The Study
The Influence of Daily Honey-Sweetened Yogurt Intake on Outcomes of Low-Grade Inflammation and Microbial Metabolites in Postmenopausal Women
This study gave some women yogurt sweetened with honey and others yogurt sweetened with sugar, then checked their blood for tiny inflammation signals. It found one signal (IL-33) went down a little with honey, but it’s not a strong or clear result. We can’t say honey definitely causes less inflammation — it just might be linked to it in this small group.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave women yogurt sweetened with honey or sugar for a month to see which one caused less body inflammation.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 577 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The drop in IL-33 is small and may not mean better health right now, but it hints that honey might be less inflammatory than sugar — even though both have lots of sugar.
- 2Honey yogurt lowered a specific inflammation marker (IL-33) by 2.56 pg/mL; no changes in other markers like cholesterol, gut bacteria products, or blood sugar.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Nutrients
Year
2026
Authors
Yuyi Chen, Valentina Medici, Carl L Keen, Roberta R. Holt
Related Content
Claims (6)
In healthy postmenopausal women, eating honey-sweetened yogurt with 34 grams of added sugar daily for four weeks does not change blood pressure, cholesterol levels, or fasting blood sugar.
In healthy postmenopausal women, eating yogurt sweetened with 34 grams of honey per day for four weeks does not change blood levels of IL-23, lipid profiles, fecal short-chain fatty acids, or bile acids compared to eating yogurt sweetened with 34 grams of sugar per day.
In healthy postmenopausal women, eating honey-sweetened yogurt every day for four weeks does not change the levels of bile acids in the blood.
In healthy postmenopausal women aged 45–65, eating honey-sweetened yogurt daily for four weeks resulted in a 2.56 pg/mL lower level of plasma IL-33 compared to eating yogurt sweetened with the same amount of sugar.
In healthy postmenopausal women, eating honey-sweetened yogurt every day for four weeks does not change the levels of short-chain fatty acids in the stool.
Honey triggers distinct changes in metabolism and hormone levels compared to refined sugar because of its natural prebiotic, antioxidant, and polyphenolic compounds.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.