Side effects of honey

  Honey is safe as a natural nutritional food and medicinal raw material, but wild honey can also cause adverse reactions. There was a report [1] of a case of ventricular arrhythmia caused by self-consumption of wild honey, with a dose of about 50 g. Chest tightness, shortness of breath, palpitations, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea were treated in hospital for 2 h. There was also a report of a case of honey poisoning and acute renal failure treated with hemoperfusion plus dialysis. The use of unprocessed wild honey can easily lead to allergies and poisoning.  Honey should not be taken with cold and flu medication as it may affect the therapeutic effect of the medication. Honey also affects the body’s absorption of acetaminophen. Tylenol, Crypto, Sensolik, cold and flu medications contain acetaminophen, which can easily form a complex after encountering honey water, affecting the body’s absorption of acetaminophen. Any Chinese medicine containing honey (such as cough syrup, Chuanbei loquat, etc.) should not be taken together with the above cold medicine. It should be noted that it is possible to drink honey water 2 hours after taking cold medicine containing acetaminophen.  Honey is prohibited for special populations. Infants with weak gastrointestinal function and poor liver detoxification should not consume honey within the first week of age [3]. Diabetics should not drink honey. As honey contains a large amount of fructose and glucose, which can easily cause an increase in blood sugar, it is prohibited for diabetic patients [4].