Natural honey modulates physiological glycemic response compared to simulated honey and D-Glucose

The present study is undertaken to find out the relative glycemic tolerance of natural honey compared with simulated honey and D-glucose using oral glucose tolerance tested up to 180 min. Twenty-six healthy human subjects with mean age of 28.6 +/- 9.3 y were randomly divided into 3 groups, that is, natural honey consumers (NHC; n = 13), simulated honey consumers (AHC; n = 6), and D-glucose consumers (DGC; n = 7). After recording fasting blood glucose, the participants consumed either natural honey or simulated honey or D-glucose (1g/kg body weight). Subsequently, additional plasma glucose levels (PGLs) were recorded at 60, 120, and 180 min. At 60 min, DGC and AHC group members exhibited similar PGL elevation (that is, 52% and 47%, respectively) compared to NHC group with only 20% increment. On the other hand, after 180 min, 20% decrease in PGL was observed in the DGC group compared to 9.75% reduction in the NHC group. These observations are primarily in line with earlier studies. Results analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant differences between all 3 tested groups with F-statistic (19.96) and P value (< 0.005). Coefficient of variation of the NHC, AHC, and DGC groups were 14.8%, 20.2%, and 27.5%, respectively. Posthoc tests showed that glucose response was significantly lower in the NHC group at all time points (P < 0.005) compared to the AHC and DGC groups. In conclusion, natural honey stabilizes physiological glycemic response with rebound recovery of PGL.