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Among honey's benefits are its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. Because gastroenteritis is an acute inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract that may be caused by a variety of microbes, the aim of the present study was to verify whether the addition of honey in oral rehydration solution (ORS) could affect the duration of symptoms of acute gastroenteritis in infants and children. One hundred infants and children with acute gastroenteritis were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups, each consisting of 50 patients: Group I received ORS for rehydration (control), and Group II received ORS with honey. The mean ages of patients of Groups I and II were 1.5 +/- 1.2 and 1.1 +/- 0.8 years, respectively. In the honey-treated group the frequencies of vomiting and diarrhea were significantly reduced compared to the control group (P < .001 and P < .05, respectively). Also, the recovery time, defined as the number of hours from initiation of treatment to when normal soft stools are passed, with the patient showing normal hydration and satisfactory weight gain, was significantly shortened after honey ingestion (P < .001). In conclusion, honey added to ORS promoted rehydration of the body and sped recovery from vomiting and diarrhea.

Our study was a case-control cross-sectional study that was conducted on 20 children and adolescents suffering from type 1 diabetes mellitus and ten healthy non-diabetic children and adolescents serving as controls. The mean age of patients was 10.95 years. Oral sugar tolerance tests using glucose, sucrose and honey and measurement of fasting and postprandial serum C-peptide levels were done for all subjects in three separate sittings. The glycemic index (GI) and the peak incremental index (PII) were then calculated for each subject. Honey, compared to sucrose, had lower GI and PII in both patients (P < 0.001) and control (P < 0.05) groups. In the patients group, the increase in the level of C-peptide after using honey was not significant when compared with using either glucose or sucrose. However, in the control group, honey produced a significant higher C-peptide level, when compared with either glucose or sucrose. In conclusion, honey, because of its lower GI and PII when compared with sucrose, may be used as a sugar substitute in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the metabolic effects of 12-week honey consumption on patients suffering from type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). This was a randomized crossover clinical trial done in the National Institute for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Cairo, Egypt. Twenty patients of both sexes aged 4-18 years with type 1 DM and HbA1C<10% participated in the study. They were randomized into two equal groups (intervention to control and control to intervention). The dietary intervention was 12-week honey consumption in a dose of 0.5 mL/kg body weight per day. The main outcome measures were serum glucose, lipids, and C-peptide, and anthropometric measurements. None of participants were lost in follow-up. The intervention resulted in significant decreases in subscapular skin fold thickness (SSFT; P=.002), fasting serum glucose (FSG; P=.001), total cholesterol (P=.0001), serum triglycerides (TG; P=.0001), and low-density lipoprotein (P=.0009), and significant increases in fasting C-peptide (FCP; P=.0004) and 2-h postprandial C-peptide (PCP; P=.002). As possible long-term effects of honey after its withdrawal, statistically significant reductions in midarm circumference (P=.000), triceps skin fold thickness (P=.006), SSFT (P=.003), FSG (P=.005), 2-h postprandial serum glucose (P=.000), TG (P=.003), and HbA1C (P=.043), and significant increases in FCP (P=.002) and PCP (P=.003) were observed. This small clinical trial suggests that long-term consumption of honey might have positive effects on the metabolic derangements of type 1 DM.

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