Differences Between Honey and Sugar

Studies show there is surprisingly little difference

Table sugar is called sucrose which, during digestion, breaks down into two single sugars called glucose and fructose. Honey also breaks down into glucose and fructose, but honey produces more fructose than glucose.
If you're one of the many people trying to learn more about how food affects your health, you may be asking if honey is more nutritious than sugar.

As far as your body is concerned, there seems to be very little difference between the final fate of the two sweeteners. Both honey and table sugar are used in the body for either energy or for storage in the form of glycogen or fat.

Honey seems to have no nutritional advantage over table sugar.

There are very small amounts of some trace minerals and vitamins in honey that are not in table sugar, but the amounts of these minerals and vitamins are so small they are of no significance. For example, one cup of honey supplies about the same amount of iron as two slices of whole wheat bread.

Research has shown that honey doesn't have any special health-giving properties. In fact, a few cases of infant botulism have been reported due to mothers adding honey to their infants' bottles. You shouldn't feed honey to infants until they're at least one year old.

Table sugar is called sucrose which, during digestion, breaks down into two single sugars called glucose and fructose. Honey also breaks down into glucose and fructose, but honey produces more fructose than glucose.

Frutose vs Glucose

Fructose is about twice as sweet as glucose. So, some people report they use less honey than table sugar to sweeten beverages because of the honey's sweeter taste. However, the difference in the amounts used is normally so small that it's probably no real savings in calories.

Fructose is absorbed in the body more slowly than glucose and its first stage of metabolism doesn't require insulin, because of this. At one time it was hoped that fructose would be of some advantage to diabetics. However, the final use of fructose by body tissues is through the same pathway as glucose and does require insulin.

The main treatment of non-insulin dependent diabetics is the control of total calories and the maintenance of the ideal body weight. Since fructose provides calories, it must be exchanged for other calories in the diet prescription and its use must be limited.

For more information and suggestions about nutrition and diet, contact your local county Extension office.