Effect of honey on glucose and insulin concentrations in obese girls

Abstract

Background Childhood obesity represents a major health problem of our century. The benefits of natural products, such as honey, in the management of obesity have gained renewed interest. In this study, we investigated the effect of honey on glucose and insulin concentrations in obese prepubertal girls. Materials and Methods Thirty healthy obese girls aged 10.55 (±SEM:0.34) years with a mean body mass index (BMI) above the 97th centile for age (28.58 ± 1.40 kg/m2, BMI z‐score 2.96) underwent a standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) followed by an oral honey tolerance test (OHTT) 2 weeks later. Both solutions contained 75 g of glucose. Subsequently, subjects were randomized to receive either 15 g of honey or 15 g of marmalade daily, while both groups complied with dietetic instructions. Six months later all subjects were re‐evaluated with an OGTT and an OHTT. Results At the end of the study, all subjects demonstrated a significant reduction in BMI (27.57 ± 1.40, z‐score: 2.54 vs 28.58 ± 1.40 kg/m2, z‐score: 2.96, P < 0.001), however, there were no significant differences in BMI and all parameters tested between the group that received honey and the control group. The areas under the concentration–time curve for glucose and insulin for the entire population were significantly lower following ingestion of honey than glucose solution (P < 0.001) both at the beginning and at the end of study. Conclusions These findings indicate that honey does not have an effect on stimulated plasma glucose and serum insulin concentrations compared with the standard glucose solution in obese prepubertal girls.

Preventive Impact of Long-Term Ingestion of Chestnut Honey on Glucose Disorders and Neurodegeneration in Obese Mice

“…In particular, dietary honey supplementation prevented the fasting hyperglycemia and the impairment of the glucose response during the glucose tolerance test, and it improved the plasma insulin concentration, insulin sensitivity and HOMA index, suggesting a preventive effect of the long-term honey ingestion in HFDinduced impairment of glucose homeostasis. On the other hand, honey hypoglycemic properties have been pointed out not only in diabetes rodent models but also in healthy subjects and diabetic patients [17,22,37,38]. In our experimental conditions, we did not observe any significant impact on weight gain or plasma lipid concentrations in HFD-H mice, ruling out an improvement of lipid metabolism as responsible for the observed effects on glucose metabolism.…”

Role of Honey in Obesity Management: A Systematic Review

“…Some of the animal studies used orlistat as a positive control (32,35). For clinical trials, the subjects involved were obese prepubertal girls (37) and obese adults (36,38). Control groups in the clinical trials were supplemented with marmalade (37) and sucrose (38).…”

“…Meanwhile, in the remaining two animal studies, the type and source of the natural honey used were not stated in the articles (34,38). The active compounds found in honey are phenols (35,37) and flavonoids (35). One study conducted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of SBH and found various active compounds in SBH such as 4-hydroxyphenyl acetic acid, caffeic acid derivatives, caffeoyl hexoside derivatives, coumaric acid, gluconic acid, kynurenic acid derivatives, pinobanksin, quinic acid, niazimicin, bisosthenon B, (6β,7α,12β,13β)-7-hydroxy-11,16dioxo-8,14-apianadien-22, 6-olide, aegle marmelos alkaloid C, 7-chloro-6-demethyl cepharadione B, n-acetylglycine and lanosterol (33).…”

“…Meanwhile, clinical trials have shown conflicting results with the animal studies (36)(37)(38). Men and women with overweight and obesity who received honey supplementation had significantly lower BMI compared to the control group who received sucrose.…”

The Mechanism of Honey in Reversing Metabolic Syndrome

“…In a human intervention study, 30 days of 70 g of honey (collected from Iran) was reported to reduce FBG compared to overweight individuals fed with sucrose [ 88 ]. In obese girls, supplementation of 15 g honey for 6 months caused a reduction in BMI and the area under the concentration–time curve (AUC) in an oral glucose tolerance test and insulin [ 102 ]. Agrawal and colleagues observed a higher degree of tolerance to honey with a significantly lower glucose level in patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance after consumption of 90 g of unprocessed natural honey from India in 300 mL of water, at a 30-min interval up to 2 h [ 103 ].…”