And today's "No sugar Sherlock" award goes to......

[LittleGreyCat]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19817641

Which says:

"Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
We investigated the effect of natural honey on body weight and some blood biochemical indices of diabetic subjects.

METHODS:
Forty-eight diabetic type 2 patients were randomly assigned into two groups: the honey group received oral natural honey for 8 weeks, and the control group did not take honey. Before the onset of the study (week 0) and after 8 weeks, weight measurements were taken and fasting blood samples were drawn.

RESULTS:
After adjustment for the baseline values, there were no significant differences in the fasting blood sugars between the two groups. Body weight, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and triglyceride decreased (P = 0.000), and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol increased significantly (P < 0.01) in honey group. The levels of hemoglobin A(1C) increased significantly in this group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION:
The results of this study demonstrate that 8-week consumption of honey can provide beneficial effects on body weight and blood lipids of diabetic patients. However, since an increase in the hemoglobin A(1C) levels was observed, cautious consumption of this food by diabetic patients is recommended."

So - honey seems to improve cholesterol results and can even reduce weight (over 24 subjects for 8 weeks) but pushes up HbA1c in T2s.

Increases HbA1c?
Who would have thunk it??

So why just test on T2s?
Increasing intake of sugars is almost certain to increase HbA1c in T2s.
There is no investigation to see if honey reduces weight and improves cholesterol in non-T2s so the point of this investigation seems a bit strange.
Overall a very strange research project.

Were they investigating (possibly quack) claims that honey is a wonder natural ingredient which can cure (at least T2) diabetes?

Things I would expect -
testing T1s to see if honey improves cholesterol and reduces weight (HbA1c managed by insulin)
testing non-diabetics to see if honey improves cholesterol and reduces weight

This would at least check if the cholesterol and weight loss results of this short, small scale trial were only observed in T2s or were generally applicable.

The conclusion "cautious consumption of this food by diabetic patients is recommended" deservedly wins the "No sugar, Sherlock" award.

Cheers

LGC

 

[tim2000s]

Were all subjects given the same diet to eat and monitored constantly throughout? Were all subjects given the same exercise patterns to follow throughout? Was the weight and body composition of all participants common?

If not, then not a lot of useful information from that little study... Pointless waste of money!

 

[urbanracer]

Were all subjects given the same diet to eat and monitored constantly throughout? Were all subjects given the same exercise patterns to follow throughout? Was the weight and body composition of all participants common?

If not, then not a lot of useful information from that little study... Pointless waste of money!

You know the old maxim, 'the experiment may be considered a success if no more than 50% of the data has to be dicarded in order to prove the theory.'

 

[douglas99]

I've read raw honey can be beneficial, but sadly, all the filtered, pasteurised, treated honey is effectively rendered into pure sugar.
I've no idea if this is true, but if I do see any real honey, complete with dead bees etc, I intend to try it out.

 

[Clivethedrive]

New zealand manuka honey :)

 

[Brunneria]

Most commercially produced honey is from bees that are fed sugar water (it means they make more honey, quicker, and don't waste time flying to find real flowers).
And some honey has sugar and fillers...

Better to stay clear if it isn't ruinously expensive and covered with assurances of quality, organicness, yada, yada.

 

[Bluetit1802]

New zealand manuka honey :)

I attribute that to helping me get diabetes! I was advised to eat it daily whilst on chemo to help ward off side effects. It was absolutely delicious, albeit very expensive. Shame I can't have it now.