the consumption of regular sugar is discussed, its often related to the following health concerns:
- Weight gain
- Serious heart health concerns
- Compromised blood sugar levels
- Fatty liver health problems
- Cognitive health issues 1
No wonder the world wants to know the answer to, “Is honey a good substitute for sugar?”
And here’s the answer if you’re ready for it: Plain and simple… No.
Honey is not actually a good substitute for sugar. The reason being is that honey is sugar. Let’s take a look at the different types of sugar.
- Fructose from honey and fruit
- Lactose and Galactose from dairy products and milk
- Glucose from honey, fruits, and even some vegetables
- Maltose from grains like barley
- Sucrose is table sugar. It’s made from equal parts of glucose and fructose
- Xylose from straw or wood
If you see those names on your grocery products, steer clear. And remember, even though sugar may be natural, it’s still sugar. So when you’re eating fruit, you may as well consider that your dessert.
And for this reason, it’s actually best to avoid sugar as much as possible. The only time honey is really okay is if (a) it’s local and (b) you only use less than a tablespoon a week. That’s right, you should only really indulge in honey in extreme moderation.
Now, does this mean you’ll never enjoy sweet treats again? Of course not. But it does mean that you’ll have to start viewing fruit as what they really are – nature’s candy. This means only indulging in it every now and then and only when in-season. There are also plenty of healthy sugar alternatives to try. Find out which are the friendly sugar substitutes.
But does this mean you should avoid eating honey? No! Only in that case if you're trying to get rid of some extra pounds. Honey is actually a nutrition packed source of food and an ancient form of medicine which has been proved by modern-day scientists to be very beneficial to our health.
When you buy cough, cold and flu remedies from over a shop counter you are very often wasting their money. A far more effective home remedy is warm water with raw honey and fresh lemon juice.
Most good athletes swear by the use of honey and water to stimulate and boost their sporting performances. They will do their utmost to avoid drinking chemical sports drinks which will boost performance for a little while although nowhere near the period that honey will. This is because honey will release slowly and effectively for a long period of time its energy boosting compounds.
The Best Honey for You
Raw honey contains far more anti-oxidants than some fruits and vegetables and every vitamin and mineral including water we need to sustain life. Eating raw honey also stimulates B-lymphocytes and T-lymphocytes making them multiply which makes it really good for you. This honey also contains those all important anti-oxidants needed in our daily diets; they are a great way of helping to mop up all those free radicals which are so harmful to our health.
A good raw honey also contains all the enzymes which help to ensure our foods are digested properly. This plays a big part in helping to keep our immune systems working correctly and is very beneficial to sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis and can be helpful when trying to lose weight.
Your skin will benefit from this honey too, this is wonderful for healing and tightening the skin because it heals skin infections and protects and moisturizes keeping it soft and supple.
Try using it on burns and scalds too for fast effective healing. Honey is also perhaps one of the most understated acne cures there are.
Raw honey contains Propolis too, this is wonderful, and it is the most natural antibiotic substance you can possibly find.
Which One to Buy
There are many pretty jars or cans of honey in shops looking pretty on shop shelves. Try to stay clear of those pretty jars dressed up to entice you. These pretty jars are often not real, pure raw honey; they have been processed and blended with plenty of sugar or corn syrup. These will cause you far more harm than good.
If you buy your honey from a shop you should really check the labels out. It is best not to buy anything that states it has been blended with other ingredients.
Buy your raw honey from your local beekeeper or local farmers markets. Raw honey, especially local raw honey, actually de-sensitizes us to the pollen spores' blowing around because of the pollen spores it contains. This can prevent the onset of hay fever symptoms which are a great source of misery to many.
Honey farmers who produce Organic Raw Honey can only label and sell their honey if their bees have not been subjected to any kind of pollution such as pesticides which are believed to be the main perpetrators of our honey bee losses.
Sources
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5133084/
https://gundrymd.com/is-honey-good-substitute/
http://EzineArticles.com/4041225
