Honey And Cholesterol – Honey Is Good For Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a fatty substance that is present in the blood. If too much cholesterol builds up in the blood, it can clog arteries and lead to heart attacks and strokes.
High cholesterol is caused by a high-fat diet, being overweight or obese, smoking, and lack of exercise. It can also be caused by a genetic predisposition or a family history of high cholesterol. So it’s not always a consequence of an unhealthy lifestyle – people who are active and at a healthy weight can still have high cholesterol, and it’s important for all of us to know how to keep our cholesterol levels at a healthy level.
But not all cholesterol is bad. When doctors talk about “high cholesterol,” they are talking about a form of cholesterol called LDL or low-density lipoprotein, also often referred to as bad cholesterol.
Good cholesterol (called HDL or high-density lipoprotein) helps the body manage cholesterol levels by encouraging the liver to break down cholesterol, which lowers the overall level in the blood.
The goal for each individual is to lower total cholesterol levels as much as possible, and within that framework, increase HDL and decrease LDL.
Honey and Cholesterol
According to Johanna Contreras, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai in New York, honey is a better carbohydrate with a lower glycemic index (GI).” What we’ve seen in animal studies is that honey tends to lower LDL [bad cholesterol] levels and raise HDL [good cholesterol] levels,” she says.
But the effects on humans are not yet clear.
In a small randomized trial published in the July-December 2013 issue of the Journal of the Ayoob School of Medicine, 70 young men received the same diet with or without 70 grams of honey per day for four weeks. Fasting blood glucose levels increased in both groups, but were lower in the honey group. Total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels increased in the no honey group, while total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride levels decreased significantly and HDL increased in the group with honey.
Understanding Cholesterol
Cholesterol is produced by your body or absorbed by the foods you eat. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, this waxy substance is present in every cell in your body and is necessary for the production of steroid hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone, and vitamin D. In addition to making these essential hormones, it also produces bile acids in the liver that help absorb fat during digestion, Johns Hopkins explains.
Total cholesterol is what circulates in the bloodstream and is made up of two components: low-density lipoproteins (LDL), called “bad cholesterol” because they are the main cause of plaque buildup in the arteries, and high-density lipoproteins (HDL), called “good cholesterol” because they help the body get rid of LDL cholesterol, Johns Hopkins notes.
In addition to cholesterol, there is another type of fat, called triglycerides, that circulates in the blood. This type of fat can be a source of energy, but when triglyceride levels become too high, the risk of heart disease increases, Johns Hopkins notes. When you consume too many calories, your body converts them into triglycerides, which are eventually stored in fat cells.
Benefits of Honey
Honey consists of several sugars as well as proteins, phenolic acids, flavonoids, enzymes, amino acids and various compounds, as noted in a review in the February 2020 issue of Nutrients magazine. It has attracted the attention of researchers interested in its use in conventional and alternative medicine, from skincare to coughing.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine states that there are more than 30 areas of evidence that can help reveal the benefits of honey. Currently, only burns, coughs, diabetic foot ulcers, dry eyes, rosacea, canker sores (due to chemotherapy and radiation) and wound healing are considered sufficient evidence that honey may be effective.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics HealthyChildren.org website, honey thins mucus and may be better than cough syrup for children over 1 year of age. But honey should never be given to children under 12 months of age because it may contain the bacteria that cause botulism in infants.
How can honey help?
Science is emerging that shows that consuming high-quality active honey for healing can help lower bad LDL cholesterol and therefore total cholesterol, but it can also raise good HDL cholesterol levels.
The powerful antioxidants called flavonoids that are naturally present in active healing honey are believed to be responsible for these heart health benefits. Chemical processes are constantly occurring in the body. One of these processes is LDL oxidation, which means that chemical reactions cause LDL molecules to lose electrons and become unstable.
Oxidized LDL forms plaque and is more likely to clog arteries. Studies have shown that the flavonoids in honey can prevent the oxidation of LDL. Therefore, consuming honey can help reduce the dangers of high LDL levels and allow you to live a healthier life.
Natural Alternative
It seems clear that a healthy diet and lifestyle can help reduce cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease. Choosing a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, avoiding excess salt and saturated fats, and being active regularly are all recommended by doctors and health experts.
However, there are also studies that show that choosing honey instead of regular refined sugar can help lower LDL levels, especially in women, without any negative effects on weight gain.
If you are used to drinking sugar in your tea, you may want to start by replacing the sugar in your hot beverage with an active super gel, such as Necta & Hive’s product. The ideal approach is to switch to herbal tea: make the tea as usual, leave it to cool to drinking temperature and then add a teaspoon of our honey (adding our honey to boiling water destroys the natural enzymes and healing properties).
Necta & Hive’s honeys are unpasteurized for natural purposes. We test them independently for their total activity, or TA. Total activity is a measure of the antibacterial power and healing properties of honey. Why not try adding active honey to your diet for potential heart health benefits (and never stop taking medications, including those for high cholesterol, without first consulting your doctor). Our honeys help support a healthy lifestyle, and they taste great. How can you say no to that?
