A Comparative Study on the Effect of Honey and Sucrose Rich Diet on Key Tissue-Organ Function of Wistar Rats
Abstract
Natural honey is considered a better alternative to table sugar, and particularly the Obudu Cattle Ranch honey that supplies much of the Nigerian markets. This work compared the effect of table sugar and the Obudu honey-sweetened diets on the functions of key organs of Wistar rats. Equivalent calories of the sweeteners were fed to 5 groups of rats: Normal control, 15% sugar, 30% sugar, 12% honey and 24% honey for 13 weeks. Food consumption and blood indices of liver, kidney and hematopoietic functions were determined. The results obtained show no marked effect of both sweeteners on measured liver function indices. Compared to the honey-based diet, the sugar-sweetened-diet did not cause any significant change in kidneys and blood functions. However, compared to the control, S15% diet was found to cause a 3.36% and 31.29% increase in serum sodium and chloride levels, respectively (P ˂ 0.05). Similarly, the H12% and H24% diets caused 19.77% and 34.09% increase in serum potassium concentration and white blood cells counts respectively, relative to the control (P ˂ 0.05). Therefore, natural honey may not have any advantage over table sugar in regards to tissue/organ functions and vice versa.
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Copyright (c) 2022 Ime F. Ani, Margaret A. Eno, Eyuwa I. Agwupuye, Abdulhakeem R. Agboola, Item J. Atangwho
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