A spoonful of sugar may help you swallow your medicine better, but two new studies suggest that a spoonful of honey may do even more.
Adding one to two tablespoons of honey to unsweetened yogurt can boost the yogurt’s probiotic power by helping the beneficial bacteria in it survive the journey through your digestive system, according to a new study.
“We were interested in the combination of yogurt and honey, which is common in the Mediterranean diet, and how it affects the gastrointestinal microbiome.” say Co-author Hannah Holscher is a nutritionist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The Mediterranean diet is a set of eating habits that promotes good health by consuming healthy fats found in fish, olive oil and nuts and by limiting red meat intake.
Dairy doesn’t play a big role overall, but there are exceptions: cheese and yogurt, which date back to at least ancient Greek dairy products. OxygalaMany Mediterranean traditions use honey as a sweetener for yogurt.
Building on existing knowledge about yogurt and honey, Holscher and his colleagues wanted to find out whether honey acts as more than just a sweetener.
Some types of yogurt are supplemented with probiotic strains, such as: Bifidobacteriais a bacterium that is naturally present in the digestive tract of many animals, including humans, and previous studies have shown it to be associated with improved gut health and immune function in humans.
Honey is known for its antibacterial properties. beforeBiological; a substance that promotes the growth or activity of beneficial microorganisms in the eater’s body.
Given its potential to boost beneficial bacteria, researchers wanted to know whether honey could help those bacteria survive the dangers they face in the human digestive system.
“Enzymes in the mouth, stomach and intestines aid in digestion and increase nutrient absorption, but they also reduce the viability of microorganisms,” Holscher says. say.
“That’s great for pathogens, but not necessarily for beneficial bacteria,” she says. explain“We wanted to find out whether honey helps probiotic bacteria survive in the gut.”
First In the two new studies, researchers conducted experiments to see how four types of honey – alfalfa, buckwheat, clover and orange blossom – affected bee survival rates. B. Animalis Yogurt during simulated digestion.
The researchers mixed the inoculated yogurt with one of four types of honey and grew the bacteria in petri dishes while exposing them to solutions that mimicked one of several fluids that might be encountered in the human gut, including saliva, stomach acid, intestinal bile, and enzymes.
The researchers reported that none of the four types of honey had a significant effect on the survival of the bacteria in saliva or stomach acid, and the results were similar to those of a control group that consumed yogurt mixed with sugar or water.
But in a solution designed to mimic intestinal fluids, the yogurt-honey mix appeared to support the survival of beneficial bacteria — an effect that was most pronounced in the clover variety, the study found.
The researchers made their initial findings in a randomized, controlled crossover study of 62 healthy adults. They asked participants to eat two different foods for two weeks each: in the first week they consumed yogurt with clover honey, and in the second week they consumed heat-treated yogurt.
In a follow-up study, 36 participants went on to a third trial where they consumed yogurt mixed with sugar.
Participants provided stool samples and bowel movement information, and also completed questionnaires and tasks to assess mood, cognition, and overall health.
“Our results show that combining yogurt with honey allows the probiotic bacteria from yogurt to survive in the gut, so our laboratory findings can be translated into real-life applications in humans,” Holscher said. say.
The study found no changes in gut transit time, stool frequency, mood or cognitive performance, but Holscher noted that this may simply reflect the participants’ overall health, and does not rule out the need for further research.
It’s important to note that honey is also a sugar with associated health risks, and the study authors are not suggesting a “Winnie the Pooh” approach.
“We found that adding a tablespoon of honey to a cup of yogurt helps keep probiotics alive. But it’s important to remember that honey is an added sugar, and most Americans need to watch the amount of sugar they’re including in their diet to maintain a healthy weight,” Holscher says. say.
While there is a wealth of research pointing to the potential benefits of probiotics, probiotic supplements are not suitable for everyone. danger Their own.
But more generally, Holscher says the study hints at hidden wisdom behind the ancient tradition of mixing honey with yogurt.
“Unsweetened yogurt with a little honey is a great combination to include on your menu,” she says. say.
