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. 2020 May 21;17(10):3613. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17103613

Table 2.

Clinical evidence on the cardioprotective effect of honey.

Randomized Controlled Trial
Ref Study Population Honey Treatment Outcome Measures Result Conclusion
[33] Overweight or obese students from Mashhad University of Medical Science, Iran aged between 20 to 60 years old (n = 60). 70 g of oral natural unprocessed honey (Iran) dissolved in 250 mL tap water for a maximum of 30 days.

  1. Body mass index (BMI)

  2. TG

  3. C-reactive protein (CRP)

  4. TC

  5. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)

 Treatment of honey reduced the BMI, serum TG, CRP, TC, and LDL after 30 days. Consumption of honey reduces cardiovascular risk factors in overweight and obese adults.
[34] Healthy male students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran (n = 60). 70 g of oral natural honey (Iran) dissolved in 250 ml tap water for 6 weeks.

  1. Total cholesterol (TC)

  2. Total triglyceride (TG)

  3. High-density lipoprotein (HDL)

 Treatment of honey reduced TC but increased TG and HDL after 6 weeks. Consumption of honey reduces cardiovascular risk factors in healthy male adults.
[35] Postmenopausal women visiting outpatient clinics of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (n = 100). 20 g oral Tualang honey (Malaysia) daily for 12 months.

  1. Diastolic blood pressure (DBP)

  2. Systolic blood pressure (SBP)

  3. Lipid profile

  4. Fasting blood glucose

 Treatment with honey reduced DBP and fasting blood glucose out of all the cardiovascular outcomes measured. SBP and lipid profile remain similar to the control. Tualang honey supplementation reduces diastolic blood pressure and fasting blood glucose.
[42] Children suffering from idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy aged between 2 to 12 years old (n = 54). 1.2 g/kg oral Ziziphus honey (Yemen) daily for threeMonths, in addition to the standard heart failure medical therapy.

  1. Ejection fraction (EF)

  2. Fraction shortening (FS)

 EF and FS increased significantly in the honey group as compared with the control group Honey consumption resulted in significant improvement in the EF and FS in a group of children suffering from IDCM.
Non-Randomized Controlled Trial
Ref Study Population Honey Treatment Outcome Measures Result Conclusion
[39] Healthy and diabetic staff from the Dubai Specialized Medical Center and Medical Research Laboratories aged between 25 to 42 years old (n = 48) 90 g of oral natural honey (United Arab Emirates) dissolved in 250 mL drinking water for a maximum of 15 days.

  1. Plasma glucose

  2. Insulin level

  3. CRP

  4. TG

  5. TC

  6. LDL

  7. HDL

 Treatment of honey reduced level of plasma glucose, insulin, CRP, TC, LDL, and TG levels but caused elevation of HDL in healthy and diabetic subjects as early as 30 min, up to 15 days. Consumption of honey reduces cardiovascular risk factors in healthy and diabetic adults.