Health Benefits of Honey

Eating honey has not been shown to prevent or treat infections. The clinical evidence is for sterile wound dressings, not jar honey: a 2015 Cochrane review (Jull et al., 26 trials) found, on high-quality evidence from 2 trials (992 people), that partial-thickness burns dressed with honey healed about 4.7 days sooner than with conventional dressings; for most other wound types the evidence was low or very low quality. Medical-grade honey dressings (such as Medihoney) are sterilised products cleared for wound care and used by clinicians. Manuka honey sold in jars is graded by its methylglyoxal (MGO) or UMF level; the grade is a quality label, not evidence of a health benefit from eating it.

Honey contains small amounts of flavonoids and phenolic acids. In a 2002 lab study of honeys from 7 floral sources (Gheldof & Engeseth), antioxidant capacity ranged from 3.1 to 16.3 µmol Trolox equivalents per gram, and the darkest honeys, such as buckwheat honey, scored highest; light honeys such as clover honey scored lower. That is a lab measurement of the jar, not a health effect: no study shows that eating a darker honey improves health.

One tablespoon of honey (21g) supplies 64 kcal and 17g of sugar. By weight honey is about 38% fructose, 31% glucose and 17% water, with smaller amounts of maltose, sucrose and other sugars (National Honey Board). Honey's glycemic index averages 61 across 17 honeys in the 2008 international GI tables, close to table sugar's 65, with individual honeys from 35 to 87 (Atkinson et al. 2008). The lowest published value is 32, for one Romanian acacia honey (Foster-Powell et al. 2002); US clover honey measured 69 and tupelo honey 74 in a 2006 study of 12 adults (Ischayek & Kern 2006). Wildflower honey has no published GI. For exercise, honey works like other carbohydrate: in a 2004 study (Earnest et al., Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research), 9 cyclists rode a 64 km time trial taking 15 g of honey gel, dextrose gel or placebo every 16 km. Honey and dextrose gave similar times; taken together the two carbohydrate gels were faster than placebo. People with diabetes should count honey as carbohydrate; no variety is blood-sugar friendly.

There is no good evidence that honey improves sleep in adults. Popular explanations — that bedtime honey refills liver glycogen to prevent a 3 AM cortisol spike, or raises melatonin through tryptophan — have not been tested in people. The sleep evidence that does exist is about children with colds: a 2007 RCT in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (Paul et al., 105 children aged 2 to 18, one night) found a bedtime dose of buckwheat honey beat no treatment for cough frequency and the combined cough-and-sleep score; its difference from dextromethorphan (DM, the most common OTC cough suppressant) was not statistically significant. A 2018 Cochrane review (Oduwole et al., 6 trials, 899 children) concluded honey probably relieves cough more than no treatment or placebo and may make little or no difference compared with DM. Never give honey to a baby under 12 months.

No human trial shows that honey improves digestion or gut health. Honey is not a treatment for H. pylori infection, which needs antibiotics. Moderation matters here: honey is ~80% sugar, and fructose is a FODMAP that can worsen bloating and diarrhoea in people with IBS or fructose malabsorption. Every honey variety is high in fructose, so none is a safe choice for fructose sensitivity.

Honey is a humectant: it attracts and holds water, which is why it appears in moisturisers and face masks alongside glycerin. That is a cosmetic effect. Claims that honey treats acne, eczema or other skin conditions have not been shown in good trials. The strong clinical evidence for honey on skin is narrow: medical-grade honey dressings on partial-thickness burns, used by clinicians (2015 Cochrane review, above). For other wounds, such as leg ulcers, that review found the evidence too weak to draw conclusions. If you use honey as a face mask, apply a thin layer to clean skin for 15–20 minutes and rinse with warm water; patch-test first if you have a pollen or bee-product allergy. See a doctor or dermatologist for persistent skin problems or any wound that needs treatment.