Hot honey, a blend of honey and chili peppers, offers a genuine combination of health benefits from both ingredients. A typical tablespoon contains about 70 calories and 16 grams of sugar, along with 2 to 6 milligrams of capsaicin and active antioxidants. It’s not a superfood, but used in moderate amounts, it brings more to the table than plain sugar.
What Honey Brings to the Mix
Honey’s health reputation rests largely on its antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. When diluted (as it is in your mouth and digestive tract), honey activates an enzyme called glucose oxidase, which produces hydrogen peroxide. That compound is a natural disinfectant. Honey also contains phenolic compounds and other plant-derived chemicals that work alongside hydrogen peroxide to fight bacteria. The strength of these properties varies by honey type. Manuka honey, for instance, contains additional antibacterial compounds not found in most varieties.
Honey also performs well as a cough suppressant. A study published in JAMA found that parents rated honey more favorably than dextromethorphan (the active ingredient in most over-the-counter cough syrups) for relieving children’s nighttime cough and improving sleep during upper respiratory infections. Direct comparison between the two showed no statistically significant difference in effectiveness, meaning honey worked about as well as the standard pharmacy option.
Compared to table sugar, honey has a slightly lower glycemic index: 58 versus 60 for sucrose. That’s a small difference, but honey’s fructose content (which ranges from 21 to 43 percent) contributes to a lower insulin response than refined sugar. None of this makes honey a free pass. It’s still mostly sugar, and 16 grams per tablespoon adds up quickly if you’re drizzling it liberally.
What Capsaicin Adds
The “hot” in hot honey comes from capsaicin, the compound that makes chili peppers burn. Beyond the flavor, capsaicin has measurable metabolic effects. Research published in PLOS One found that consuming about 2.56 milligrams of capsaicin per meal increased fat burning and helped maintain resting energy expenditure during calorie restriction. Without capsaicin, cutting calories caused resting energy expenditure to drop significantly. With it, that drop was essentially neutralized. A tablespoon of hot honey delivers roughly that same amount of capsaicin.
Capsaicin also shows anti-inflammatory effects. A study in the journal Nutrients found that three months of capsaicin supplementation significantly reduced C-reactive protein, a key marker of systemic inflammation, in adults with low HDL cholesterol. The same study found that capsaicin raised HDL (the protective cholesterol) and lowered triglycerides. Separately, capsaicin activates a receptor in blood vessels that promotes relaxation, which may help prevent high blood pressure over time.
Capsaicin and Your Stomach
A common concern is that spicy foods damage the stomach lining. The research tells a more nuanced story. Low doses of capsaicin actually protect the stomach against injury from alcohol and anti-inflammatory painkillers like ibuprofen. It does this by stimulating sensory nerve endings in the stomach lining, triggering a protective response. In healthy people, capsaicin in low concentrations also slightly reduced stomach acid output rather than increasing it.
That said, people who already have acid reflux, gastritis, or active ulcers may find that spicy foods worsen their symptoms. The protective effect applies to healthy stomachs at moderate doses. If hot foods consistently cause you discomfort, that’s a signal worth listening to regardless of what studies show in controlled settings.
Does Heat Damage the Honey?
This is where hot honey gets a bit complicated. Pasteurization, which involves heating honey to high temperatures, destroys some of honey’s natural enzymes and antioxidants. Raw honey retains more of these beneficial compounds than commercially processed honey. The question with hot honey is how it was made: if chili peppers were infused into raw honey at low temperatures, more of those compounds survive. If the honey was heated significantly during production, some benefits are reduced.
Commercial hot honey products vary widely in their processing methods. Making your own by stirring chili flakes or cayenne into raw honey gives you the most control over heat exposure. Either way, the capsaicin benefits remain intact regardless of processing, since capsaicin is heat-stable.
How Much Is Reasonable
A tablespoon or two per day is a reasonable amount for most adults. At 70 calories and 16 grams of sugar per tablespoon, hot honey should be treated like any other sweetener: useful in small quantities, counterproductive in large ones. The metabolic benefits of capsaicin don’t scale up enough to justify eating honey by the spoonful. Think of it as a better alternative to plain sugar or syrup when you want sweetness with some functional upside.
One firm safety rule: never give any type of honey, hot or otherwise, to children under 12 months. Honey can contain spores of Clostridium botulinum, which an infant’s immature digestive system cannot handle. This applies to all honey regardless of whether it’s raw, pasteurized, or infused with peppers.
Practical Ways to Use It
Hot honey works best as a finishing ingredient rather than a cooking one, since high cooking temperatures can break down honey’s enzymes. Drizzle it on pizza, roasted vegetables, yogurt, or cheese. It pairs well with fried chicken, cornbread, and grilled fruit. Stirring it into warm (not boiling) tea preserves more of the honey’s active compounds while still delivering the capsaicin kick.
If you’re buying commercial hot honey, check the ingredients. Some brands use cayenne or ghost pepper extract for heat, while others use chili-infused oil. A short ingredient list (honey, chili peppers, maybe vinegar) is generally a sign of a less processed product. Avoid versions with added corn syrup or artificial flavoring, which dilute whatever health benefits the honey provides.