Honey is a natural sweet product that has been used for food and even medicines for centuries. It has a delicious, sweet taste. It can provide numerous health benefits and can be used as the best alternative to regular sugars.
Honey is one of the occurring natural gifts of nature that comes with numerous health benefits. However, because of its more sweetening power than refined sugar cubes, many people consider that it may contain more calories which can cause weight gain. Do they really cause weight gain?
Adding honey into your oatmeal once a week or using it in your daily morning coffee doesn’t add too many calories. But if you are consuming it too much in your regular diet, it can lead to weight gain.
Here, you should also know that weight gain is not always caused because of calories from an isolated food. Your body’s metabolic changes are often because of the combination of a number of processes and even because of your lifestyle. So it is essential to check the entire content on your plate before fearing bugles.
Indeed, if other hypercaloric food is associated, one can incriminate the other product. For instance, if you eat double burgers with a cold drink and fries three times a week and then drink a cup of sweetened herbal honey tea, then you cannot blame only one cup of honey tea for weight gain.
Is honey bad for weight loss?
No. in fact, it is helpful in weight loss if consumed in moderation. This may confuse you: how could the same thing cause weight gain and benefit in weight loss. But, this is a fact that honey is an amazing ingredient for weight loss if consumed little, but you must consider replacing all your sugar with honey for weight loss.
No doubt, honey contains sugar, but compared to refined sugar, it has more vitamins and minerals. Refined sugar is mainly considered as empty calories, which means there is no benefit of eating it. Therefore, when this sugar is consumed in large quantities, it can lead to weight gain quickly because it only contains calories and lacks vitamins and minerals. However, on the other side, sweetened honey is a good source of vitamins and minerals, which helps to balance this effect; that’s why it helps people in their weight loss efforts if consumed in less quantity.
How much honey is too much per day?
If honey is consumed excessively on a regular basis, it will cause weight gain. This means that honey itself does not make you fat if taken moderately. So it is important to find balance in your diet in order to prevent weight gain.
Since honey is mostly composed of sugar, it is best to take it in moderation. The recommended amount of honey to consume per day is one or two small tablespoons (about 50g a day). You can add honey to other foods, like in your cakes, yoghurt, etc.
Honey is a hypercaloric food, which means its effects depends mainly on the frequency and quantity in which it is consumed. For instance, in a weight loss diet, the recommended amount of honey is around 10g a day.
Does honey increase belly fat?
Honey can be helpful when you are trying to manage weight, but when it comes to specifically losing belly fat with honey, then it doesn’t work. No doubt that honey contains a number of health benefits, including weight loss, but you should not think that without doing exercise it will work for your belly fat.
But it can be marginally better for you compared to other types of sweeteners. So, when doing exercise for belly fat, you should replace your sugar with honey, but keep in mind to consume it in less quantity.
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What are the disadvantages of honey?
Honey is considered a complete beneficial food with what it contains and its properties. Honey itself is not a food that can cause bad effects; however, it largely depends on its amount of consumption. If you take it in excessive amount, it can cause following disadvantages;
- Increase blood sugar level: Honey contains sugar and carbohydrates, so it can raise your blood sugar level when you eat it too much. For a diabetic person, the effects of eating too much honey can even be more dangerous.
- Stomach issues: Too much consumption of honey causes adverse effects on the digestive system and would lead to gas, bloating and stomach problems. Moreover, eating too much honey can worsen digestive issues like constipation. The fructose content in honey can cause constipation, even if you do not have such existing issues.
- Lower blood pressure: Honey can work well for people who have high blood pressure, but it can lower the blood pressure if consumed in excess. In the long run, low blood pressure can also affect the functioning of your heart.
- Dental issues: Too much honey means too much sugar, which is obviously bad for teeth. The studies prove that 80% composition of honey is made with sugar, which can damage your tooth and promote tooth decay.
Are lemon and honey good for weight loss?
Lemon and honey are two opposite products as chalk and cheese, but when blended in the right quantity, they can work great in many health benefits, including weight loss.
Consuming half a teaspoon of honey with a glass of warm water and juice of the half lemon is an excellent way of losing weight. Drinking this drink in the morning will help you detox the body and energize the organs. You will notice less bloating and feel more active throughout the day.
A glass of water with honey and lemon is a powerhouse of nutrients. Several studies have proved that this drink works wonders in burning fat, flushes out toxins from the body, and clears acne.
