Does Honey Help You Lose Weight?

Due to its taste, honey helps to calm anxiety and the need to consume sweet foods, while activating the metabolism. However, it should not be consumed in excess.

The result of the tireless work of bees is honey. This is a food that has been consumed for hundreds of years and various medicinal properties have also been attributed to it. For this reason, you may have ever heard of how convenient honey could be to alleviate a discomfort or simply promote well-being, you may have even heard that honey helps you lose weight.

Grandmothers comment that, for example, if it is used externally it is very good for improving the health of the skin and hair. But what about losing a few extra pounds? In this article we explain more about it.

Honey and its slimming ability: what the science says

In addition to being delicious and, for this reason, widely used in various culinary preparations, honey is a food that has been widely studied over the years. 

Although in the first instance it is usually associated with the relief of discomfort in the throat, flu symptoms, colds and colds. In a study carried out in rodents, it was decided to evaluate how honey promotes less weight gain, adiposity and triglycerides than sucrose in rats. The authors reached the following conclusion:

On the other hand, the results of other investigations on the slimming properties of honey, affirm that it is necessary to continue analyzing this food, since at the moment there is no certainty that it has the ability to indicate to the brain that it has already received a sufficient dose of sugar.

Continuing with the idea that it could be a good ally to lose weight, there are people who consider that a tablespoon of this product could be beneficial. Now, although there is no evidence to confirm that honey has “slimming” properties, the truth is that honey could generate changes in metabolism that help us lose extra kilos.

• It is energizing, so consuming it before exercise or sports can be very beneficial to promote performance.
• It can help satiate eating cravings. This would help prevent unhealthy snacks, pastries, and groceries.
• It generates less dependency than refined sugar, for example.

To consider

If we eat sweets at night, it can cause us not to sleep properly, wake up in the middle of the night or have insomnia. It is proven that a good rest helps us lose weight since during the night certain processes of muscle repair and fat burning are carried out.

So, if we consume a tablespoon of honey before bed, we are satiating our appetite for sweets without generating addiction (since the fructose it contains is natural and of high quality) and, at the same time, giving the body the opportunity to rest and recover accordingly.

Honey, cinnamon and water: the ideal recipe to lose weight?

There are several hypotheses about the ability of honey to lose weight. For example, in addition to consuming a tablespoon before doing a training session, we can take advantage of its benefits during the day (but without exceeding the quantities, since that would be counterproductive).

It is necessary to completely stop ingesting products with processed sugars.

• Sweeten your desserts, fruits and infusions with honey (you find it in various presentations, more liquid or more solid, more or less sugary, etc.) and incorporate more fruits, vegetables and legumes in your daily diet.
• Skip the flours, sodas, and trans fats. The latter have shown a close relationship with obesity and metabolic problems in rodents.
• Drink two liters of water daily and don’t forget about exercise. The more active you are, the less risk of gaining weight you will have.

By following all these tips, you will be helping the body to burn fat and eliminate accumulated toxins.

On the other hand, there are people who -in addition to following the previous advice- consume a glass of water with honey and cinnamon every day to complement their diet. The recipe would be the following.

Ingredients

• 1 glass of hot water (200 ml).
• 5 teaspoons of honey (25 g).
• 1 pinch of ground cinnamon.

Preparation

• Heat the water and, when it comes to a boil, add the honey and cinnamon and mix well.
• Drink earlier when you wake up (half an hour before breakfast or half an hour before exercising).

In those moments when anxiety invades you and you no longer know what to do to stop thinking about eating sweet things, this infusion can be very useful. But remember, do not abuse the amount of honey and, as far as possible, reduce it until you can drink the infusion naturally, without any type of sweetener.

Consume honey in moderation to enhance weight loss

If you have questions about how to improve your lifestyle to lose weight in a healthy way, consult your family doctor or nutritionist. Consuming honey can help due to its satiating capacity, but you should not exceed its consumption. Remember that it will be necessary to introduce it in the context of a balanced diet.