--- title: 4 Things You Didn’t Know About Honey description: Most people love honey for its tasty goodness. The natural sweetener helps balance flavors, thicken sauces, and add moisture to your dish, according to the... canonical: https://time.com/3447112/4-things-you-didnt-know-about-honey/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-04T12:00:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:28:53.780Z article:section: Health og:title: 4 Things You Didn’t Know About Honey og:description: Surprising health benefits of your favorite sweetener og:url: https://time.com/3447112/4-things-you-didnt-know-about-honey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22cca1d2012b6f33/6986a61855a859508ea82e35/102295647.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3750 og:image:height: 2109 og:image:alt: 102295647 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Things You Didn’t Know About Honey twitter:description: Surprising health benefits of your favorite sweetener twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22cca1d2012b6f33/6986a61855a859508ea82e35/102295647.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Things You Didn’t Know About Honey > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=1238180e-671e-4b2c-b635-dcff3b459d33&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Health.com Contributor Oct 4, 2014 12:00 PM UTC  Honey dripping off dripper Honey dripping off dripper Lauren Burke—Getty Images by [Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Health.com Contributor Oct 4, 2014 12:00 PM UTC Most people love honey for its tasty goodness. The natural sweetener helps balance flavors, thicken sauces, and add moisture to your dish, according to the National Honey Board. Although it is a versatile cooking ingredient, honey also offers some health benefits. Here are four more reasons to thank the bees for this sweet nectar: **It can help coughs** Honey may prove to be a lifesaver this cold season. According to a study in the _Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine,_ researchers tested a single nighttime dose of buckwheat honey against honey-flavored dextromethorphan, a common cough suppressant, and no treatment at all in more than 100 children with colds. Overall, parents found that the honey was better than the other two approaches for relieving cough symptoms and improving sleep. No wonder the World Health Organization lists honey as a potential demulcent, a sugary liquid that coats the throat and soothes irritation. **It could help treat wounds** Honey has quite a long reputation as a healer. Its first written reference dates back to 2100-2000 BC on a Sumerian tablet that mentions the use of honey as a drug and ointment, according to the _Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine_. There’s a medical-grade solution called Medihoney that is derived from manuka honey, which comes from New Zealand bees that pollinate the native manuka bush. “The patches of Medihoney work fantastic on patients that come in with cuts and wounds,” says Robin Miller, MD, a board-certified internist and co-author of _The Smart Woman’s Guide to Midlife and Beyond_. “They’re antibacterial and soothing.” **HEALTH.COM:** [14 Foods That Fight Inflammation](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20705881,00.html?xid=Time-honey-092914) Any type of honey might be helpful. In a study in the _British Journal of Surgery_, Nigerian researchers used honey to treat 59 patients with hard-to-heal ulcers. All but one of the cases improved, and infected wounds and ulcers became sterile within one week of applying the honey. **It may boost your locks** Got a flaky scalp? Honey might solve that problem. A study in the _European Journal of Medical Research_ used a solution of diluted crude honey (90% honey diluted in warm water) on 30 people with seborrheic dermatitis, a scalp condition typically associated with some serious dandruff and itchy skin. The patients in this case also had lesions. Researchers had half of the participants apply the honey mixture to the lesions every other day for four weeks. Itching was relieved and scaling disappeared within one week for those who tried the honey treatment, and skin lesions went away completely within two weeks. **HEALTH.COM** **:** [21 Reasons You’re Losing Your Hair](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20727114,00.html?xid=Time-honey-092914) **It might increase energy** There’s a misconception that carbohydrates aren’t good for you. Thing is, they’re present in such a wide variety of healthy foods, including fruits, veggies, and nuts. Plus, your digestive system needs carbs to make glucose, which sends energy to your cells, tissues, and organs, according to the National Institutes of Health. At 17 grams of carbs per tablespoon, honey happens to be just one food source you can count on to help relieve a sluggish day. It also makes the ultimate snack before or after a workout. “In addition to being an antioxidant-rich source of carbohydrates, honey acts as a ‘time released’ fuel to provide athletes with more steady blood sugar and insulin levels over a longer duration,” says Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, _Health_‘s contributing nutrition editor. [This article originally appeared on Health.com.](http://news.health.com/2014/09/24/4-things-you-didnt-know-honey-could-do/) **More from Health.com**: [10 Ways to Soothe a Sore Throat](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20640098,00.html?xid=Time-honey-092914) [14 Reasons You’re Always Tired](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20818045,00.html?xid=Time-honey-092914) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3447112/4-things-you-didnt-know-about-honey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3447112/4-things-you-didnt-know-about-honey/"},"headline":"4 Things You Didn’t Know About Honey","datePublished":"2014-10-04T12:00:43.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:28:53.780Z","description":"Most people love honey for its tasty goodness. 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