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Manuka honey

C

chester1964

Member
Messages
14
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi everyone
Has anyone used manuka honey to help lower glucose levels, if so did you eat it or buy supplements ?
Many thanks
 
I understand that it does have some health benefits, antibacterial properties that help with wound healing. As far as T2 is concerned It is still honey, something like 80% carbohydrate, slightly less than sugar I suppose but still extremely high carbs. I suspect that not having it will be more beneficial to blood sugar levels
 
I use it occasionally when I have a sore throat, but wouldn't use it to try to lower BG levels.
 
The claims seem to be anti-bacterial (on the skin) , auto-immune benefits (not sure what the evidence is for this) and good for soar throats. Can't see any of those negating the fact that it is likely to raise bgs because of carbs...
Interesting article here, but even it doesn't claim that manuka honey is good for glucose levels.

What Is the Difference Between Manuka Honey and Regular Honey?

Learn know about the difference between manuka honey and regular honey, as well as their health benefits.
www.medicinenet.com
 
This is the article I've seen
 

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This is the article I've seen, thanks
 

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KennyA said:
There are lots of claims for manuka honey but (essentially) eating sugar to lower your blood glucose would be a new one for me.
Click to expand...
This is the article I saw, thanks
 

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This is the article I saw, so not sure really
 

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chester1964 said:
This is the article I've seen
Click to expand...
I'm not scientific at all and have no idea if honey can regenerate a pancreas and restore beta cells function. If it were true it would be a major breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes and I would be astonished that the medical profession has somehow not noticed honey's potential.
Even so I can't see it being very helpful to most T2's, we usually have no trouble producing insulin, our problem is we can't use the insulin we produce.
 
Looks like this might be the paper in question? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10559747/

If you read the two references which that sentence links to, one says that consumption of honey produces a better lipids profile but higher A1C which indicates it has had a deleterious effect on the BG control of the T2 patients who took the honey; the other says that honey is preferable to eating sucrose or glucose as it has a lower GI (for T1 patients in this case). Again, not a major surprise.

However, neither paper says what is highlighted, i.e. that it reduces blood glucose levels.

My off the cuff opinion is that it's a rubbish paper and someone didn't review it properly.
 
It did seem odd, as someone mentioned earlier, if it was so good why don't we all know about it ? I'm just starting my diabetic journey so trying to find anything, along with diet and exercise, to keep my BG down. Many thanks for your reply
 
And the initial study is on rats that have had their beta cells damaged.

The quoted study

Effects of natural honey consumption in diabetic patients: an 8-week randomized clinical trial - PubMed

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.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

used this method;

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.

So ordinary honey, not manuka honey: no control whatsoever of other possible factors that might affect outcomes; no balancing of the groups; etc.

Junk science in my view.
 
I sometimes have a spoonful of honey if i'me going low very quickly , it soon puts the brakes on it !
 
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