Honey: Is it Better For You Than Sugar?
Honey has been eaten by humans for hundreds of thousands of years. We have evolved a liking for sweet tastes because we have found that sugars can provide us with a ready source of energy.
But with our modern 'diseases of civilisation' is honey any more healthy for us than any of the other sugars that are available?
Honey is essentially nectar (or other sugars) collected by bees and brought back to the hive to produce food for the other bees and the brood that they oversee. The nectar (essentially sugary water) is carried in the bee's stomach and then regurgitated into the storage cells in the hive. It undergoes a partial evaporation process to eliminate some of the water before the cells are capped and left until needed.
During the whole process some enzymes, proteins and minerals are trapped in the honey and form the basis of the 'nutrients' that honey is thought to be good for. Essentially, though, honey is mostly made up of fructose and glucose (as is our refined sugar). The following graphic illustrates some of the differences:
But with our modern 'diseases of civilisation' is honey any more healthy for us than any of the other sugars that are available?
Honey is essentially nectar (or other sugars) collected by bees and brought back to the hive to produce food for the other bees and the brood that they oversee. The nectar (essentially sugary water) is carried in the bee's stomach and then regurgitated into the storage cells in the hive. It undergoes a partial evaporation process to eliminate some of the water before the cells are capped and left until needed.
During the whole process some enzymes, proteins and minerals are trapped in the honey and form the basis of the 'nutrients' that honey is thought to be good for. Essentially, though, honey is mostly made up of fructose and glucose (as is our refined sugar). The following graphic illustrates some of the differences:
Comparison of Honey and Sugar from 'Can Diabetics Eat Honey? The Research Will Surprise You.'
It can be seen from the graphic that honey has a lower glycemic index than sugar, but it must be noted that the graphic compares 100 grams of honey with 100 grams of refined sugar. When you factor in that the 100 grams of honey contains approx 17 grams of water then you can see that the article the graphic comes from is not exactly comparing 'like with like'.
In order to compare them properly we should take 82 grams of sugar and add 17 grams of water. What then will happen to the glycemic index?
History
In the course of the last 20,000 years, our civilisation has tended to move away from the hunter/gatherer lifestyle toward a pastoral one. This has seen a shift away from animals as food to plants as food. We have modified and cultivated legumes, fruits and grains over this time in order to make them yield more carbohydrate as energy. This has resulted in foods that are high in energy but relatively deficient in nutrients. The result of which over the last 20,000 years has been a smaller human stature (heightwise but not in girth), smaller brain, teeth which no longer outlast us and more of the 'diseases of civilisation' - heart disease, cancers, dementia, diabetes and a variety of autoimmune diseases.
The last 50 years has seen an even bigger switch away from eating fats from animals to eating fats from plants as various health 'experts' have exerted their opinions and biases on the authorities of the time. At no time in our previous history have we been so unhealthy. Prior to 1900 our four greatest causes of early death were, trauma, infection, giving birth and being born. Now they are heart disease, cancer, diabetes and iatrogenesis.
Before the advent of the supermarket and 24/7 access to highly refined foods, fruit, sugar or honey was not significantly harmful to us in the amounts that we could conveniently gather from the wild. However, now that we have such foods available year round, we have seen escalating levels of obesity and diabetes as we simply cannot help but partake of them.
Carbohydrate, Sugars and Their Effect on Us
Contrast a piece of steak with potato crisps as food. Once you have eaten the piece of steak, do you feel like eating more? We have natural satiety signals that tell us when we have eaten enough protein and we know when to stop. On the other hand, carbohydrates don't signal us in the same way - we can keep on eating those potato crisps until the packet is gone (and then open another packet!) This is partly a survival mechanism, fruits and sugars are usually only available (in nature) just as we are going into winter. At this time it makes sense for us to gorge on them and accumulate some of our own energy storage (fat) so that we have some reserves for the coming cold months.
Eating carbohydrates (sugars) causes us to produce insulin to keep our blood sugar within necessary bounds. This insulin also causes us to store extra energy as fat. Unfortunately, if we keep bombarding our body with carbohydrates, the insulin becomes less effective and we have to produce more to achieve the same effect - eventually our pancreas gives up and cannot produce any more - at which point we are verging on being diabetic. At this point, it doesn't matter whether the fructose and glucose comes from honey or sugar, your pancreas cannot cope and you will have excess blood glucose and eventually die - often not before losing your sight and some of your limbs.
In order to compare them properly we should take 82 grams of sugar and add 17 grams of water. What then will happen to the glycemic index?
History
In the course of the last 20,000 years, our civilisation has tended to move away from the hunter/gatherer lifestyle toward a pastoral one. This has seen a shift away from animals as food to plants as food. We have modified and cultivated legumes, fruits and grains over this time in order to make them yield more carbohydrate as energy. This has resulted in foods that are high in energy but relatively deficient in nutrients. The result of which over the last 20,000 years has been a smaller human stature (heightwise but not in girth), smaller brain, teeth which no longer outlast us and more of the 'diseases of civilisation' - heart disease, cancers, dementia, diabetes and a variety of autoimmune diseases.
The last 50 years has seen an even bigger switch away from eating fats from animals to eating fats from plants as various health 'experts' have exerted their opinions and biases on the authorities of the time. At no time in our previous history have we been so unhealthy. Prior to 1900 our four greatest causes of early death were, trauma, infection, giving birth and being born. Now they are heart disease, cancer, diabetes and iatrogenesis.
Before the advent of the supermarket and 24/7 access to highly refined foods, fruit, sugar or honey was not significantly harmful to us in the amounts that we could conveniently gather from the wild. However, now that we have such foods available year round, we have seen escalating levels of obesity and diabetes as we simply cannot help but partake of them.
Carbohydrate, Sugars and Their Effect on Us
Contrast a piece of steak with potato crisps as food. Once you have eaten the piece of steak, do you feel like eating more? We have natural satiety signals that tell us when we have eaten enough protein and we know when to stop. On the other hand, carbohydrates don't signal us in the same way - we can keep on eating those potato crisps until the packet is gone (and then open another packet!) This is partly a survival mechanism, fruits and sugars are usually only available (in nature) just as we are going into winter. At this time it makes sense for us to gorge on them and accumulate some of our own energy storage (fat) so that we have some reserves for the coming cold months.
Eating carbohydrates (sugars) causes us to produce insulin to keep our blood sugar within necessary bounds. This insulin also causes us to store extra energy as fat. Unfortunately, if we keep bombarding our body with carbohydrates, the insulin becomes less effective and we have to produce more to achieve the same effect - eventually our pancreas gives up and cannot produce any more - at which point we are verging on being diabetic. At this point, it doesn't matter whether the fructose and glucose comes from honey or sugar, your pancreas cannot cope and you will have excess blood glucose and eventually die - often not before losing your sight and some of your limbs.
