The Glycemic Index For Honey And Diabetes

People with diabetes often wonder about the glycemic index of honey and how far they can use it as a natural sweetener and take advantage of its medicinal properties. For example, does this substance increase blood glucose levels? Can they use it instead of sugar? 

In today’s article, we will answer some of these questions, so stay tuned.

The concept of glycemic index (GI) emerged about 30 years ago. The scientific field uses it to classify foods that contain carbohydrates based on how fast they cause blood glucose levels to rise.

Scientists put the values ​​of each food into a table in order to compare them and use glucose as a reference. This is because it has a glycemic index of 100. The rest they classify on a range between 0 and 100.

• The low glycemic index (below 55) is the value for a significant range of dairy products, fruits, vegetables, legumes and some variations of pasta.
• That between glycemic index (between 55 and 69) is the value of rice, bread and some types of breakfast products.
• The high glycemic index (higher than 70) is for white flour and potatoes as well as most baking products available.

The glycemic index of honey

Honey consists primarily of carbohydrates (80%) and water. It contains glucose and fructose in larger quantities. The ratio of one type of sugar to another depends on the variety of honey we measure.

In general, varieties of flowers tend to have larger amounts of fructose and as a consequence they have a lower GI. The glycemic index of honey is around 61, although it can vary by 3 points – either up or down.

As you can see, the variety of honey and its percentage of glucose and fructose is what makes a difference in this value. This index thus places honey along with the foods that are in the middle group.

Honey consists primarily of carbohydrates.

Health and diet

Many experts and nutritionists have long advocated a diet based on the glycemic index of foods. Those in the group with the lowest GI should dominate and those in the upper group should be limited or avoided altogether.

Nutritionists advocate for these types of diets because humans can only digest and absorb them with a low GI slowly. They thus lead to lower and longer lasting increases in glucose levels over time.

Why is it wanted? This is because people with diabetes, for example, have difficulty processing sugar efficiently. In these cases, good glycemic control helps to delay the occurrence of complications associated with the disease, such as kidney damage, nerve damage and even an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

In addition, there is scientific evidence linking diet to foods with a low glycemic index with the following benefits:

• Reduction of LDL cholesterol.
• Weight loss.
• Lower risk of cancer (colon cancer, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, etc.).
• Reducing the risk of heart disease.

The glycemic index has some drawbacks

It is not a good strategy in nutrition-related science to look only at a nutrient (for example, glycemic index). This is because by focusing on only one of its contributions, we are going to ignore its value as a whole. These are some things to consider when it comes to glycemic index:

• The values ​​for each food are different in each study one looks at.
• Not all people react in the same way to all foods, as insulin sensitivity varies from person to person.
• We rarely eat food alone. In fact, we usually eat them as a meal, and the glycemic index that emerges when analyzing a food alone is changed. For example, the presence of fat and protein regulates the uptake of glucose and its subsequent increase in blood levels.
• Finally, if we only look at this indicator to either include or exclude foods, we stop considering other important aspects such as, among others, its nutrition, possible probiotic effects, and satiating effect.

It has its advantages and disadvantages to take the glycemic index of honey into consideration. However, it is usually a good sweetener for patients with diabetes.

What does the glycemic index of honey indicate?

The nutritional and therapeutic value of honey has been well known for thousands of years. Its nutritional composition includes antioxidants, phenols, organic acids and trace amounts of vitamins and minerals.

At present, honey is used as a natural sweetener in remedies associated with natural medicine. In fact, there is scientific evidence to suggest that a small amount of honey may be good for a person’s health. Without going into too much detail with it, we can summarize its features as follows:

• Honey has an antioxidant ability.
• This leads to a reduction in analytical indicators of inflammation.

• It  promotes a healthy cardiovascular system  by improving cholesterol in the blood, reducing triglycerides and reducing body fat a bit.
• Some bactericidal effects may be positive in case of gastritis or  helicobacter pylori.

However, you should not eat a lot of honey daily simply because of its properties and the fact that it is in the group with medium glycemic index.

It is certainly a better choice than refined sugar and artificial sweeteners, but keep in mind that too much sugar can also lead to long-term health problems. Therefore, do not exceed the recommended amount of 30-60 ml per day.

Other useful indicators

In conclusion  , a glycemic index is a unit of measurement for classifying the reaction of glucose in the blood after eating foods rich in carbohydrates. Honey is one of them and it consists primarily of two types of sugar: Glucose and Fructose.

Lastly, honey has an intermediate GI, which may represent a better alternative to sweetening one of your favorite dishes or drinks. However, you need to have the issues associated with a large intake of sugar in your diet included in the considerations in addition to using this index as an indicator.