Table 3.
Studies examining the effect of honey supplementation on exercise (physical or skilled) performance.
| Study | Participants | Design | Exercise Stimulus | Nutritional Intervention | Data Collection Method and Time-Points | Outcome Variables | Main results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbey and Rankin [47] | Male soccer players of NCAA Division I, post collegiate, and club standard (n = 10). | Randomised, single blind, crossover. | Soccer specific exercise (5 × 15 min blocks, plus 10 min half-time), followed by progressive 20 m shuttle run to fatigue. | 6% CHO-electrolyte solution (either honey, commercial sports drink, or placebo). 8.8 mL∙kg−1 (0.5 g∙kg∙body mass−1) CHO consumed 30 min pre-exercise and at half-time. | 220 m running time trial, dribbling/agility assessment, and soccer shooting test all performed every 15 min during exercise: 220 m running time trial Progressive 20 m shuttle run to fatigue performed following 75 min of exercise. |
Time taken to complete (time trial, and dribbling/ agility test), number of targets hit (shooting assessment). Time to exhaustion. |
↔ between trials for any performance measure. |
| Ahmad et al. [48] | Male runners of recreational standard (n = 10). | Randomised, single blind, crossover. | 60 min run at ~65% V̇O2 max, followed by 2 h ‘rehydration phase’ and 20 min treadmill running test. | Either 6.8% CHO solution (honey) or water, to recover 150% of body mass lost during run one consumed at 0 min (60% of mass loss), 30 min (50%), and 60 min (40%) after run one. | 20 min treadmill running test performed 120 min following completion of 60 min run | Total distance covered. | 20 min running performance was ↑ for honey vs. water. |
| Earnest et al. [46] | Amateur male cyclists (n = 9). | Randomised, double blind, counterbalanced, crossover. | 64 km time trial on cycling ergometer. | 15 g of gel (honey, dextrose, or placebo) with 250 mL water consumed every 16 km (5 × 15 g total). Plus an additional 250 mL of water every 3.2 km. | 64 km cycling ergometer test. | Time taken to complete 64 km, and per 16 km. Mean power over 64 km, and per 16 km. |
↔ between trials for time taken to complete, or mean power over 64 km. In honey and dextrose trials, mean power over 48-64 km was ↑ vs. 0-16 km, 16-32 km, and 32-48 km (not the case for placebo). In placebo, time taken for 48-64 km and 32-48 km was ↑ vs. 0-16 km, (not the case for honey or dextrose). |
| Hajizadeh et al. [51] | Amateur male road cyclists (n = 24). | Randomised, two independent groups. | 16 week training period. | 70 g honey dissolved in 250 mL distilled water. Consumed 90 min prior to each training session for 16 weeks. Other group consumed no supplement. | 5 km, and 40 km cycling ergometer tests, and power assessment at week 0 (T1) and week 16 (T2). | Time taken to complete (5 km and 40 km tests), peak power output (power assessment). | ↔ between groups for time taken to complete 5 km or 40 km, or peak power output at T2. For all measures, performance in both groups was ↑ at T2 vs. T1 |
CHO: carbohydrate, NCAA: National Collegiate Athletic Association, ↑: increased/higher, ↓: decreased/lower, ↔: no difference.