Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice, and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to honeycomb consumption.

Honeycomb is created by bees to store honey, and is also edible. It's becoming more common in healthfood stores across the US, because it's sweet, tasty, and thought to be healthy. 

But what does the research say about honeycomb? Does its high sugar content make it unhealthy? Is raw or pasteurized honeycomb healthier? And is honeycomb healthier than other popular sweet "healthfoods" like maple syrup?

In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze research studies on honeycomb to give our take on whether it's unhealthy.

We'll also share our thoughts on whether raw honeycomb or pasteurized honeycomb is the healthiest version, and compare honeycomb to other popular sweet healthfoods to pick our winners (and losers).

Key takeaways:

• Limited research on honeycomb consumption
• Raw honey has substantial research backing and may be safer
• We tested honeycomb ourselves and found it increased energy

What Does the Research Say?

The health effects of honeycomb consumption on humans hasn't been studied in any clinical trials we could locate.

However, the health effects of raw honey consumption has been studied, and the two compounds are similar.

Raw honey consumption was shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect in a meta-study published in the Pharmacognosy Research journal.

Honey was also shown to support brain health in a 2023 medical review, and manuka honey is documented to provide immune support.

Honeycomb is more complex than honey, and it contains a number of bioactive compounds, including propolis, bee pollen and royal jelly (source).

This suggests that honeycomb may have more functional benefits than raw honey, because compounds like royal jelly are clinically shown to have numerous health effects like cold prevention, blood sugar support and energy support.

It's worth noting that some traditional cultures eat whole honeycomb, including the Hazda of Tanzania (source).

But just because one traditional group that evolved eating whole honeycomb, it doesn't mean everyone will tolerate it well.

Overall, we consider honeycomb to be healthy, but raw honey is more well-studied and may be a safer choice.

Raw vs. Pasteurized Honeycomb

The pasteurization process involves heat treating a food product to kill harmful pathogens which can cause disease.

Unfortunately, pasteurization also kills some beneficial nutrients (particularly water soluble vitamins), as we documented in our Fairlife Milk review article. 

This means that whether raw or pasteurized honeycomb is healthier depends on the individual, as there's a trade-off.

A generally healthy person may benefit more from raw honeycomb consumption, due to the higher nutrient value, and since they're at low risk of getting sick.

An immune-deficient person, pregnant woman, or young child, may be safer consuming pasteurized honeycomb.

Until more research emerges on the safety and nutrient levels of honeycomb, this is all somewhat theoretical at this point. 

Honeycomb vs. Sweet Healthfoods

Here's how honeycomb compares to other popular, sweet, healthfoods in our opinion:

Maple Syrup

Maple syrup is nutritionally rich in phenols and minerals, according to a 2022 medical review.

While it may have fewer functional properties, it has greater research backing by far, so we give maple syrup the edge from an overall health and safety perspective.

Winner: Maple Syrup

Naked Juice

While Naked Juice is mostly composed of whole foods, it's packaged in plastic and has flavoring additives, as we documented in our are Naked smoothies healthy article.

Honeycomb is a single-ingredient, nutritious, whole food.

Winner: Honeycomb

Blackstrap Molasses

This is the name for the most nutritionally-dense form of molasses.

It's made by boiling sugarcane multiple times, concentrating the final solution.

Blackstrap molasses is clinically shown to support optimal insulin function, and has significantly more research backing than honeycomb.

Winner: Blackstrap Molasses

Conclusion

Honeycomb is not unhealthy; it's a whole food that's incredibly nutritious, and may even have functional benefits like immune support.

There is limited research on the health effects and safety of honeycomb consumption in humans, but there is substantial research showing that raw honey consumption is healthy.

For this reason, we consider raw honey consumption to be a clearer health benefit at this point than honeycomb.

Raw honeycomb is more nutritious than pasteurized honeycomb, but the latter may be a safer choice for immune-compromised or elderly individuals, and other sensitive groups.

We consider honeycomb to be healthier than Naked Juice, but less healthy than maple syrup and blackstrap molasses (primarily because there's more research on those foods).