Honey is a sweet, viscous, syrupy liquid that honey bees make from the nectar of flowers.
Honey bees store honey in the beehive to use for food and nutrients.
Honey is high in calories and sugar.
Contents
Can honey make you fat?
Because of its high sugar content, it might make you fat if consumed in high amounts.
How much honey can you consume?
Does honey make you gain weight?
Is honey a healthy option to replace sugar?
Can honey be eaten every day while on a fat loss journey?
Let’s find the answers to these questions about honey!
Does honey make you gain weight?
Honey is one of the healthy sweeteners as compared to other artificial sweeteners.
Honey is used as an alternative to white or brown sugar, too.
Many people believe that honey can make you gain weight.
But that’s only true if you eat it too much and not within the number of your daily calorie requirements.
Raw honey vs. Regular honey
Honey can be classified as raw and regular.
Some people believe that raw is healthier, while others say there’s not much difference between the two of them.
Let’s find out how different raw honey is from the regular honey
Raw honey
Raw honey is the honey that exists in the beehive.
Raw honey is just once strained to remove bits of honeycomb and other dirt or debris and that’s it.
Raw honey is more nutritious.
It has a lot of amino acids, 31 different minerals, and a wide range of vitamins.
It contains a lot of antioxidants, too.
Regular honey
Regular honey goes through more processes, such as pasteurization and filtration.
Pasteurization destroys the yeast by applying heat. This process makes it smoother and increases its shelf life.
Filtration removes all the debris and air bubbles, which gives it a smooth transparent appearance.
Regular honey is less nutritious, having fewer minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants because of it being processed.
Regular honey has added sugar in it.
Can honey help you lose weight?
There are many myths about:
- having honey with a glass of hot water or
- honey with cinnamon on an empty stomach
Will help you lose extra pounds, which is wrong!
All diet plans always come down to the fact that you are losing weight because of eating fewer calories.
There’s no magic behind these combinations.
With these combinations, maybe you feel full and you are eating less and losing weight?
Your daily calorie intake, as a whole, matters!
If you wish to have honey, sure you can!
Just know the portion you can adjust to your meal plans according to your daily calorie requirements.
Is honey a healthy option to replace sugar?
Many people, when starting their diet, replace sugar with honey!
Although honey contains more calories than sugar since it’s sweeter so you can use less and consume fewer calories overall.
Advantages of using raw honey instead of sugar
- Both sugar and raw honey are primary sources of carbohydrates, but
- White sugar is 100 percent sugar (50% fructose and 50% glucose)
- Raw honey is about 85% sugars (fructose and glucose ratio) and 15% of honey is water.
- Raw honey has a moderate glycemic index which does not spike your blood pressure.
- Raw honey tastes better and sweeter than white sugar.
- White sugar just contains sugar and nothing else.
- Raw honey has enzymes, vitamins, and minerals, which means it has
- Antifungal
- Antibacterial
- Antioxidants
Can honey give you belly fat?
Of course, honey will give you belly fat if you consume it excessively.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t eat honey.
People on a weight loss journey can add honey to their meal plans according to their maintenance calories to lose or gain weight.
Honey as a pre-workout snack
Honey is more about carbohydrates than any other nutrient.
Our body uses carbohydrates to produce energy.
Many people add honey to their meal plans as a pre-workout snack for a substantial amount of energy and stamina.
It can also be used as a post-workout snack to recover energy used.
Is honey Keto-friendly?
No, all kinds of honey are not Keto friendly.
Honey is high in carbohydrates and the Keto diet requires consuming almost no carbs at all.
Which honey is the healthiest?
Manuka honey is commonly believed to be the godfather of healthy honey.
It is produced in New Zealand by bees that pollinate the native Manuka Bush.
This type of honey is great in both nutrition and taste. It has a bold and sweet taste.
Manuka honey has antifungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant benefits.
What is the best time to eat honey?
Ideally, there’s no good or bad time to eat honey.
But many people like to have it in the morning to start their day with a boost of energy.
Organic honey
Organic honey is harvested and processed using no chemicals or pesticides.
Buying organic honey ensures that you avoid contact with pesticides that may be sprayed on or near the plants visited by honeybees.
Fun facts about honey!
- Honey is 80% sugar and 20% water.
- Honey never expires.
- One ounce of honey would fuel a bee’s flight around the world.
- Honey is the only food made by an insect, and eaten both by humans and insects.
- Europe is the largest global consumer of honey.
The bottom line
You can eat honey and use it as an alternative to sugar, while losing weight, but only in moderation or simply according to your calorie goals of the day!
