Abstract
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder with multifactorial and heterogeneous etiologies. Two types of diabetes are common among humans: type 1 diabetes that occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys insulin and type 2 diabetes, the most common form, that may be caused by several factors, the most important being lifestyle, but also may be determined by different genes. Honey was used in folk medicine for a long time, but the health benefits were explained in the last decades, when the scientific world was concerned in testing and thus explaining the benefits of honey. Different studies demonstrate the hypoglycemic effect of honey, but the mechanism of this effect remains unclear. This review presents the experimental studies completed in the recent years, which support honey as a novel antidiabetic agent that might be of potential significance for the management of diabetes and its complications and also highlights the potential impacts and future perspectives on the use of honey as an antidiabetic agent.
Highlights
Diabetes mellitus is one of the top diseases in modern times, with more than 285 million people estimated in 2010 and about 438 million people predicted for 2030 in all over the world [1]
Considering the background of the research team that has been working on characterization of different types of honey from Romania and worldwide and the determination of its biological properties for a long period, we considered being appropriate to gather in a review, literature studies that may answer the question: is honey a good substitute for sugar in diabetic diet? Are natural simple sugars important in preventing and treating diabetes mellitus?
Honey caused a mild reduction in body weight (1.3%) and body fat (1.1%), reduced total cholesterol (3%), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (5.8), triacylglycerol (11%), FBG (4.2%), and CRP (3.2%), and increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (3.3%) in normal subject and in patients honey cause reduction in total cholesterol by 3.3%, LDL-C by 4.3%, triacylglycerol by 19%, and CRP by 3.3%
Summary
Diabetes mellitus is one of the top diseases in modern times, with more than 285 million people estimated in 2010 and about 438 million people predicted for 2030 in all over the world [1]. Two types of diabetes are common among humans: type 1 diabetes that occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys insulin This type of diabetes is believed to be genetically determined and environmental factors are important in the determination of the disease. Type 2 diabetes, the most common form, may be caused by several factors, the most important being lifestyle, and it may be determined by different genes. This type of disease is developed during several years, and the symptoms are not noticeable; for this reason, many people find themselves with diabetes without specific or unusual symptoms. The present study acknowledged different scientific studies, demonstrating the use of honey in diabetes mellitus: preclinical and clinical studies, animal model studies, and human studies that demonstrate the potential impact of honey on this complex disease
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