Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? Is there such a thing as too much honey?
Well, of course, there is! And that also applies to honey.
Honey does have a lot of health benefits, but it also has a lot of calories. So, the question now becomes how to find the balance between those two? How much honey should you eat each day?
These questions, and much more, will be answered in the article below. So, if you are interested in finding out more about honey, and the amount of honey you should be consuming, just keep reading.
Sit back, relax, and let me tell you a little bit about honey and how much of it you should eat per day.
Key Takeaways
- Honey has a lot of antioxidant properties and is good for your health.
- Eating too much honey can cause weight gain and increase your blood sugar levels.
- Raw honey has more antioxidants when compared to other types of honey and does not have any added sugars.
Health Benefits Of Honey
There are a lot of reasons why eating honey is good for your overall health.
Before I tell you how much honey should you take, let me first tell you a couple of reasons why you should eat it!
Honey has a lot of antioxidant properties. The type of honey that has the most antioxidants is natural raw honey, as it does not go through the process of pasteurization.
If you want to add antioxidants to your diet, you should definitely consider eating raw honey!
Secondly, medical research has shown that it has a positive impact on some types of cancer (i.e. has anti-cancer properties) [1].
Honey also has anti-inflammatory properties, as well as antibacterial ones [2].
Natural honey is really healthy and it does not only help in disease prevention, but it can also improve your overall health.
If you want to get your hands on some high-quality natural honey be sure to check out the HoneyJoy shop.
Recommended Amount of Honey
If you want to be healthier you should definitely include honey in your diet (especially if you want to get all of those sweet minerals and healthy amino acids into your body!).
Daily intake of honey is great for your overall health.
But, before you start doing just that, you should be properly informed about the number of calories honey may contain (as we don’t want you to gain weight, especially if you are on a strict diet).
So, how many calories and sugar does one tablespoon of honey have?
One tablespoon of honey (approximately 25 grams) contains around 60 calories. Compared to that, a tablespoon of sugar has less, around 50.
But, fewer calories does not mean that table sugar is healthier than honey (it’s quite the opposite really!).
Honey contains sugar, and as such will increase your blood sugar levels.
The two main sugars that honey consists of are called fructose and glucose. Those two sugars (fructose and glucose) are naturally found in flower nectar (that bees use to make honey).
Eating too much honey can cause weight gain, and that is why it’s important to know the recommended amount of honey you should eat on a daily basis.
The American Heart Association recommends no more than 3 tablespoons of honey per day.
Why?
Well because the amount of sugar that is contained in honey can cause weight gain as well as other problems related to gaining weight (3 tablespoons of honey have around 60 grams of sugar).
So, even though honey is considered to be a super-food (as it does not spoil) and is a great addition to almost any diet it’s still important not to eat too much of it (as I’ve said at the beginning of this article, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing!).
Eating honey is good for your overall health, but you should not overdo it!
FAQ
What Is Raw Honey?
Raw honey is the closest thing to “honey straight from the hive”, that you can get. It has more antioxidant properties than any other type of honey [3].
This type of honey does not contain any added sugars and is considered by many, to be the healthiest option, when it comes to honey.
How Much Sugar Should I Eat?
There is no nutritional benefit from eating added sugar (I am talking about table sugar).
Because of that, medical professionals do not recommend eating more than 3 tablespoons of “just sugar” per day.
How Many Tablespoons Of Honey Should You?
The recommended amount is no more than 3, each day (as honey does contain a lot of sugar).
How Many Calories A Day Should I Have?
How many indeed? Well, it’s all based upon your gender, your activity, as well as your age.
Speaking in general terms, the calorie intake for men should be around 2500 and around 2000 for adult females.
The Bottom Line
Honey is considered to be a super-food. But, even though it’s great and safe to consume, it does not mean that you should consume it in high amounts (I mean you could, but based on what medical professionals think, you probably shouldn’t).
If choosing to use honey that does not have any added sugar (raw honey is a great example of that), you should not be eating more than 60 grams (around 9 teaspoons) of honey per day.
If you want to improve your diet and make it healthier, you could try to replace table sugar with honey (in your recipes, for example).
Sources
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30639116/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609166/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5424551/