Adding honey to yogurt can have an amazing impact on your gut health

By Study Finds

When it comes to gut health, the combination of yogurt and honey has long been hailed as a delicious way to promote digestive wellness. But what if this pairing is more than just a tasty treat? Researchers from the University of Illinois suggest that clover honey, when mixed with yogurt, can significantly improve the survival of beneficial bacteria in our digestive systems. This discovery could make your next spoonful of honeyed yogurt not just a dessert but a powerhouse of health benefits.

Yogurt is already well-known for its probiotic content, specifically strains like Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis (B. animalis), which supports a healthy gut. However, the journey of these probiotics through our digestive system is fraught with challenges. The acidic environment of the stomach and the harsh conditions of the intestines can reduce the number of live probiotics reaching the gut, diminishing their health benefits.

That’s where clover honey comes into the picture. A pair of studies in The Journal of Nutrition investigated how different types of honey affect the survivability of B. animalis during digestion. The researchers discovered that clover honey, in particular, provides a protective effect, helping more of these beneficial bacteria survive the journey through our digestive system. This means that adding clover honey to yogurt doesn’t just make it sweeter — it makes it healthier, too.

“The enzymes in our mouth, stomach, and intestines help with digestion and facilitate nutrient absorption, but they also reduce the viability of microbes. That’s great when it’s pathogens but not necessarily when it comes to beneficial bacteria,” says study co-author Hannah Holscher in a university release. “We wanted to see if honey could help probiotic bacteria survive in the gut.”

“Our findings showed that pairing honey with yogurt supported the survival of the yogurt’s probiotic bacteria in the gut, so the lab study results did translate to real-world application in humans,” Holscher adds.

Why Clover Honey?

Honey’s composition varies depending on the flowers from which the bees collect nectar. Different types of honey have different levels of sugars, enzymes, and antioxidant compounds. Clover honey, according to the studies, stands out because of its unique chemical profile, which includes higher levels of certain sugars and phenolic compounds that seem to offer extra protection to probiotics.

These components likely work together to create a more favorable environment for probiotics as they pass through the stomach and intestines. For example, the sugars in clover honey may act as a food source for the bacteria, helping them to thrive. Meanwhile, the phenolic compounds, known for their antioxidant properties, might protect the probiotics from oxidative stress, which can occur during digestion.

So, how can you harness the power of this research? The study suggests that adding about one to two tablespoons of clover honey to your yogurt could significantly improve the survival of probiotics. This amount seems to strike the right balance, providing enough of the beneficial compounds without overwhelming the yogurt’s natural properties.

“We found that one tablespoon of honey in a serving of yogurt helps support probiotic survival. However, we have to keep in mind that honey is an added sugar, and most Americans need to be cognizant of the amount of sugar in their diet to maintain a healthy body weight,” Holscher concludes. “But adding a little bit of honey to unsweetened yogurt is a nice culinary pairing to incorporate into your menu rotation.”

Paper Summary

Methodology

To test the impact of honey on probiotic survivability, researchers conducted an in vitro study, which means the experiments were done in a controlled laboratory setting that simulated human digestion. The yogurt samples, both with and without honey, were put through three stages of simulated digestion: oral, gastric (stomach), and intestinal phases. At each stage, scientists measured the number of live B. animalis bacteria remaining.

This approach allowed the researchers to directly observe how well the probiotics survived when mixed with different types of honey. By comparing the results from each stage, they could determine the effectiveness of clover honey in protecting these beneficial bacteria.

Key Results

Yogurt mixed with clover honey showed significantly higher survival rates of B. animalis compared to yogurt without honey or with other types of honey. After passing through the simulated digestive process, the number of live bacteria in the clover honey yogurt was much higher, suggesting that clover honey offers unique protective benefits.

Interestingly, the optimal concentration of clover honey was found to be between 10% to 20% of the yogurt’s weight, roughly translating to 1 to 2 tablespoons per serving. At this concentration, the yogurt provided the best environment for the probiotics to survive digestion.

Study Limitations

While these findings are promising, it’s important to note that this study was conducted in vitro, which means the conditions were controlled and may not fully replicate the complexities of human digestion. Further research, including clinical trials in humans, is necessary to confirm these results in real-world settings.

Additionally, researchers focused on only one type of probiotic and one type of honey. Future research could explore how other probiotics and different types of honey interact, potentially broadening the scope of these findings.

Discussion & Takeaways

The findings highlight the potential of using natural food pairings to enhance the health benefits of probiotics. Clover honey, in particular, could be a simple and effective way to boost the efficacy of probiotic foods like yogurt. As research into gut health continues to grow, incorporating these findings into daily dietary habits could offer an easy, natural way to support digestive wellness.

Funding & Disclosures

This research was partially funded by the National Honey Board, and one of the authors is a member of the Journal of Nutrition Editorial Board. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Source: Study Finds

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