Interest in honey and natural immunity boosters has peaked during the past several weeks. Very few of us are at work, and anxiety is high as we hear about increasing numbers of Covid 19 afflicted people around our area and worldwide. One thing we have noticed is that honey is being touted as a superfood that can cure or prevent coronavirus, and there are wild claims on both sides (yay or nay) that are just frankly "out there". Most of the people commenting are not beekeepers and even many scientists and nutritionists are sadly ill informed. As beekeepers, we feel it is important to set the record straight.
1. Honey is NOT the same as sugar and diabetics can benefit: Sugar is a 1:1 ratio of glucose and fructose, Honey has glucose, fructose, vitamins, minerals, proteins, active enzymes (if raw), antioxidants and water. A same volume of honey is sweeter than sugar, and it has more calories, but because it is sweeter, less can be used, resulting in a lower caloric intake overall. There is a general fear of sugar right now because there are reports that diabetics are being affected more seriously than other groups. Honey is not bad for diabetics and can improve their overall health: see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5817209/ (note there are many fascinating studies listed along with this study along the right margin that are worth exploring). Our opinion is that diabetics and others should focus on eating natural foods, not factory processed foods, so honey over white sugar, fruit over fruit bars, and know that time restricted eating has a much more positive effect on type 2 diabetes than simply avoiding honey or even sugar.
2. Honey is one of the oldest known remedies for healing wounds: Honey is antimicrobial and antifungal, and is a fantastic wound healer. It has been used since ancient times as medicine. Wounds heal faster and with little to no scarring.
For instance, see https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17413836/; and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609166/
3. Honey may help with respiratory-based illness:
Effective for symptomatic relief of cough: Honey offered longer and more effective relief than common pharmaceuticals in children for the first few nights and was more effective than no treatment: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18056558
Unclear whether effective for allergy relief: Anecdotally people tell us that eating local honey just before allergy season starts really does help with their allergies although taking it later after symptoms crop up doesn't seem to help as much. We note that people have all sorts of allergies and we recommend that if someone is ingesting honey for allergy purposes, it would be better to look for spring honey if allergies crop up in the spring, and fall honey if allergies make you miserable during those times as the honey will be directly processed from either spring or summer/fall plants. Regarding allergy relief, we have 2 studies listed below that are contradictory. One concern we have with the study from 2002 that states that honey has no effect on allergies is that the methodology of the study is unclear. Was the honey taken before there was any allergic response? Was the dosage sufficient? If anyone has access to the full study and not just the abstract, we would love to see a copy! None of these studies definitively answers the question as to whether honey helps allergies and all studies have woefully small sample sizes. If the studies were of 10 thousand people, they would be more meaningful. So it is back to the study of one: if it works for you, keep doing it. If it doesn't - then all that's happened is you've eaten some honey.
These studies say honey helps with allergies: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6074882/ (note small sample size of 40 people); and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21196761 (44 people in study looking at birch pollen)
This 2002 study says honey does not help with allergies: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11868925 (note small sample size of 36 people)
Effective with bacterial infection, unclear as to efficacy with viral based lung inflammation: There are no studies that show that honey can help with viral causes of lung inflammation, pneumonia, and thus its efficacy with Covid 19 is unclear. Many people believe (anecdotally) that honey does help because honey has antioxidants and contributes generally to health, but the evidence we see is about bacterial infections in the lungs and respiratory system. A review of the literature indicates honey helps symptomatically with pneumonia, but that is not the same as stopping the virus.
Honey is antibacterial: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169115305931
4. Good general overview of the scientific literature on honey's effects on health: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5424551/;
We believe that health has everything to do with nutrition and living a healthy lifestyle. Aside from washing your hands and avoiding sick people, doing all the things that improve your overall health, such as reduction of stress and getting sufficient sleep, are important components in strong immune function.Honey is not a magic elixer for Covid 19 and we feel this "one stop magic pill" mentality is misguided. The sooner we embrace a "whole body" approach to health, the better we'll be able to weather this virus and others. We are personally amazed at people wearing masks and gloves at Costco who have cases of soda and multiple bags of chips and junk food in their carts, a clear disconnect between nutrition and its ability to affect immune function.
Disclaimers: Blog posts are opinions, not advice. One thing all beekeepers will agree on, is that if you ask 10 beekeepers what to do, you'll get 13 different answers. Beekeeping is alchemy, nature, and a bit of magic.
Copyright 2020 Philosopher Lane Honey. All rights reserved.
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