Is there anything more soothing and comforting than a rich, golden drizzle of honey? Spooned over bowls of yoghurt, sweetening sauces and dressings, or slathered on buttered toast, nature’s sweetest treat is a staple in most homes.
And raw honey does more than just sweeten our food too. It’s also a powerful tool in our home remedy kits, used to fight off colds and sore throats, ease tickly coughs, and support wound and burn healing.
A natural anti-inflammatory, raw honey is also antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal – so great for fighting off minor infections. It’s no wonder that medical honey is even used by the NHS to support wound healing.
With all these health benefits, raw honey is already on our must-have list. But, as an organisation focused on supporting women with menopause, we’re also interested in the potential benefits of honey in alleviating menopause symptoms and supporting our health post-menopause.
A lot of the evidence to date comes from small studies or animal studies, so there is definitely a need for further, robust research on the benefits of honey during menopause. However, the results so far are encouraging.
Raw honey shows promise for alleviating a range of menopausal symptoms, including memory issues, hot flushes, and vaginal dryness. It also has potential for supporting our health post-menopause, as it may reduce the risk of longer-term complications, including osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.
In this blog post, we’ll look at some of the research around these potential menopause health benefits in more detail.
1. Reduce hot flushes
Hot flushes are one of the most common menopausal symptoms, but research suggests that supplementing with honey might help to reduce this disruptive symptom. A small study published in Molecular and Clinical Oncology looked at the effects of both honey and a honey-bee pollen mix on 46 menopausal women with breast cancer.
One of the interesting things about this study is that the pure honey was actually supposed to be the control – the researchers had originally been interested in the effects of bee pollen. When their control group also showed a statistically significant improvement in menopause symptoms, they concluded that honey itself must have beneficial effects.
Women in both groups reported improvements in menopausal symptoms, including hot flushes.
This was a small study, but the results are still promising.
2. Memory and cognition
Another very common symptom of menopause is issues with brain fog and short-term memory – it’s that sadly familiar feeling that the word you want is just on the tip of your tongue, or forgetting your keys, or losing track of what you were saying mid-sentence.
According to research published in Menopause, honey might be able to help here too. In this study, a group of 102 women was split into three. One group supplemented with honey, one took a combined oestrogen and progestin treatment, and the third was the control group.
After 16 weeks, both the group that took honey and the hormone group showed improvements in tasks involving immediate memory compared with the control.
3. Vaginal dryness
Changing hormone levels during menopause can lead to vaginal atrophy – meaning the walls of the vagina become thinner and less elastic. This in turn causes issues such as dryness, itching, pain during sex, and an increase in UTIs.
Honey has oestrogenic properties, so it can weakly mimic the effects of oestrogen in our bodies. Combined with its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, this may mean honey can reduce the risk of vaginal atrophy during and after menopause.
Fair warning – the majority of scientific evidence for this so far comes from animal studies instead of human ones. So, we do need to exercise some caution here, as the conclusions may not apply to human women too.
That said, a 2024 study published in Evidence Based Women’s Health Journal assessed the effect of applying honey topically to the vagina on dyspareunia (pain during sex). This study had a sample size of 300 women, split into two groups. One group used honey, the other used KY jelly.
After three weeks, the group using honey reported significantly reduced pain during sex compared with the group using the lubricant.
The women in this study were a range of ages, not only those experiencing menopausal symptoms, but it suggests that honey does indeed ease vaginal dryness in human women, at least when it is applied directly to the vagina.
4. Yeast infections
Connected with our previous point around vaginal changes, menopause is also often accompanied by an increased risk of yeast infections. This is because decreasing oestrogen causes changes in vaginal pH, affecting our vaginal flora and leaving us more vulnerable to fungal infection.
As we’ve already seen, honey is well-known for its antifungal properties, so it’s no surprise that it is a commonly used home remedy for yeast infections and vaginitis.
And this anecdotal use is borne out by science too – research shows that honey has a similar effect on symptoms associated with yeast infections and vaginitis as clotrimazole, an antifungal medication.
5. Cardiovascular health
Sadly, the impact of menopause doesn’t stop once your periods do. And one of the longer-term health impacts of decreased oestrogen is an increased risk of heart disease post-menopause.
