Honey and diabetes: Can I use honey instead of sugar in diabetes?

Honey and diabetes: Can I use honey instead of sugar in diabetes?

Very often people ask the doctor: "I have diabetes and I wonder whether it is possible to use honey in diabetes to replace the sugar?" Generally, there is no advantage to replace sugar with honey diabetics. Both - honey and sugar - increase blood sugar levels.

Honey is sweeter than sugar, because honey contains slightly more carbohydrates and more calories per teaspoon than granulated sugar, so substituting sugar with honey for diabetics, will only lead to increase glucose in blood and high calories.

If you prefer the taste of honey, you can safely use it - but only in moderate amount. Be sure that you accurately calculate the amount of honey.

Diabetics, as is known, there is no need to consume any kind of sugar - in sweets, desserts, etc. However, the most important not only the amount of sugar you eat, but your overall carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates can be found in both the white and brown sugar, and the products from them, such as honey, syrups, jams. Further, carbohydrates are also present in large quantities in cereals, starchy vegetables and fruits. You should limit your intake of carbohydrates to 45 g- 60g per meal for better control of blood sugar levels.

The content of carbohydrates in honey

Honey, like all other sugars, is a concentrated source of carbohydrates. A tablespoon of honey provides 17.3 grams of carbohydrates, while a teaspoon of honey contains 5.8 grams of carbohydrates. While these numbers may seem small, they can quickly add up depending on how much you consume. It’s a good idea to keep track of carbohydrate intake. Record the food you eat, notice the portion sizes and estimate the carbohydrate content of each of the products using food labels or food composition tables. Make sure that each of your meals will provide no more than 45g - 60g carbohydrates. If the use of honey in diabetes will exceed the daily carbohydrate "budget", the blood sugar level becomes critical. 

Healthy Sweetener

 Honey often considered healthy sweetener, compared with white sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Although honey is a more natural and less processed foods, it still contains about the same amount of sugar, as well as any other type of high-calorie sweeteners. For example, 1 tsp. sugar has 4.8 g of carbohydrates, 1 tsp brown sugar .. has 4.5 g of carbohydrates, 1 tsp .. corn syrup has 5.6 g of carbohydrates and 1 tsp maple syrup has a .. 4 5 g carbohydrates. The amount of carbohydrates is more important than the quality of carbohydrates, when it comes to diabetes.

In diabetes you can use honey! But count it

You can use honey in your diet but you have be careful about something. Number one is the amount you honey, as we already established the biochemical profile of honey, it's clear that honey can also increase blood glucose as the processed sugar. Second important point is to buy unprocessed honey. Yes you can find a lot different kind of honey in markets which are not processed. The next issue will be to get used to the low levels of sweetness in your diet. The thing is that, even a person is not diabetic, he/she isn't suppose to load themselves with sugar. That's why keep in mind that you are following the healthy regime which is necessary to stay healthy but with little more restrictions. Within 2 weeks you will adjest to the these levels of sweetness in your diet and it will new normal for you. But don't eat honey flavored products because the concentration of honey is not under your control. Mix half tea spoon of honey in desirable food by you self.