Comparison of Glycemic Indices of Two Varieties of Iranian Honey with Different Fructose to Glucose Ratios

It has been suggested that the difference in glycemic index (GI) of honey is due to its floral sources and the fructose to glucose ratio. However, sufficient data is not available for GIs of different types of Iranian honey. In the present study the glycemic indexes of two types of Iranian honey, their floral sources and fructose to glucose ratio were determined and their postprandial blood sugar changes were compared. Ten healthy subjects, mean age 28±2.7y and a mean body mass index of 24.3±2.6 participated in this study. Subjects on 3 different days, at 1 week interval, after 10-12 hours overnight fasting referred to the laboratory and their blood sugar was measured in the fasting, state and 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after taking glucose solution, thyme honey from Bushehr plain or clover honey from Khorramabad. The incremental area under the blood glucose changes curve (IAUC) was calculated, using the trapezoid frame ignoring fasting values. Data were analyzed with ANOVA and repeated measure using SPSS version 17. Glycemic indexes for thyme honey and clover honey were 65.9 and 64.9, respectively, differences not statistically significant. Incremental areas under the blood glucose curve after eating thyme(140.2±36.5 mmol.min/l) and clover (137.7±47.7 mmol.min/l) honey although they were not significantly different, both were significantly lower than glucose(214.4±53.0 mmol.min/l) (P=0.001). Thyme honey from Bushehr and clover honey from Khorramabad had similar glycemic indexes. Neither floral sources nor the fructose to glucose ratios had any effect on their glycemic indexes.