KEY STUDY: Adjunct use of honey in diabetes mellitus: A consensus or conundrum?- 2020
Honey is being used in Complementary and Alternative Medicine, especially in Indian Ayurvedic Medicine, as an adjuvant and supplement in diabetes mellitus treatment since immemorial times. In recent times, the use of honey has experienced a renewed interest in the context of diabetes treatment because of the rise in the accessibility of evidence-based pharmacological and clinical findings, signifying its health benefits.
A total of 20 pre-clinical and 25 clinical studies investigated the antidiabetic effect of honey.
Though in vivo studies are still limited, the findings reinforce the multi-targeted antidiabetic effect of honey, exerting antioxidant, nutritional, antihyperglycemic, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, wound-healing, antihypertensive, hypolipidemic, and hypoglycaemic activities. Preclinical and clinical evidence suggests that honey may possess multi-faceted and adjunct effects to accomplish a better glycaemic control, ameliorate several metabolic derangements, and mitigate oxidative stress-evoked diabetic problems. Nevertheless, the findings remain inconclusive due to poor study designs and other limitations (e.g. short duration, few participants, the difference in type of study participants, varied honey sources, and administered doses). Overall, there is a significant gap in knowledge, and hence, carefully planned, detailed in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies are warranted to reach better conclusions.
honey showed therapeutic potential against the onset of autoimmune diabetes, as it reduces blood glucose/HbA1c and improves the lipid profile by reducing the plasma levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoproteins (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and triglycerides. Moreover, it also showed protective potential against the development of diabetic nephropathy, pancreatitis, and retinopathy.
The addition of cinnamon, chromium and magnesium supplementation to kanuka honey was not associated with a significant improvement in glucose metabolism or glycaemic control in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Use of the formulated honey was associated with a reduction in weight and improvements in lipid parameters, and should be investigated further.
Effect of honey on glucose and insulin concentrations in obese girls - 2018
30 obese girls aged 10.5 there were no significant differences in BMI and all parameters tested between the group that received honey and the control group (glucose) 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.
Metabolic Effects of Honey in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Crossover Pilot Study - 2013
12-week honey consumption in a dose of 0.5 mL/kg body weight per day. outcome measures were serum glucose, lipids, and C-peptide, and anthropometric measurements.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).
How Honey might Help vs Diabetes
A recent in vitro study showed that honey contains bioactive molecules able to improve insulin signaling. Specifically, honey extracts inhibited the enzyme tyrosine-protein phosphatase non-receptor type 1 (PTP1B), one of the main negative regulators of insulin receptor signaling ref
Nevertheless, the mechanism of the honey hypoglycemic effect remains unclear. It could to be related to the presence of fructose [49 ] or to the presence of antioxidant molecules that protect the pancreas against oxidative stress and damage [19 ,65 ].
Moreover, the ability to inhibit α-amylase and α-glucosidase could account for the honey antidiabetic activity [66 ].