While raw honey is growing in popularity, you may be wondering if eating raw honey during pregnancy or while breastfeeding is okay. Let’s look at the data!
Is It Safe to Eat Raw Honey During Pregnancy?
Unpasteurized foods and drinks like raw milk, raw honey, and unpasteurized juices are generally recommended to steer clear away from during pregnancy. This is because pasteurization kills bacteria and toxins, making pasteurized products safe. Some practitioners believe eating raw honey is too dangerous while pregnant due to the risk of contamination.
It’s advised to avoid giving your baby honey entirely because, very rarely, honey may contain Clostridium botulinum bacteria which are toxic to humans and can cause botulism poisoning. However, most older children and adults have enough healthy bacteria in their guts and a developed immune system to fight off trace amounts of botulinum bacteria if they are exposed. But, babies under a year old do not have developed immune systems yet.
Ask your OB or midwife if eating is an ok choice for you. The botulinum toxin actually has a high molecular weight, making it difficult to pass through the placenta and get into your baby’s system [1]. A study from 2013 found that this toxin does not appear to cross the placenta [2]. In addition, if you do not have any diseases or conditions impacting your immune system, you have a fully developed immune system with beneficial bacteria to help protect you from this toxin.
Although, if you have gestational diabetes, you may need to watch or avoid honey intake during pregnancy because of its sugar content. Check out 5 Ways You Can Help Prevent Gestational Diabetes here!
Is It Safe to Eat Raw Honey While Breastfeeding?
Again, since the botulinum toxin has a high molecular weight (1,000 Daltons) [1], it has limited movement into breastmilk, meaning it has a harder time transferring into your breastmilk if you are exposed to this toxin through honey.
Therefore, eating honey while breastfeeding is generally considered safe, but you can check with your OB or midwife first if you’d like! Check out How to Choose Between a Midwife and an OB-GYN here!
Healing Perineal Tears with Honey?
As mentioned in 9 Benefits You Need to Know About Raw Honey, medical-grade honey can be used for healing a first-degree tear after childbirth, as a first-degree perineal tear does not always call for stitches. A first-degree tear only involves the skin tissue, and when approximated well and if the mother is committed to resting, the tear can heal better on its own without additional trauma from suturing.
A 2017 review of studies found that honey, propolis, and royal jelly (a milky secretion produced by worker bees) may promote wound healing [3]. And this finding is supported by a study from 2021, which showed that medical-grade honey has promising results in wound therapy [4].
Keep in mind that medical-grade honey is inspected and sterile.
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Sources:
[1] Morgan JC, Iyer SS, Moser ET, Singer C, Sethi KD. Botulinum toxin A during pregnancy: a survey of treating physicians. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2006 Jan;77(1):117-9. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2005.063792. PMID: 16361610; PMCID: PMC2117417.
[2] Tan M, Kim E, Koren G, Bozzo P. Botulinum toxin type A in pregnancy. Can Fam Physician. 2013 Nov;59(11):1183-4. PMID: 24235190; PMCID: PMC3828093.
[3] Pasupuleti VR, Sammugam L, Ramesh N, Gan SH. Honey, Propolis, and Royal Jelly: A Comprehensive Review of Their Biological Actions and Health Benefits. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2017;2017:1259510. doi:10.1155/2017/1259510
[4] Tashkandi H. Honey in wound healing: An updated review. Open Life Sci. 2021;16(1):1091-1100. Published 2021 Oct 6. doi:10.1515/biol-2021-0084
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