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OT - Question for honey lovers/honey farmers.

I recently picked up a big jar of raw buckwheat honey (from a local guy in ohio) knowing all the health benefits of honey in general and buckwheat honey being very good for you, i started taking a teaspoon every day and it gave me a nice boost of energy in the morning.
After about a week i started getting fairly bad abdominal pain 20 minutes later. I stopped using it for about a week and have been fine until tonight i had another spoonful and sat here with terrible pain for 2 hours.
I always eat something before or after, i dont have any allergies or sensitivity to anything that i know of, could raw honey cause this?
I know honey is acidic and has numerous enzymes and such, but is it enough to cause this type of pain?

Shouldn't be the raw honey. It contains antibacterial and would help stomach unless you have an issue with sugars

Welcome to the brave new world of Glyphosat ("RoundUp"). Best regards from a Beekeeper from Germany ;)

Hi,
Unless you have a particular health problem or the honey has a problem.

Try buying a different brand of honey, and see if you get the same problem.
If you do, stop taking honey.
If not, then, you'll know the problem is the first pot of honey.
Could have been a problem along the "production line" or at your home. Did the one that should be obeyed tell you to stop adding figs :) ?

I've been taking 2 teaspoons of honey per day (to sweeten my coffee and for winter sore throat ) and I have no problem. People here and there have been doing this for decades without a problem.
So I would first suspect a problem with your first jar of honey. Try a new one .

Honey gives me problems if I eat much more than a tablespoon. Don't know why. As the earlier post recommended, try another brand just in case. 

Honey does cause abdominal pain and / or gas / bloating issues for a small number of people either from the fructose or allergies. You could try mixing it into a glass of liquid. As mentioned above, you could experiment with different honey and make sure the wife isn't tampering with it.

I keep bees and eat lots of honey, including buckwheat (which I buy, not produce), but I've never had that issue. Buckwheat is pretty robust and all honeys can have different compounds in them, depending on the plants on which the bees foraged. Rhododendron nectar was long believed to make people nuts if they ate it because it contains a certain toxin, which can affect blood pressure, etc. And just looking at some honeys, they crystallize quite quickly (e.g., golden rod) while others apparently never crystallize (e.g., tupelo). I would try a lighter honey and see if it has the same effect. 

I raise bees and eat the honey.I have the same problem with the stomach aches and it does not matter what type of honey, the more you eat the more it hurts.I first noticed the ill effects when I was very young.Very allergic to bee stings too.The only thing that seems to help is eat the honey with food and limit quantity of honey.

Thanks for the replies, I don't have any digestive issues, allergies to pollen or bee stings or food sensitivities that I know of. I'm off of the buckwheat honey for now and may try different types in much smaller amounts in the future. Thanks for all the replies

I have found that although I have no issue eating honey per se, buckwheat honey definitely does result in a 'fuller' feeling after consuming it. Then again, I only consume honey in Camomile Tea or in Italian desserts such as Struffoli. Camomile in and of itself is so effective at soothing stomach problems and indigestion that I certainly have never experienced any negative side effects from the honey I put in it. On the Struffoli side,... well as any Italian knows, its hard to feel ill eating Struffoli....

A registered dietician says that some people are unable to digest the fructose in honey and suggests maple syrup as an alternative natural sweetener. Please view this link for details: http://magazine.foxnews.com/food-wellness/10-healthy-foods-could-make-your-stomach-hurt


Have you ever tried to go to your Doctor ???  instead of the Forum ?
 Give yourself a Gift for the Christmass- go the Doctor...

I'm with crademan.  Honey is roughly 40% fructose and 30% glucose.  Chemically, it's not very different from cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup.  

I'll grant you that there may be tiny amounts of beneficial micronutrients in honey, but mainlining fructose and glucose is not healthy.  No doubt it gives an energy boost -- the glucose will raise your blood sugar almost immediately.  Then unless you are diabetic, your body will respond by secreting insulin, which will turn the glucose into body fat.  An hour or so after eating the honey (or sucrose or HFCS), as the glucose is depleted, you may find yourself faint, lethargic, perhaps even hungry.

The fructose is metabolized more slowly by your liver.  Your body is designed to metabolize relatively small amounts of fructose, from wild fruit.  It struggles with big doses.  So for many people, much of the fructose passes through the stomach into the intestines, where it is digested by bacteria, causing gas, bloating and pain.  It seems possible to me that the 1 week delay in the appearance of symptoms was an interval during which fructose-eating bacteria in your gut proliferated in response to your new fructose-rich diet.

Setting aside this preaching about nutrition, you can test whether your body is reacting to the sugars or something else (e.g., herbicides):  Eat a spoonful of high fructose corn syrup.  See if you have a similar reaction.

I got a bee hive last year, tried to attract a wild swarm of bees.
Did not work.
This year I will buy the bees.
I can't wait to produce my own honey.
Lots to learn.
A quick google search can answer anything
on honey digestibility.
Doug

Thanks Joe D for that informed response, I have been not eating honey at all and have been feeling fine.

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