Honey & Mental Health

Studies suggest that honey might offer antidepressant, anticonvulsant and anti-anxiety benefits. In some studies, honey has been shown to help prevent memory disorders. Depressed elderly treated with a mix of honey and barely exhibited a significant decrease on depression, stress, and mood disturbances scores compared with the control group (p < 0.05). They also witnessed improvement of dietary intake “calories, zinc, and magnesium” (p < 0.05) [19]. The second study revealed that treatment with honey or a mix of honey and pollens resulted in improvements of the three subscales of the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) 68.3% and 70.9%, respectively. The reported improvement at posttreatment was significant than pretreatment in both groups with no between group differences. The symptoms associated with the antihormonal medication decreased with administration of honey. Meanwhile there were no pre to post-treatment difference in serum levels of cholesterol (total, HDL, or LDL cholesterol), triglycerides or oestradiol in both groups. Bee honey can be a promising treatment for depression. However, more rigorous randomized control trials in humans are needed to confirm if honey can really alleviate depressive symptoms and improve its biomarkers. There is also a need to know which ingredients of honey have the most therapeutic effect.