Nutrition Profiles | Brain foods | Calculators | Fatty Acids | Food Pyramids | Nutrients | Nutrition  India | Vitamin Supplements

Honey Nutrition Profile

Honeybees collect nectar (sucrose) from the plants, and distills it to make honey. The plant source of the nectar determines the color and flavor of the honey.

Sugars

Honey contains 20% water and 79% sugar. The sugars are distributed as follows:
Fructose: 34 to 43%
Glucose: 25 to 37%
Sucrose: 0.5 to 3%
Maltose: 5 to 12%
Fructose is twice as sweet as other sugars, therefore Honey is sweeter than table sugar.

Nutritional Analysis

100 grams of Honey has the following nutritional value
Calories: 319 Kcal
Protein: 0.3 grams
Fats: 0 grams
Carbohydrates: 79.5 grams
Fiber: 0.21 gram
Calcium: 5mg
Iron: 0.696mg
Phosphorus: 16mg
Honey may contain small amounts of B vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants. The availability depends on the source of nectar.
Raw honey may contain botulism spores. Most of the honey sold in the United States is pasteurized. For pasteurization, honey is heated to about 160º F. This does not kill the botulism spores. Pasteurization helps prevent crystallization and yeast formation. The process also depletes some of the nutrients. Children under one years age must NOT be given honey in any form.

Therapeutic effects

Wounds: Modern science has confirmed that a topical application of honey does help heal infected wounds.
Diabetes: The fructose just passes to liver, so the blood glucose level does not rise as rapidly as table sugar.
Triglycerides: Fructose does elevate triglyceride levels.
Retinopathy: Fructose has been found to cause retinopathy in animal studies.