Honey, the glorious exception among all things overly sweet

In a daily life full of sugary foods, it's often not so easy for all of us to find the right balance between enjoyment and well-being.
In modern nutritional science, there's hardly any debate left on one topic: industrial sugar, a great scourge of our time. It makes us sick, promotes inflammation, and drives blood sugar levels to dangerous heights.
But anyone who carefully reads the standard work of nutritional medicine "Healing with Nutrition" (or "Nutrition: My Quintessence") by Prof. Dr. Andreas Michalsen from Charité Berlin will discover a surprising and wonderful insight in the chapter on carbohydrates.
Admittedly: Honey is also chemically composed of various types of sugar, including about one-third fructose. If you were only to look strictly at calories or macronutrients, you could easily confuse it with household sugar.
But – and this is the crucial point in modern nutritional medicine – a food is always more than the mere sum of its nutrients. According to researchers, honey simultaneously provides our body with a brilliant overall package of bioactive substances that are primarily anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial (directed against bacteria).
The 40-gram surprise: It sounds like a paradox: Can something that is sweet and contains sugar lower blood sugar? The answer from science in the summary of studies is: Yes, if it is good, cold-extracted honey!
The results of this meta-analysis are spectacular:
The daily consumption of about 40 grams of honey has been shown to lower blood sugar, as well as cholesterol and triglyceride levels (blood fats) in the body.
How is this possible? It's the countless secondary plant compounds (like polyphenols) in honey, collected by bees, that positively influence our metabolism and more than compensate for the disadvantages of pure sugar.

Genuine enjoyment protects against overdose

There's another very pragmatic reason why honey is much safer for our figure and health than sodas, sweeteners, or household sugar. Prof. Michalsen puts it simply: Good honey is delicious, but also intense.
While the food industry designs its products so that we no longer have a natural stop signal and gorge ourselves without limit (the so-called addictive factor), nature has built its own brake into honey. Because of its intense, full aroma, we instinctively eat it in non-excessive amounts. Most of the time, we are culinarily deeply satisfied after one to two spoons.
It's all about the production: Cold-extracted is a must!
But beware: not all honey is created equal! If you grab a cheap plastic squeeze bottle at the supermarket ("mixture of honey from EU and non-EU countries"), you often get a heavily processed, heated industrial product where the valuable enzymes and plant compounds have long been destroyed.
For honey to unleash its medicinal power – especially its effect against viruses and bacteria – it must be gently extracted. Prof. Michalsen explicitly emphasizes the healing effect of cold-extracted honey. Heating destroys the magic of the bees.

Conclusion & a recommendation

If we want to sweeten our lives, we should leave refined white sugar and especially deceptive artificial sweeteners on the shelf. High-quality honey – used sparingly like a spice – is not only a delight for the soul but also, according to science, protects your blood vessels and metabolism.

Study evaluation on the effect on metabolism
¹ Source: Prof. Dr. Andreas Michalsen ("Nutrition – My Quintessence").
Topic: The effect of honey on human metabolism.
² The largest summary to date of all studies on this topic showed that daily consumption of 40 grams of honey measurably lowers blood sugar levels, as well as cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood. The authors summarize the following scientifically proven properties of honey:
Antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects: Honey is considered a "laudable exception" in medicine among otherwise harmful sugars. Although it contains about one-third fructose, it simultaneously provides many bioactive substances that have strong anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects in the body. Besides dark chocolate, honey is the only sweet for which a clear health benefit has been proven.
Protection against viruses and bacteria: If honey is cold-extracted, it has been shown to have effects against viruses and bacteria and can help with colds.
Prof. Michalsen advises against eating excessive amounts of honey but points out that the intense taste of honey fortunately usually prevents us from consuming it in excess anyway.

Not promotional, no medical advice.