Honey
Sweeteners · Syrups
No. Honey is high FODMAP at the smallest amount tested: one teaspoon is rated red, carrying 2 g of excess fructose. That is more than ten times the 0.15 g threshold where a portion counts as high, from a single stir into your tea. Maple syrup and rice malt syrup fill the same role without the fructose load.
Last updated 3 September 2026Serving sizes for honey
The tested serve is one teaspoon, and it is rated red for excess fructose.
Tested serving sizes
| Serving | Amount | Main FODMAP | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 1 tsp | Fructose 2 g |
Breakdown for 1 teaspoon
Is honey low FODMAP?
Honey is the classic excess fructose food. Fructose only becomes a FODMAP when it outweighs the glucose beside it, because glucose helps carry fructose across the gut wall, and honey is fructose-dominant, so the surplus travels on undigested. One teaspoon carries 2 g of excess fructose, more than ten times the 0.15 g threshold for a high rating. For scale, a whole medium apple, itself rated red, holds 0.67 g. There is no smaller serve in the data, so honey has no green portion to work with.
Honey and IBS: what to know
Honey turns up where you would not expect it: granola, marinades, salad dressings, glazes, yoghurt pots, cough remedies and most barbecue sauces. Because a single teaspoon is already rated red, a drizzle is enough to matter, and there is no portion trick to fall back on. Raw, unfiltered, local and manuka honeys are all fructose-dominant, so provenance changes flavour rather than rating. If honey is a fixture of your morning, it is one of the higher-yield things to swap out early in the elimination phase.
Gut-friendly ways to eat honey
Straight swaps exist for almost every honey job. Maple syrup is rated green and pours the same way over porridge and pancakes. Rice malt syrup is glucose-based and also rated green, which makes it the closest match for baking, glazes and marinades. Golden syrup and plain white sugar are rated green too, because sucrose splits into equal glucose and fructose and leaves no surplus behind. Skip agave, which is more fructose-dominant than honey and rated red.
Frequently asked questions
Is honey low FODMAP?
No. One teaspoon of honey, the smallest amount in our data, is rated red with 2 g of excess fructose, far past the 0.15 g threshold for a high rating. There is no green serve at all, so honey is usually left out entirely during elimination rather than portioned down to a safe amount.
What can I use instead of honey?
Maple syrup and rice malt syrup are both rated green and cover most honey uses, from porridge to marinades to a glaze on roast vegetables. Plain white sugar and golden syrup are rated green as well. Avoid agave and high fructose corn syrup, which are fructose-dominant like honey and rated red in the guide.
Is manuka or raw honey lower FODMAP?
No. Manuka honey has its own entry and is also rated red. Raw, unfiltered and local honeys are made the same way by the same bees, so their fructose-to-glucose balance is the same. Price and provenance change the flavour, not the FODMAP content, and one teaspoon is already the red serve.
Can I have a small amount of honey in tea?
One teaspoon is the tested serve, and it is already rated red at 2 g of excess fructose, so a spoon in your tea is the red portion rather than a way under it. For sweet tea, use white sugar or maple syrup, both rated green. Anything below a teaspoon of honey is untested in our data.
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