An Open-Label Pilot Study to Assess Honey Supplementation in Improving Lipid Profiles Among Chronic Smokers

Objectives:The objective of this study was to determine the effects of 12-week honey oral supplementation on fasting serum lipid profiles among chronic smokers. Design: This study was a randomized, controlled, open-label clinical trial design. Settings/location: Quit Smoking Clinic, University Sains Malaysia (USM) Hospital and Health Campus USM. Subjects: Participants from non smokers (n=32) and chronic smokers (n=64) aged between 20 ? 50 years old were recruited. Participants from smoker group should have smoked at least 10 cigarettes per day for more than 5 years. Interventions: The chronic smokers were further randomized into 2 groups namely smoker without honey (n=32) and smoker with honey (20 g/day) for 12 weeks (n=32). Outcome measures: Outcome measures were triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and total cholesterol (TC) levels between non smokers and chronic smokers at pre-intervention as well as the differences of these parameters between pre and post-intervention among smoker without honey and smoker with honey groups. Results: At pre-intervention, chronic smokers had significantly lower HDL and higher TG, LDL and TC levels than non smokers. In smoker with honey group, TC and LDL levels were significantly reduced at post-intervention than at pre-intervention. No significant changes were found in smoker without honey group. Conclusion: This study may suggest that honey supplementation improves lipid profiles in chronic smokers which in turn may reduce the subsequent risk of cardiovascular diseases.