Associations between honey consumption and prehypertension in adults aged 40 years and older

Background: Honey has been shown to have multiple positive effects on human health. However, data on the associations of honey consumption with prehypertension are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate whether honey consumption is associated with prehypertension in a Chinese population. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 4,561 individuals aged ≥40 years. A validated 100-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to assess honey consumption. Blood pressure was measured at least twice by trained nurses. Multiple logistic regression models were used to explore the associations between honey consumption and prehypertension. Results: After adjustment for potential confounders, the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of prehypertension across increasing frequency of honey consumption were 1.00 (reference) for almost never, 1.17 (0.96, 1.41) for ≤6 times/week, and 1.25 (0.86, 1.84) for ≥7 times/week in men (P _{for trend} = 0.09); 1.00 (reference) for almost never, 0.76 (0.62, 0.92) for ≤6 times/week, and 0.84 (0.63, 1.12) for ≥7 times/week in women (P _{for trend} = 0.055), respectively. Conclusion: Our results showed that light-to-moderate intake of honey was associated with lower prevalence of prehypertension in women, but not men. Future studies are required to confirm these associations.