The latest on the fad diet scene, the Honey Diet is all the rage. Its principle: eat honey instead of sugar. But, can it really make you lose weight? And above all, is replacing sugar with honey really such a good idea?
Eat honey to lose weight. This is what the Honey Diet recommends, a diet set up by an English nutritionist. A diet which, moreover, would be a miracle slimming method. In short: the kilos would disappear as if by magic.
But why ? What are the main principles of this diet? Isn’t this, once again, an announcement effect rather than a reality?
This new fad diet has been scrutinized. And… warning: no, this is not a miracle solution!
The Honey Diet: what is it?
The founding principles of this regime are rather simple and explicit: just eat honey. In short, throughout the day, instead of eating sugar, we replace it with honey.
But that’s not all. Mike McInnes, the creator of the diet, also insists on the importance of consuming honey in the evening, just before bedtime. Thus, he suggests, for example, slipping a teaspoon of honey into his herbal tea before going to sleep.
Moreover, because every miracle has its limits, he also notes that, as in all diets, you have to pay attention to what you eat and exercise. Yes.. if you thought that honey was going to melt the calories of your burgers and other “comfort food” like snow in the sun, you can go your way.
Does eating honey make you lose weight?
According to Mike McInnes, his diet would make it possible to lose weight because eating honey would deactivate the brain mechanisms that trigger our sweet cravings.
So, info or intox? Can honey really help us reduce our sugar consumption? Yes and no. We explain: yes, eating a sweet food before going to sleep can have this effect; but no, it’s not specific to honey.
Anthony Bertounutritionist, tells us more: “What we know is that the secretion of insulin will lead to a diversion of tryptophan (amino acid editor’s note) towards the synthesis of serotonin. This is at the origin of the appeasement – therefore, by extension – of the reduction of sweet impulses – and it is also the precursor of melatonin (NDLR sleep hormone)”.
In other words, adds the expert, “Consuming glycemic foods as a snack or at bedtime actually creates a favorable context for serotonin and melatonin cycles. On the other hand, it’s not specific to honey at allthe result will therefore be the same if you eat a piece of fruit or a square of dark chocolate”.
But then, should we rather consume honey or sugar?
We’ve said it and we’ll say it again: no, eating honey will not make you lose weight. However, when choosing between sugar and honey, Anthony Bertou recommends setting your sights on the second: “All things considered, between sugar and honey, I recommend consuming honey”.
But why is it healthier to consume honey rather than sugar? Simply, because honey has better nutritional qualities than sugar. And for good reason, explains the specialist: “Honey has a higher sweetening power than sugarwe use less while giving an equally sweet taste to our food”.
And, he continues, that’s not all. “It also has, among other things, a polyphenol content which reduces the glycemic peak and a fructose content. Which has a lower glycemic index than glucose”.
Thus, summarizes Anthony Bertou, “if you eat little sugar – two squares of sugar a day – it will have no negative impact on your health. On the other hand, it is true that replacing them with honey, due to its specific properties, is a good idea”.
On the other hand, there is no question of abusing it either. Besides, eating honey instead of sugar while continuing to overindulge will also have deleterious effectss.
“If you eat 100 grams of sugar and replace it with 100 grams of honey, this will have a negative impact on your health (too much fructose can in particular cause weight gain or insulin resistance) even if the quality is more interesting. On the other hand, one or two teaspoons of honey a day is safe and it brings benefits that sugar does not have” explains the nutritionist.
Moral of the story, honey is better but…
As a result, it seems undeniable that a daily – and reasonable – consumption of honey is to be preferred to a similar consumption of sugar. Nevertheless, warns the expert, the best option is always “reduce your addiction to sugar”.
“To be responsible in the long term, you have to reduce the amount of sugar consumed. But honey is better, but it’s still sugar!” concludes the nutritionist.
