Honey for diabetes?

Diabetes patients suffer a reduced amount of Insulin secreted in response to any glucose introduced into their blood. Consequently,they have a restricted food amounts and varieties. The restrictions put on their food deprive them of many elements in their natural form.


Diabetes patients are banned from sugar, yet they can't abandon sweeteners. To replace sugar in their food and drinks, diabetes patients use synthetic sweeteners like Aspartam which is a synthetic chemical agent without any nutritive value, and sometimes it is combined with starch derivatives which releases glucose into the blood.


In many countries, diabetes patients use honey in place of sugar. Apart from the debate about the compared absorbed amounts of glucose after ingesting sugar or honey which favours honey to avoid high concentration of glucose after eating sugar, I will stress 2 points in honey, these are:


1- CALORIE CONTENT:

Honey is 3 times as sweet as sugar, then if one needs 30 g of sugar, he may replace them with 10 g of honey. The needed amount of sugar (30g) produces 120 Kcal, while the equivalent honey amount(10 g) produces

32 Kcal.


2- MICRO-NUTRIENTS: These are subdivided into 2 categories:

l- Vitamins:

Some vitamins are highly needed by diabetes patients and are recommended by physicians to all diabetes patients, they are vitamin B1,B6, B12 ,C ,E and Biotin. Honey - specially the unfiltered summer homey when the bee only uses nectar to make honey - is a good source of most of these vitamins, at least to supply a part of the RDA in natural form. There was vitaminized honey in the former USSR, where the bee was fed fruits and vegetables juice to produce this sort of honey, otherwise synthetic vitamins were added to honey to be used by diabetic patients.


ll- Trace elements:

* Chromium is a critical nutrient in diabetes. It is presented as a supplement for people with, diabetes, pre-diabetic glucose intolerance and women with diabetes associated with pregnancy.


* Manganese is present in diabetics in 1/2 its amount that is present in normal individuals.

* Magnesium is significantly lowered in diabetes patients.

* Vanadium given to diabetics proved to decrease their Insulin needs.

* Zinc deficiency has been suggested to play a role in the development of diabetes in humans. It is involved in virtually all aspects of Insulin metabolism, synthesis, secretion and utilization.

* Potassium supplementation yields improved Insulin sensitivity.

Honey contains all elements of the soil, specially if it is not deprived of pollen grains. If you cut 40-50 g of your carbohydrate intake daily and replace them with honey, you will make a great favour to your body.