{"id":130847,"date":"2025-09-26T13:33:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T05:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gogoherbs.com\/?p=130847"},"modified":"2026-10-13T06:45:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T22:45:05","slug":"blog-%e5%9b%9b%e7%a8%ae%e8%9c%82%e8%9c%9c%e6%9c%80%e4%bd%b3%e6%8b%8d%e6%aa%94%e9%a3%9f%e6%9d%90","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gogoherbs.com\/en\/blog-%e5%9b%9b%e7%a8%ae%e8%9c%82%e8%9c%9c%e6%9c%80%e4%bd%b3%e6%8b%8d%e6%aa%94%e9%a3%9f%e6%9d%90","title":{"rendered":"The effects, contraindications, and sugar content of honey (honey)."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Honey has been considered a beneficial substance since ancient times, and in recent years, "honey water" and "honey lemon water" have been touted online as having health benefits and even anti-cancer properties. Some of these claims are unfounded, but some are indeed supported by research\u2014the problem is that few people mention the most fundamental thing about honey:Its main component is sugar.<\/b>\u3002<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This article clarifies three key points: the nutritional composition of honey, its proven uses (and who should absolutely avoid it), and how to calculate daily sugar and calorie intake. The "honey" commonly referred to in Hong Kong is the same honey discussed in this article.<\/p>\n

This article contains<\/strong>
I. What is honey? Let's first understand its composition.<\/a>
2. What are the differences between the sugar in honey and regular sugar?<\/a>
III. WHO's 10% and 5%: Does honey count as "sugar"?<\/a>
IV. How much can I eat each day? (Honey water calorie conversion)<\/a>
V. What are the empirically supported uses of honey?<\/a>
6. Why should infants under 1 year old never eat honey?<\/a>
7. Who else should we be wary of?<\/a>
8. What are some of the claims about pairing honey with other ingredients that are supported by evidence?<\/a>
9. Selection and Storage: Hong Kong Local Reminder<\/a>
10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/a><\/div>\n

I. What is honey? Let's first understand its composition.<\/h2>\n

Honey is a thick liquid produced by bees from nectar collected from flowers, processed and dehydrated. Its main components are sugar and water, with other ingredients making up a very small percentage. According to the USDA database, approximately 100 grams of honey contains the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
project<\/th>\nContent per 100 grams<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
calorific value<\/td>\nApproximately 304 kcal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
carbohydrate<\/td>\nApproximately 82.4 grams<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2014Among them, sugar<\/td>\nApproximately 82.1 grams<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Moisture<\/td>\nApproximately 17.1 grams<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
protein<\/td>\nApproximately 0.3 grams<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fat<\/td>\n0 grams<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u9240<\/td>\nApproximately 52 mg<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u9223<\/td>\nApproximately 6 mg<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u9435<\/td>\nApproximately 0.42 mg<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

A quick look at the numbers makes it clear: approximately [amount of honey].Eighty percent of the ingredients are sugar.<\/b>The rest is water. The mineral content is only tens of milligrams per 100 grams, which is a trace amount compared to daily needs; honey does contain small amounts of phenols, flavonoids and other components, but the amount that can be ingested in a typical serving is quite limited.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the statement that "honey is a natural food and doesn't count as sugar" is incorrect. It is a natural food, and it is also sugar\u2014the two are not contradictory. What's truly important is how much of your daily sugar intake it represents.<\/p>\n

2. What are the differences between the sugar in honey and regular sugar?<\/h2>\n

The sweetness of honey mainly comes from monosaccharides: fructose (approximately 381 TP4T) and glucose (approximately 311 TP4T), with small amounts of maltose and sucrose. Because of its high monosaccharide content, honey has a different sweetness and texture than sugar, and is therefore often described as a "more natural source of sweetness."<\/p>\n

However, when it comes to glycemic response, honey is actually similar to regular sugar\u2014the values vary greatly depending on the honey's floral source, making it not a consistently "low-glycemic" food. For people who need to monitor their blood sugar, considering honey as a "safer sugar" is a potentially problematic idea.<\/p>\n

Common Misconceptions:<\/strong>"Natural" describes the source, not necessarily the impact on the body. The sugar in granulated sugar, honey, and concentrated fruit juice is broken down and utilized in similar ways by the human body; the World Health Organization (WHO) even categorizes the sugar naturally present in honey, syrup, and fruit juice together in the same discussion. This will be discussed in detail in the next section.<\/div>\n

III. WHO's 10% and 5%: Does honey count as "sugar"?<\/h2>\n

The World Health Organization's recommendations on sugar are divided into two levels, which is often confused:<\/p>\n