Sugars, used as sweeteners, are an important ingredient in the human diet. However, the best choice of sugar, brown sugar, or honey depends on your unique dietary needs and goals.
Table sugar is the most processed and has little to no nutritional value other than pure sucrose. While table sugar tastes delicious, excessive consumption has been linked to a variety of health problems, including weight gain, diabetes, and dental damage.
Jaggery, a traditional sweetener from sugar cane or palm sap, is less refined than sugar and contains minerals and antioxidants. Its lower glycemic index makes it a healthier choice for people watching their blood sugar levels.
The glycemic index, simply put, is a measure of how quickly a food causes blood sugar levels to rise. The measure rates foods on a scale from zero to 100.
Honey, a natural sweetener produced by bees, is the least processed of the three. It includes traces of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and its low glycemic index makes it an attractive option for those looking for a healthy sweetener.
However, if you are looking for a healthy sweetener with nutritional benefits, honey is a better choice than jaggery and table sugar because it causes a slow rise in blood sugar levels. Honey is considered a relatively safer sweetener for diabetics.
Researchers, in a comparative study on the effect of cane sugar, honey and brown sugar on rats with diabetes, validated that honey has less weight gain and blood sugar lowering effects than cane sugar and Chemically processed jaggery when taken in optimal doses.
The choice and role of sweeteners (sugars), such as regular cane sugar, honey and jiggery, have always been a difficult decision for patients with type 2 diabetes.
For the study, 120 male Wistar (albino) rats were randomly assigned into four groups of 30 each. The diabetic controls were fed with an equivalent amount of distilled water, while the other groups of rats were fed with freshly prepared sweeteners containing solutions of cane sugar, honey and jaggery, respectively, at a dose of 1 g/kg of body weight.
The result, published in Proceedings of Shaikh Zayed Medical Complex Lahore, showed that honey in type 2 diabetes mellitus possesses minimal level of blood sugar increasing (hyperglycemic) and weight gaining effects than processed cane sugar. As assumed, minimally processed jaggery has not shown significant beneficial effects on blood sugar levels and body weight.
The researchers, although they did not fully explain how honey reduces hyperglycemia, weight gain and other antidiabetic effects, suggested that the mixture of various carbohydrates, particularly fructose and oligosaccharides, in honey could be contributing factors.
They stated: “Honey high in fructose, a natural sweetener, improves blood sugar control much better than sucrose. It has a glycemic index of 19, compared to glucose, which has 100, and sucrose (refined sugar), which has 60.
“This suggests that the glucose-lowering or antidiabetic properties of honey could be attributed to a lower rate of intestinal absorption, a longer duration of gastric emptying, and lower food intake.”
In 2009, researchers at the University of Toronto also found that daily ingestion of honey for three weeks progressively and effectively reduced blood glucose levels in rats that developed diabetes using alloxan.
They stated that honey also caused a reduction in hyperglycemia induced by prolonged fructose ingestion, although to a lesser extent than its effect on alloxan-induced hyperglycemia.
According to them, “honey was unable to reduce blood glucose in control rats that received neither alloxan treatment nor fructose ingestion, even though it caused an increase in body weight, independently of other substances concomitantly administered to the rats.
“Therefore, it is evident that honey can be a useful supplement in the treatment of diabetes and at the same time serve as a sweetener, especially if taken in moderate amounts.”
Nutritional recommendations from diabetes associations have emphasized achieving individualized control of blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood fats along with achieving and maintaining body weight to delay or prevent diabetes complications.
It also persuades people with type 2 diabetes mellitus to reduce their energy intake while maintaining a healthy eating pattern to encourage weight loss and improve blood sugar control.
Reduced insulin sensitivity has been linked to excessive use of common table sugar (sucrose) and different artificial sweeteners. Extensive research has shown that most cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus can be prevented through simple diet and lifestyle modifications.
When we seek a healthier life, the sweetener we select dramatically affects our well-being. While sugar is commonly used, jaggery and honey have gained popularity because they are believed to be healthier alternatives. People concerned about their health should favor these options.