Honey Produces Lower Blood Glucose Level than Sugar

Effects of Consumption of Honey, Sucrose and Glucose on Satiety and Postprandial Metabolism in Healthy Subjects
FASEB J, 2010 24:553.4

We recently demonstrated that consuming a 240-kcal portion of honey produces an attenuated glycemic response in healthy adults compared to glucose but not sucrose and that honey reduces food intake compared to sucrose in rats.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of consuming honey, sucrose and glucose at a greater energy load on satiety and plasma glucose, insulin and ghrelin.

In a randomized, crossover design, 14 healthy subjects consumed 400-kcal solutions containing honey, sucrose or glucose following a 10-hr fast. Visual analog scales for satiety assessment and fingerprick blood samples were collected over a 2-hr period. Satiety area under the curve (AUC) and plasma ghrelin area over the curve did not differ significantly among the sweeteners consumed. Intake of honey resulted in lower (p.05) plasma glucose and insulin AUCs (mean ± SEM: –33.3±6.1% and –11.1%±1.6%, respectively) than the AUCs induced by glucose consumption (p.05).

Consumption of honey elicited lower (p.05) plasma glucose AUC (–16.4%±6.2%) compared to sucrose but resulted in similar insulin AUCs. These results suggest that at the given energy load, honey promotes a potentially healthier response than sucrose and glucose with regard to postprandial glucose metabolism.

However, there appears to be no difference in satiating power among honey, sucrose and glucose.