Can You Eat Honey When Pregnant? (Eating Guide)

Honey is a well-known nutritious food used as a sweetener and cure. It has many health benefits, and nothing can compare to its properties.

Honey is an unpasteurized natural product. However, it does not cause harm as other unpasteurized products, like dairy or uncooked meat.

We all know that pregnant women should be careful what they consume, but what about honey, is honey one of those foods?

Can you eat honey when pregnant?

Yes, you can consume honey while pregnant. Even though it is an unpasteurized product, it is still safe and beneficial to consume during pregnancy.

Although it is a fact that pregnant women can not eat raw, undercooked meat, uncooked fish, or unpasteurized dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt, they can freely consume honey.

Honey is a natural product, which may sometimes carry bacterial spores called C. Botulinum, but the immune system of an adult person is strong enough to destroy them. The bacterial spores cannot reach your unborn baby if you eat honey while pregnant.

Also Read: Whether You Can Eat Fish Fingers When Pregnant?

C.Botulinum in honey

Sometimes honey can carry bacterial spores known as C. Botulinum which can cause an infection in the body called botulism.

But that can only happen in people with a compromised immune system and tiny babies under the age of 1. That is why nutritionists don’t recommend that you don’t give small children honey in any form, be it as a sweetener in tea or as an additive in sweets.

Botulinum can not be destroyed by pasteurization or heat during cooking or boiling. So, it has no point in pasteurizing the honey.

Babies do not have a robust immune system yet, and because of that, they are not allowed to consume raw honey. In addition, botulism can have fatal results in small children under the age of 1.

But for adults and healthy pregnant women, it does not pose a threat since our immune system can get rid of the spores without causing significant reactions.

How to use honey while pregnant?

Honey is an addition to many sweet recipes and some recipes that include meat and vegetables.

You can use honey to sweeten your tea or cup of milk, especially during winter. It will give you that extra kick of strength.

You can use it in baked goods, like homemade biscuits; they are delicious when dipped or leathered with honey. Many salad recipes include honey as their ingredient to make the taste of the salad stand out more.

I love to mix my honey with nuts, and it gives me that boost of energy that I need when I feel exhausted after a long day at work. I take a jar, put one row of walnuts, one row of hazelnuts, then almonds, and in the end, I pour the honey on them until the pot is full.

The nuts are all roasted and salted, which makes a great mixture of salty and sweet tastes. I eat one tablespoon daily, giving me a fantastic amount of energy.

It is also extremely healthy to mix it with nettle seed, and it acts like a powerful supplement for iron and other minerals for people with iron deficiency.

Also Read: Whether You Can Eat Grapes When Pregnant?

Honey benefits for pregnant women

Honey has many healthy properties, including antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory. It can be used as a food additive or eaten one tablespoon daily; you can even use it topically.

It is a fact that pregnant women tend to develop gum inflammation or even periodontitis due to many causes and changes that happen during pregnancy. Honey mixed with sage or other beneficial herbs helps alleviate that inflammation and protect the gums from further damage.

Also, you can use it to treat cold sores, and honey has healing properties which will heal the wounds in your mouth quickly and alleviate the discomfort. We all know that pregnancy is often accompanied by morning sickness or nausea, especially in the first trimester.

Honey can also help with morning sickness; you mix it with ginger and create an excellent tonic to drink every day, which will help your tummy.

Or you can turn the mixture into tea and drink it daily, which is excellent for your stomach, even if you are not pregnant. It helps alleviate heartburn, indigestion, nausea, and many other tummy aches.

Having the flu or a cold is awful on its own but being pregnant on top of it is terrible. The antimicrobial properties of honey help protect you from those dreadful days of stuffy nose and sore throat.

You can mix it with whatever you prefer, like herbal teas, or have it on its own, just the honey, and it will do its job, nonetheless.

Manuka Honey

The difference between manuka honey and raw honey is the source where the bees find the honey. Raw honey is extracted from all kinds of herbs and flowers. Meanwhile, manuka honey is made only from a unique tree in Australia and New Zealand.

Manuka honey is used even in medicine to treat many conditions and illnesses; it has many beneficial properties, just like raw honey but more potent.

Pregnant women can consume Manuka honey without any doubts or fear; it is not registered to this day that any side effects from manuka honey.

It is perfect for wound healing since it has more robust antibacterial properties than raw honey; it fights off the germs and bacteria on the wound so that the wound heals properly.

Honey for diabetics

Honey is sweet; we all know that. And diabetic people can only consume a minimal number of sweets to be healthy.

The same goes for raw honey and manuka honey; you must be careful when using honey if you are a diabetic person, especially while pregnant since honey can raise your blood sugar counts.

Even though it is a healthy option for sweeteners, it is still a sweetener, and it can harm you if you overdo it. So, be careful if you have any underlying conditions.

Also Read: Whether You Can Eat Quinoa When Pregnant?

Final words

During pregnancy, you have limited options for medication that you can use in medical conditions, illnesses, and injuries; therefore, raw honey and manuka honey are fantastic ways to alleviate most of the symptoms.

It can do only good and no harm, so you can use it freely without fearing harming your baby or yourself.

However, I am not a medical professional, so you should consult your physician first if you have any doubts about your health.