Welcome back to our series of talks about honey. I hope you had fun and learned about honey on my previous blogs. Today I am going to share with you one amazing property of honey which is still in early clinical trials but has shown remarkable and promising results.

Honey Reduces the Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases

There have been recent studies suggesting that honey aids in cardiovascular risk reduction. While a lot of disputes have been made opposing this claim, evidenced-based studies say otherwise. I am going to present some of these trials and studies and what this can mean for us. The honey ingested does not have a direct action on the heart however it does decrease the workload of the heart by extering these mechanisms on the body. Two mechanisms exist in this process: reduction of fat and cholesterol in the body and reduction of blood sugar level increase. Today we will talk more on cholesterol management

Honey and Cholesterol levels

Before anything else, let me shed some light about cholesterol. We actually have two types of cholesterol and contrary to popular belief, not all cholesterol are bad cholesterol. We have HDL which is considered as good cholesterol and then LDL which is bad cholesterol. Both of these are cholesterol or lipids. Sholesterol play a big part in the development of cardiovascular disease simply because they have a tendency to block the passageway of blood, leading to an increase of pumping of the heart to make up for the lack of blood.

_{Bad cholesterol can be found in a wide variety of our usual diet. This is the reason why it has to controlled.}

In recent studies, it is repeatedly shown and replicated that there is an decrease in Low density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol. This alone is very helpful for patients who have heart diseases or any related illness such as diabetes mellitus. LDL when accumulated in the body is harmful and may lodge in blood vessels leading to atherosclerosis or blockage of the circulation. However, it was also shown that high density lipoproteins (HDL) or good cholsterol were found to increase inversely (Yaghoobi, 2008)

One study in Nigeria (Alagwu EA, 2011) reports a significantly improved lipid profile and computed cardiovascular disease predictive index. To make it more simple, this study showed that the amount of harmful cholesterol levels (lipids) in the blood was lovered leading to a greater prediction of a healthy heart. I hope I summed that up in the best way that I can. While these tests were done on albino rats, a lot of clinical trials show similar results.

Honey and weight control

Being obese also has a big role to play on your cardiovascular health. Basic physiology tells us that the heart pumps blood to the parts of the body. When a person is obese, this can impair the normal circulation of blood. The heart senses this and immediately increases its pumping capacity to do so. This leaves our heart exhausted and overworked, leading to development of heart diseases.

Similarly, studies conclude how honey helps with this scenario. The effects of honey on obese subjects were tested. One experiment tried to compare sucrose (a form of sugar) with honey. Both were given to same patients at the same exact measurements. After the experiement, it was shown that the there was a decrease in weight or maintenance of weight for patients as compared to those given with sucrose whose weight slightly increased (Nemoseck, 2011). In effect, a low body weight may also significantly decrease cholesterol levels in the body as stated above. It can be concluded that using honey as sugar substitute is a healthy alternative to help in weight control.

Honey has been found to increase good cholesterol, decrease bad cholesterol levels and can help in weight reduction. Ultimately, this leads to a healthier cardiovascular health

_{Disclaimer: Cardiovascular health is a complex discussion ans should always be adjunct with a balanced nutrition, adequate exercise and reduced level of stress}

If you want to read more blogs about honey, feel free to smash it below :

• Benefits of Honey: Rich in Antioxidant which Fights Free-Radicals
• Benefits of Honey: Antibiotic Properties of Liquid Gold | Oxidation, Acidity and Bacterial Death
• Benefits of Honey: Antibiotic Properties of Liquid Gold | Osmolarity and Bacterial Death
• How Honeybees Make Honey: A brief discussion on how liquid gold is formed
• Honey: The Liquid Gold | Historical Context Series : Part

Sources:
10 Surprising Health Benefits of Honey
Natural honey and cardiovascular risk factors
Effect of honey intake on serum cholesterol, triglycerides and lipoprotein levels in albino rats and potential benefits on risks of coronary heart disease.
Honey promotes lower weight gain, adiposity, and triglycerides than sucrose in rats.

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