8 Most Important Health Benefits of Honey

Since ancient times, honey has been used as both a food and a medicine.

It's very high in beneficial plant compounds and offers several health benefits. Honey is particularly healthy when used instead of refined sugar, which is 100% empty calories.

Here are the top 10 health benefits of honey.

1. Honey Contains Some Nutrients
Honey is a sweet, thick liquid made by honeybees.

The bees collect sugar - mainly the sugar-rich nectar of flowers - from their environment (1).

Once inside the beehive, they repeatedly consume, digest and regurgitate the nectar.

The end product is honey, a liquid that serves as stored food for bees. The smell, color and taste depend on the types of flowers visited.

Nutritionally, 1 tablespoon of honey (21 grams) contains 64 calories and 17 grams of sugar, including fructose, glucose, maltose and sucrose.

It contains virtually no fiber, fat or protein (2).

It also contains trace amounts - under 1% of the RDI - of several vitamins and minerals, but you would have to eat many pounds to fulfill your daily requirements.

Where honey shines is in its content of bioactive plant compounds and antioxidants. Darker types tend to be even higher in these compounds than lighter types