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Honey....is it ok?

Ian2477

Ian2477

Member
Since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes I've cut out all processed sugar(in my case this was mainly soft drinks).I was wondering if I could add a small amount of honey to my yogurt,which i mix with nuts,seeds and blueberries in the morning.Ive heard the spike in blood sugar is short lived compared to refined sugar.Is this true?
 
If you’re autoimmune then it’s probably fine. If you’re resistant then it’s probably not.

Testing after trying it is one thing but, generally speaking, fructose won’t register as increased blood glucose when measured. What it will do, however, is directly increase insulin resistance so that literally everything you eat next time is just a little more problematic than it was last time.

So for me it’s no, but for you it might be yes. My only point here really is that testing blood glucose to confirm or disconfirm the effects of fructose, is probably about the least effective use of test strips I can imagine. In my opinion.
 
Ian2477 said:
I think it's time to invest in a testing kit.The downer is the strips seem so expensive!
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True, but a lot of us consider it an invaluable tool. I don't think you'll regret it.

I know @bulkbiker uses a reasonably priced one, so he may be able to recommend one that won't cost you the earth, test strip wise.
 
Ian2477 said:
I think it's time to invest in a testing kit.The downer is the strips seem so expensive!
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There are affordable BM and test strips, it's a case of researching. It is something you won't regret buying and it's better than you ending up in hospital?

As for honey, I have to say even me being a T1 diabetic I wouldn't touch honey with a barge pole. :hilarious:
 
Might be better to consider a natural sweetener such as stevia, erythritol or xylitol and gradually reduce quantities to adjust to a point without any at all as taste buds acclimatise.

It’s not just processed sugar you need to be aware of but all carbs, naturally occurring or not. Bread, potato, rice, pasta, cereals including oats, grains including flour etc etc.
 
Jim Lahey said:
If you’re autoimmune then it’s probably fine. If you’re resistant then it’s probably not.

Testing after trying it is one thing but, generally speaking, fructose won’t register as increased blood glucose when measured. What it will do, however, is directly increase insulin resistance so that literally everything you eat next time is just a little more problematic than it was last time.

So for me it’s no, but for you it might be yes. My only point here really is that testing blood glucose to confirm or disconfirm the effects of fructose, is probably about the least effective use of test strips I can imagine. In my opinion.
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Now I didn't know that! Thank you.
 
wiflib said:
Now I didn't know that! Thank you.
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For clarity, I’m not suggesting for a moment that honey won’t raise blood glucose. I’m sure it will, just not the fructose component (mostly). Fructose is public enemy number one for anyone with insulin resistance, and a blood glucose meter cannot hope to accurately measure its deleterious effects from one meal to the next.
 
Jim Lahey said:
For clarity, I’m not suggesting for a moment that honey won’t raise blood glucose. I’m sure it will, just not the fructose component (mostly). Fructose is public enemy number one for anyone with insulin resistance, and a blood glucose meter cannot hope to accurately measure its deleterious effects from one meal to the next.
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I didn't know about the correlation between fructose and IR, only the triglyceride increase. More reading for me.
 
I gave up honey when I was diagnosed along with other added sugars. I sometimes use a little stevia, either raw or mixed with erythritol.
 
wiflib said:
I didn't know about the correlation between fructose and IR, only the triglyceride increase. More reading for me.
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Fructose is dealt with entirely in the liver. It doesn't reach the stomach. The liver regards it as toxic, a bit like alcohol. It converts it to fat, which it then stores around itself. Hence fatty liver, which equals insulin resistance.
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Fructose is dealt with entirely in the liver. It doesn't reach the stomach. The liver regards it as toxic, a bit like alcohol. It converts it to fat, which it then stores around itself. Hence fatty liver, which equals insulin resistance.
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Um, just a small point: Fructose enters the body by exactly the same method as any other food - via the stomach and from there it enters the small intestine to be absorbed somewhere along the small intestine.

Once broken down into small enough molecules to be absorbed through the intestine wall, it is carried through the blood stream to the various parts of the body that will use those molecules - in the case of fructose, this is the liver. With other molecules may go directly to the cells that will use them, but fructose and alcohol (and probably many other things) are 'dealt with' by the liver, before the de-toxified or broken down parts are used in the liver, or returned to the blood stream to travel to cells where they will be used.

By no means all fructose ends up as fat in the liver (we would have enormous livers if every g of fructose from every piece of fruit turned to liver fat). The liver turns fructose into a number of different things, used by different parts of the body - and only a small proportion ends up as fat, of which only a small proportion is deposited in the liver.

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/86/4/895/4649668

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3533803/
 
Yes, I oversimplified it somewhat, and sorry if I misled anyone.

Of course the fructose goes to the stomach first, along with all the other food, and when broken down into molecules it goes to the liver, and only the liver. No other cells or organs can metabolise it or use it for energy. Once in the liver it is metabolised into glucose, lactose and glycogen.

" When the limited glycogen stores are full, the excess fructose is changed directly into liver fat through de novo lipogenesis. Fructose overfeeding can increase DNL five fold, and replacing glucose with a calorically equal amount of fructose increases liver fat by a massive 38% within only eight days. It is precisely this fatty liver is crucial to the development of insulin resistance." (Jason Fung)

https://www.dietdoctor.com/fructose-fatty-liver-sugar-toxin
 
It’s my understanding that glucose is only manufactured from fructose if there is a glucose demand in the body. Otherwise it is turned to fat and deposited. It’s most unlikely that the majority of insulin resistant diabetics will have a requirement for extra glucose, especially if the fructose is accompanied by a side of glucose to begin with :)
 
Bluetit1802 said:
When the limited glycogen stores are full, the excess fructose is changed directly into liver fat through de novo lipogenesis.
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Thank you for explaining this.
I am watching this discussion with interest as I eat fruit every day without it impacting my BG as long as I give myself the appropriate insulin dose. But I have noticed a concern about fructose expressed on the forum.
I notice the part "When the glycogen stores are full..." which implies not all fructose is changed to liver fat if your glycogen stores are being used. For example, exercise depletes my glycogen stores which I can see by the low BG over the next 2 days as those stores are filled up again.

As this discussion is in the General discussion sub forum, I think it is important to make this clear as not everyone reading this section is insulin resistant.
 
Ian2477 said:
Since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes I've cut out all processed sugar(in my case this was mainly soft drinks).I was wondering if I could add a small amount of honey to my yogurt,which i mix with nuts,seeds and blueberries in the morning.Ive heard the spike in blood sugar is short lived compared to refined sugar.Is this true?
Click to expand...

No. Sugar is sugar.
 
Ian2477 said:
Since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes I've cut out all processed sugar(in my case this was mainly soft drinks).I was wondering if I could add a small amount of honey to my yogurt,which i mix with nuts,seeds and blueberries in the morning.Ive heard the spike in blood sugar is short lived compared to refined sugar.Is this true?
Click to expand...
As usual it depends on your condition and how much honey .For me as a Type 1 it causes a big ,sugar surge and lasting about 3 hours . Last time I had honey ,we were out for a family meal ,informed them I was a Type 1 and ordered liver and bacon with all the trimmings at a good restaurant in Perth ,it arrived ,covered in honey ,when I sent it back ,out comes the chef informing me ,it didn’t count as honey was natural ?
 
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