Is Honey a Healthy Alternative to Sugar?

I don’t know about you, but I use to think of honey as being a healthy alternative to sugar. It’s natural, so it has to be healthier, right?! Not so much. To clear away the confusion surrounding food, it’s important to look at basic food chemistry – more specifically, what these foods break down into once they’re in the body. 

Sugar breaks down into:

• 50% glucose (simple carbohydrate)
• 50% fructose (simple carbohydrate)

Honey breaks down into:

• 47% fructose (simple carbohydrate)
• 38% glucose (simple carbohydrate)
• 15% polysaccharides/other sugars (also includes micronutrients)

[These are the percentages we were given at university, but they can change slightly depending on where you get your source]

They’re very similar, aren’t they? Now you may be thinking, ‘at least the honey has micronutrients’. Well, the processing that commercial honey undergoes often destroys the micronutrients, meaning they would only be present in raw honey. Even then, the amount of micronutrients in raw honey can be so minuscule that it’s not always worth all the sugar it comes with.

So there you have it. Whether you go for honey or sugar, it really just comes down to your personal preference and costs.

Tip: if you have honey on cereal, try reducing the amount and adding fresh fruit, as it will give you that sweet taste, along with fibre, vitamins and minerals!