It turns out that embracing your sweet tooth in the morning may actually be pretty good for you.
The Mediterranean diet has been identified time and time again as one that’s excellent for your health. So researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign conducted two studies on one of its staple ingredients: honey.
A summary of the findings explains that Greek and other types of yogurt contain probiotics, which can improve digestive health, mood and cognition as well as promote regular bowel movements.
But, the enzymes that break down food in your mouth and other digestive organs can diminish the viability, and therefore the benefits, of those microbes.
Hannah Holscher, an associate professor in the university’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and co-author of the two studies, wanted to find out if honey could help probiotic bacteria like Bifidobacterium animalis survive in the gut.
The team for the first study examined if alfalfa, buckwheat, clover and orange blossom honey could protect B. animalis by simulating the digestive process. They grew B. animalis microbes in petri dishes that had solutions mimicking saliva, stomach acid, intestinal bile and other digestive enzymes.
The honey had no effect on B. animalis survival in saliva and stomach fluids.
However, yogurt with honey (particularly clover honey) correlated with higher rates of probiotic survival in intestinal digestion.
The research team proceeded with a clinical study that included 66 healthy adults. Researchers had participants eat two different items, for two weeks each: pasteurized, heat-treated yogurt and yogurt with clover honey.
They tested the results by analyzing participants’ stool samples. They also conducted questionnaires and tasks that evaluated participants’ mood, cognition and overall well-being.
There weren’t any associated improvements with the participants’ intestinal transit time, bowel movement frequency or any mood and cognition measures. Holscher says this is most likely because they were healthy adults, so there wasn’t much room for improvement.
A small follow-up study further supported these findings. Researchers gave 36 participants yogurt with sugar. And still, the combination of yogurt and honey came out on top as having preserved the most probiotics.
Holscher urges Americans to keep sugar intake in mind, but adding one tablespoon of honey “to unsweetened yogurt is a nice culinary pairing to incorporate into your menu rotation.”
Add a Comment