However, there is some evidence that honey has a beneficial role to play in lowering this risk, due to its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory qualities.
A study published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine tracked the effects of supplementing with either honey or a “honey cocktail” (a mix of honey, bee bread, and royal jelly) over a twelve-month period. All the women in this study were aged between 45 and 65 and were postmenopausal.
After 12 months, both groups showed improvements in their blood pressure, which is a significant risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. However, the group that was on the pure honey showed greater improvements than those on the honey cocktail.
Since these women were receiving a higher dose of honey than those on the mixture, this suggests that honey might help to protect against heart issues.
6. Osteoporosis
Another long-term health concern post-menopause is loss of bone density, which can eventually lead to osteoporosis. This is because oestrogen is involved in the formation of new bone tissue and slows the breakdown of existing bone tissue.
Oxidative stress also plays a role in osteoporosis, as it speeds up bone reabsorption and slows down the formation of new bone tissue.
However, honey has both antioxidative and anti-inflammatory properties. As a result, various researchers have proposed that honey supplementation can help to protect our bones and slow down loss of bone density.
This is another area where further research is needed, as many of the existing studies have been done on animals. While these studies have shown very promising results, we don’t yet have good evidence that these results can be replicated in human women.
There was a pilot study on postmenopausal women in 2012 that found honey was comparable to HRT in preventing changes to bone density. This study only ran over a four-month period and didn’t have a control group but is an interesting starting point for further research into the benefits of honey for protecting bone health.
Honey and blood sugar
While honey has many benefits, we do also need to remember that it is high in sugar, which can have implications for our health. So, the message is to consume in moderation – perhaps substituting honey for other sweeteners that you might have reached for previously.
There’s also some mixed evidence on the impact of honey for people with diabetes. Honey has a lower glycaemic index than sugar but it can still raise your blood sugar levels. So, if you have type 2 diabetes or are pre-diabetic, it is best to consult a professional before increasing the amount of honey in your diet.
Not all honey is made equal
A final note before we go – quality matters when it comes to honey. In this blog post, we’re talking about raw honey, which is honey that hasn’t been pasteurised or filtered. This means it keeps more of its beneficial nutrients and polyphenols (natural compounds with antioxidative properties).
Sadly, you also need to be careful that the honey you buy hasn’t been diluted with cheap sugar syrups. You might remember this hitting the news in 2023, when tests revealed that honey sold in the UK had been adulterated with disallowed ingredients such as sugar syrup, food colouring, and food additives.
As a result, it is important to buy your honey from a trusted source, especially if you want to get the health benefits. We prefer to support small-scale, independent beekeepers (like our own Rachel, who tends the beehives that produce WOWVITA’s honey), as it means you can trust what you are getting, while also supporting a small business.
References
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Medical honey simplified, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Medical_Honey_Simplified_-_Patients-leaflet.pdf, consulted 08/11/2025
Münstedt, K., Voss, B., Kullmer, U., Schneider, U., & Hübner, J. (2015). Bee pollen and honey for the alleviation of hot flushes and other menopausal symptoms in breast cancer patients. Molecular and clinical oncology, 3(4), 869–874. https://doi.org/10.3892/mco.2015.559
Othman, Z., Shafin, N., Zakaria, R., Hussain, N. H., & Mohammad, W. M. (2011). Improvement in immediate memory after 16 weeks of tualang honey (Agro Mas) supplement in healthy postmenopausal women. Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 18(11), 1219–1224. https://doi.org/10.1097/gme.0b013e31821e2044
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Seifinadergoli, Z., Nahidi, F., Safaiyan, A., Javadzadeh, Y., & Eteraf-Oskouei, T. (2017). Comparison of the efficacy of honey gel and clotrimazole cream in the treatment of vaginal candidiasis symptoms: a randomized clinical trial. Electronic physician, 10(6), 6904–6911. https://doi.org/10.19082/6904
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Honey and diabetes, Healthline, https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/honey-and-diabetes, consulted 08/11/2025
UK honey fails authenticity tests, Which?, https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/uk-honey-fails-authenticity-tests-alQ3x2z6Xk7a, consulted 08/11/2025
