The Truth About Honey: Honey Has Spikeless Energy
Part two of our three-part series on the truth about honey covers the wonders of its spikeless energy. We commend the research and study of honey by Dr. Ronald Fessenden who is tirelessly working to make plain the seemingly mythical properties of honey. Dr. Fessenden is retired from active medical practice and spends most of his time researching and writing about honey and health. He is the co-chairman for the Committee for the Promotion of Honey and Health in America, an independent non-profit organization devoted to educating the consumer with regard to the healthful benefits of honey and promoting the honey and health message based on good science.
Below is an excerpt from his paper Honey: More than Just a Sweetener, Naturally.
With its ideal combination of fructose and glucose, honey minimizes or avoids many of the results of consuming refined sugar in sugary sweets or HFCS in soft drinks. Honey does not produce the high insulin spike that follows the ingestion of sugar (sucrose) or other simple carbohydrates. The fructose in honey facilitates the uptake of glucose into the liver: glucose is converted to glycogen and stored for later use. Blood sugar swings are modulated, preventing the metabolic stress that typically occurs from insulin spikes following the ingestion of high glucose loads and the subsequent hypoglycemia.
The body’s response to low blood sugar or hypoglycemia (a condition that follows, within an hour and a half to two hours, eating carbohydrates high on the glycemic index) is to release adrenaline and cortisol, “stress hormones” that force the breakdown of muscle protein for conversion to glucose for fuel. Over time, this repeated overdosing on sugar and high fructose corn syrup (both refined sugar and HFCS are “toxic sweeteners” in the dosages currently consumed*), the chronic over-secretion of insulin, the resultant wide swings in blood sugar levels, and the release of adrenaline and cortisol result in what is termed insulin resistance (IR), which leads to impairment of glucose.
Honey does not force the body into these wide blood sugar swings. In fact, honey stabilizes blood sugar levels and reduces metabolic stress. Honey, it may be logically argued, will decrease the occurrence of insulin resistance, which, when uncorrected, is a precursor of, results in, or is related to, a whole host of disease states plaguing Americans of all ages, including:
Type 2 diabetes
Obesity
Childhood obesity
Cognitive memory impairments from inadequate glucose metabolism in the brain
Neuro-degenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s disease, parkinsonism)
Depressive disorders
Vascular changes, cardiovascular disease
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in adolescent girls
Chronic liver disease
Could it be that the answer to these health problems is as simple as eating honey and eliminating much of the refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup in our diets? Animal research studies have already shown that a diet of honey results in less weight gain than a diet of sugar or HFCS. The same studies have shown that a honey diet results in lower HA1C (a marker used to indicate elevated blood sugar levels) and triglyceride levels. Some unpublished studies (results to be published later this year) have indicated that the consumption of honey actually results in weight loss as compared with diets of sugar or HFCS.
But that is not all.
Eating honey ensures an adequate supply of liver glycogen at all times
throughout the day. Because honey, and its ideal ratio of fructose to glucose, is rapidly incorporated into glycogen in the liver, it becomes the ideal food for quick morning starts. It is perfect as a pre-, mid-, and post-exercise energy source. And taken before bedtime, is a great way to get a good night’s sleep.