Dear Jennifer and Sue:

Are there advantages to using honey over other sweeteners?

Thanks,
Sarah

There are so many sweeteners available that it can get a bit confusing deciding which to use. Honey is flower nectar that is collected and concentrated by honeybees.

In response to your specific question, there is really no nutritional advantage to using honey over some other sweetener. Ounce for ounce, the nutrient content of honey is the same as table sugar. The same is true for Turbinado sugar (raw sugar) and brown sugar. Although some less-refined, more "natural" sugars may contain minerals (half a cup of evaporated cane juice has 2mg of iron and 114mg of calcium, for example), you would need to eat unreasonable amounts for it to make any meaningful contribution to your diet.

The only sweetener with a nutritional advantage is blackstrap molasses, which contains 5mg of iron in two tablespoons.

A Word About Sugars

Honey contains mostly fructose, the sweetest of monosaccharides (simple sugars). Fruits, vegetables and cane sugar also contain fructose. Table sugar is sucrose (glucose plus fructose). Fructose is sweeter than sucrose, so some people use honey because they can use less to make something just as sweet. Honey is denser than table sugar, so it contains more calories per tablespoon -- but using less may counteract this.

Thanks for your question. I hope this answer dispels any myths you may have heard about honey and puts it into perspective nutritionally with other sugars. Of course, from a culinary and flavor standpoint, several differences between honey and sugars could be advantageous or not depending on your goal.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Schiano, UVM student
Sue Gilbert, M.S., Nutritionist

RESOURCES:

• Got a question or comment for Sue? Post it on the Ask the Nutritionist message board.
• Try these delicious honey-sweetened recipes:
  • Curach (Irish Honey-and-Oatmeal Cream)
  • Apple Dumplings
• Visit the Recipe Finder for more great cooking ideas!