Amount of Calorie in Honey

Amount of Calorie in Honey
What is the amount of calorie in honey? Does honey contain
more calories than table sugar?

One tablespoon of honey has 64 calories, and one tablespoon
of sugar has 46 calories. (Or has 22 calories in one
teaspoon of honey versus 16 calories in one teaspoon of
table sugar.) While the amount of calorie in honey is more,
we actually use less of it since it is sweeter than table
sugar. And for many people, honey is still a preferred
healthier choice because of its vitamins and minerals that
can aid in digestion, and its anti-oxidants which can also
bring health benefits. In fact, it is a carbohydrate that
is recommended in fasting because of its vitamins content
and antioxidants effect.

Honey contains the same basic sugar units as table sugar --
glucose and fructose. Granulated table sugar, or sucrose,
has glucose and fructose hooked together, whereas in honey,
fructose and glucose remain in individual units. Fructose
is sweeter than glucose, which is one of the reasons
fructose is used in so many food products today. However,
fructose does not convert to energy as efficiently as
glucose. As a result, processed foods containing granulated
sugar high in fructose convert to fat stores more easily
than honey. Honey, a natural sweetener, has only one
processing step involved - heating to prevent
crystallization and yeast fermentation during storage,
whereas, table sugar is highly processed, whereby all
naturally occurring trace minerals from the sugar cane
plant are removed, leaving us with "empty calories" which
are devoid of nutrition like vitamins, minerals, and
important enzymes. That is why ironically, in developed
countries, there are way too many overweight people who are
suffering from malnutrition!

Cut down on the simple sugars in your diet by eliminating
the chocolate and hard candies. If you simply cannot resist
the desire for sweet stuff, replace them with healthy
natural sweeteners like honey. Take regular meals with some
protein and fat in each, and eat complex carbohydrates that
contain ample soluble fiber-- fruits and vegetables for
example. Fat, protein and soluble fiber in the diet tend to
moderate swings in blood glucose. Other than the concern
that excessive intake of sugar and hence calories, could
lead to obesity problems, some people have a reaction to
sugar called reactive hypoglycemia which is characterized
by irritability, nervousness, headache, sweating and
confusion a few hours after eating a meal high in simple
sugars. These symptoms are caused by the pancreas'
overproduction of insulin in response to rising blood
glucose levels.

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Ruth Tan is the owner of the website Benefits of Honey at
http://www.benefits-of-honey.com which is an immensely
rich, quality resource on honey and its benefits, and a
plethora of health-related issues.