Is Honey Just Sugar in a Nicer Jar?

I get asked this one all the time. “Steve, what about honey? Surely that’s different?”

I get why people think that. Honey’s natural. It’s been around for thousands of years. It’s got some genuinely useful properties, like helping with hay fever and packing a decent hit of antioxidants. The golden nectar, right?

But here’s the thing. Sugar is sugar. Your body doesn’t care whether it came from a bee or a factory. It responds the same way.

Let me tell you what happened during our blood sugar trial. We had participants wear a continuous glucose monitor for two weeks and track everything they ate. One evening, Liam stirred two spoons of honey into hot water to soothe a sore throat. Nothing fancy. Just a home remedy we’ve all done.

It caused his biggest blood sugar spike of the entire two weeks.

Bigger than the day he was asked to eat cereal.

Two spoons of honey. On an empty stomach. His blood sugar went through the roof.

That’s the trap. When something is labelled ‘natural’ we assume it’s harmless. But natural doesn’t mean your pancreas gets an easy ride.

Now before you plunge into despair over your sugar-laden woes, there is good news. Stevia, erythritol, and xylitol sidestep the blood sugar spike entirely. They give you the sweetness without the insulin rollercoaster. You can still have your sweet fix, just without the crash that follows.

And if you do use honey? Have it with food. A bit drizzled over yoghurt with nuts and seeds is a completely different story to two spoons dissolved in hot water. Context matters. Fibre and fat slow the absorption and blunt the spike.

Honey isn’t evil. But it isn’t a free pass either.

Your action today: Next time you reach for honey, pair it with fat or fibre first. Never on an empty stomach, never dissolved in a drink on its own.