Honey can help to boost memory in women

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Honey can help to boost memory in women

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Study says women using one spoonful of honey a day can avoid hormone-related intellectual decline.

15 October,2011 03:06 pm

A daily spoonful of Malaysian honey may boost postmenopausal women’s memory, researchers say in a new report that aims to provide an alternative therapy for hormone-related intellectual decline.In the study, 102 healthy women were randomly assigned to eat 20 grams of honey a day, take hormone-replacement therapy containing estrogen and progesterone or do nothing.After four months, those who took honey or hormone pills recalled about one extra word out of 15 presented on a short-term memory test.The immediate memory improvement in the honey group is probably best explained by improvement in concentration and overall well-being after honey supplement, Dr. Zahiruddin Othman and colleagues from Universiti Sains Malaysia in Kubang Kerian write in the journal Menopause.The new work is part of a slew of studies from the researchers, who say the honey -- from the tropical tualang tree -- has beneficial effects on anything from scars, to bones, to female reproductive organs and even cancer cells.And now memory has been added to the list. But women shouldnt get excited just yet, warn U.S. experts, who shot down the new results.This is not a scientifically rigorous study, said Dr. Natalie L. Rasgon of the Stanford School of Medicine, who has led government-funded studies on estrogen and cognitive decline in women.One criticism, she told Reuters Health, is that the study was small and didnt last long. Whats more, she worried that any effect of honey might simply be a question of increasing blood sugar levels.Assuming potential efficacy of the honey, there is no preexisting knowledge of a mechanism, Rasgon said. I cant understand how they can compare honey to estrogen. Honey is not even a supplement.