How to Understand Honey Nutrition

Bees make honey from the nectar of flowers and store it in honeycombs as a food source. It consists primarily of glucose and fructose, although the precise composition of honey depends on the particular species of bee and flower. Most commercial honey is blended from more than one specific honey and may vary considerably in color and clarity. Honey has about the same sweetness as table sugar and is a common substitute for table sugar in baking.

Things You'll Need

• Nutritional label for honey

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Instructions

• 1

  Obtain the nutritional information for honey. Diet & Fitness Today provides nutritional information on a typical grade of pure honey with no added ingredients. The serving size of honey for this nutritional information is 1 tbsp. weighing 21 g, or about 3/4 oz.

• 2

  Study the calorie content of honey. A serving of honey contains about 64 calories. Carbohydrates account for all of these calories, as honey doesn't contain any fat or protein. A serving of honey provides 3.2 percent of the daily value---or DV---for total calories based on a diet of 2,000 calories per day.

• 3

  Examine the carbohydrates in honey. A tablespoon of honey has 17.2 g of carbohydrates, which is 5.7 percent of the DV for total carbohydrates. This carbohydrate total comes completely from simple sugar, as honey contains no complex carbohydrates or dietary fiber. A serving of honey typically contains 8.4 g of fructose and 7.3 g of glucose. Additional sugars in 1 tbsp. of honey include 0.6 g of galactose and 0.2 g of maltose.

• 4

  Examine the vitamin and mineral content of honey. A tablespoon of honey contains 10.9 mg of potassium, 1.3 mg of calcium, 0.8 mg of phosphorus, 0.8 mg of sodium and 0.4 mg of magnesium. Honey contains no vitamins.

• 5

  Note the health hazards of honey. Honey is generally safe to eat because its low water content prevents the growth of most types of fungi and bacteria, but it can contain the dormant spores of clostridium botulinum. These spores can develop into the mature form of this organism and cause botulism, especially in people with immature immune systems. According to the National Honey Board, you shouldn't give honey to infants younger than 1 year of age.