Honey

[Edithharrison]

Can someone explain why there is so much sugar in honey.

I normally have a bowl of porridge for breakfast every day. But I always add a teaspoon of honey in my porridge.

I am type 2 diabetic and taking tablets to control my diabetes. Honey I presume is classified as healthy. My question are

Why add loads of sugar to honey.

Will it affects my diabetes in the long run if I keep on having it. I have try to cut off as much sugar as I can in my diets. I am mostly eating bland food almost ever day. Can't see the points of adding more sugar to a very healthy products.

[Cheshiregal Graduate]

Honey is sugar...natural sugar as it's made by bees but still pure sugar. So whilst it is seen as healthier than processed sugars it is treated by the body as the same thing really

[MarkyD Graduate]

Hi Edith, honey is one of those foods with a great reputation for healthiness. But it is still mostly sugar - monosaccharides (glucose and fructose) - and one teaspoon of honey is practically the same as one teaspoon of granulated sugar. About 70 calories and 4-5 grams of carbonhydrate.

There is no advantage to eat honey in managing your diabetes. Some people say that honey has a sweeter taste (so you don't need as much of it). So that could mean you have half a teaspoon of honey on your porridge (instead of one tsp of sugar). And honey contains a range of other compounds that are healthy... (but can also contain the botulism bacteria).

So enjoy the honey on your porridge but remember is is just as bad for your diabetes as a spoonful of refined, white sugar.

[Rignold]

As cheshiregirl says, honey is just sugar. If you got the bees to take the sugar out you'd have an empty jar.

However, help is at hand - try using agave nectar in place of honey. It is every bit as sweet but is much lower on the glycemic index (around 1-15 compared to honey at 55 or so) so is highly unlikely to spike your blood sugar.

[Edithharrison]

Thanks for the info really appreciate. So in other word the sugar in the honey is naturally produced by the bee. Not added sugars. Is that what we saying.

[MarkyD Graduate in reply to Edithharrison]

Yes, bees produce the honey, and it naturally contains loads and loads of sugar. The manufacturers (Rowse is a common brand) don't add any extra sugar.

[Edithharrison in reply to MarkyD]

Thanks you Mark

[Rignold]

yes, that is correct.

I wouldn't worry about botulism though. Botulinum spores are present all over the place - in dust, in soil etc, and only pose a risk in honey if you are less than a year old and have not built up normal gut flora yet.

[Edithharrison]

Thanks Rignold.

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

Bland food??? Two things come to my mind -- firstly, I have now given up drinking coffee completely - but about 40 years ago I started to drink black coffee with no sugar (long story) - and black tea with no sugar -- most people can't /won't /don't drink tea/coffee like that - but for me , I got so used to it that I could not drink it with milk/sugar anymore - with milk/sugar it tasted horrible to me. Second thought - my wife and I both cook a lot - and many many years ago we stopped adding any salt to our cooking - many people think that this makes for "bland" food - but for us, we are so accustomed to it that we don't like to taste food that has had additional salt put into it. Went to an Indian restaurant recently and the food was SO salty for us - but our friends didn't think so.

So - lesson is re your diabetes - you can give up all added sugar in your diet - and any naturally sugar laden food like honey and fruit juices ( you do know that fruit juices are NOT good for you??) and you will become accustomed to the "bland" taste very soon and the food won't seem bland to you at all.

[Pigivi]

You can try adding more spices and herbs to your food - it will not be bland - (try cinnamon in porridge)

[Marie70 Graduate]

Vanilla extract 'fools' your tongue into thinking something is sweeter than it actually is. So does cinnamon. :o)