The purpose of this study was to determine whether honey may serve as a useful source of carbohydrate for endurance athletes. Nine competitively trained male cyclists participated in this study. Subjects were familiarized to the study and then performed three weekly 64 km time trials (TT) on their racing bicycle attached to a calibrated computerized race simulator. During each TT, subjects ingested in a double blind, randomized, and counterbalanced manner 15 g of a non-caloric flavored gel placebo (P), dextrose gel (D), or honey (H) prior to and every 16 km during the TT with 250 ml of water. Data were analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA and are presented as means ± SEM. Results revealed significant quadratic alpha levels in total time (P 131.3±3.6, D 128.3±3.8, H 128.8±3.5 min, p=0.02) and average power (P 164±11, D 175±13, H 174±12 W, p=0.002) while mean heart rate (P 171±6, D 178±7, H 177±5 beats/min, p=0.08) and glucose (P 5.4±0.2, D 5.8±0.3, H 6.0±0.4 mmol/L, p=0.10) values tended to be different. No significant differences were observed in insulin (P 5.3±0.3, D 5.1±0.2, H 6.0±0.8 mIU/ml, p=0.29). The gels were well tolerated. Results indicate that D and H supplementation improved endurance exercise performance presumably by enhancing blood glucose availability. However, no differences were seen between type of carbohydrate gel. These findings suggest that H may serve as a useful form of carbohydrate for endurance athletes.
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