The simplest answer is two words: It doesn’t.
The somewhat longer qualifying answer is: It could, but only when used in conjunction with a proper nutrition, exercise and lifestyle regimen.
Did a little digging – it’s too painful to dig too long on the net looking for “honey and weight loss” but here are a few blurbs that I’m sure provoke such a question asked here.
“…you can enjoy delicious family meals, snacks and treats usually banned on diets – including puddings, bread, muffins and even biscuits – as long as they are made with honey rather than sugar.”
“For people who are overweight or obese, honey not only reduces risk of cardiovascular disorders, it also does not increase the body weight.”
“Founder of the honey diet, Mike McInnes, discovered that athletes who ate foods rich in fructose such as honey burnt a lot more fats and had increased stamina levels as well. Honey acts as a fuel to make the liver produce glucose. This glucose keeps the brain sugar levels high and forces it to release fat burning hormones.”
There are dozens more where these three came from. For the record, 1). These make me want to smash my keyboard into my head repeatedly to dull the pain and 2). all of the above are patently false, total b.s.
Honey provides 64 calories per tablespoon. All calories count. None are free no matter what the latest scumbag diet pitch might say.
What’s in Honey?
Ya, I’m taking a short cut but this site says it as well as any for what honey is.
Honey is a supersaturated sugar solution with approximately 17.1 percent water. Fructose is the predominant sugar at 38.5 percent, followed by glucose at 31 percent. Disac- charides, trisac -charides and oligosaccharides are present in much smaller quantities. Besides carbohydrates, honey contains small amounts of protein, enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Honey is known to be rich in both enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, including catalase, ascorbic acid, flavonoids and alkaloids. Although appearing only in trace amounts honey also contains about 18 different amino acids. Crane, E. 1976. “Honey: A Comprehensive Survey,” Corrected edition. International Bee Research Association/Heinemann, London; Berenbaum, M., Robinson, G. and Unnevehr, L. 1995-1996. Antioxidant properties of Illinois honeys. University of Illinois.
Source: Honey Facts & Nutrition
Honey is a sugar, it’s calorie dense, it’s very sweet and may promote cravings for other substances that are sweet and also calorie dense.
Are you going to find someone, somewhere who has eaten or consistently consumes honey and lost weight? Heck ya. But you’ll also find people who eat pencils (don’t do it) and lose weight. You’ll also find people who survived a car wreck not wearing their seat belt and you’ll find smokers who live to be 90+. But if you are playing the odds and want to stack the deck the MOST in your favor? Go easy with anything like honey if your goal is weight loss – it can be a part of a balanced food plan but it’s tricky to navigate for most.