Coconut Palm Sugar: Can People With Diabetes Eat It?
In order to manage their condition, people with diabetes need to monitor their sugar intake. A good way of doing this might be by choosing a natural sweetener option. One of the more popular choices is coconut palm sugar. In this article, we look at the effect coconut palm sugar has on blood sugar (glucose) levels and whether it may be healthful for people with diabetes. Contents of this article: What is diabetes? People with diabetes have bodies that do not produce enough insulin or use insulin correctly. Insulin is the hormone needed to help the body to normalize blood sugar levels. Blood sugar levels are a measurement of the amount of sugar in the bloodstream. Most foods contain sugar. The body stores the sugar and transports it through the bloodstream to the cells, which use it as energy. When insulin is not working properly, sugar cannot enter cells, and they are unable to produce as much energy. When the cells of the body cannot process sugar, diabetes occurs. What is coconut palm sugar? Coconut palm sugar is made from the sap of the coconut palm. The sugar is extracted from the palm by heating it until the moisture evaporates. After processing, the sugar has a caramel color and tastes like brown sugar, making it an easy substitution in any recipe. Coconut palm sugar is considered a healthier option for people with diabetes because it contains less pure fructose than other sweeteners. The digestive tract does not absorb fructose as it does other sugars, which means that the excess fructose finds its way to the liver. Too much fructose in the liver can lead to a host of metabolic problems, including type 2 diabetes. Can people with diabetes eat coconut palm sugar? While the American Diabetes Association (ADA) do find coconut palm sugar to be an acceptable sugar sub Continue reading >>
Sucrose In The Diet Of Diabetic Patients--just Another Carbohydrate?
Sucrose in the diet of diabetic patients--just another carbohydrate? Peterson DB , Lambert J , Gerring S , Darling P , Carter RD , Jelfs R , Mann JI . The effects of regularly eating sucrose were studied in 23 diabetic patients, 12 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) and 11 Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent), with differing degrees of glycaemic control. Two diets, each lasting 6 weeks, were compared in a randomised cross-over study. Both diets were high in fibre and low in fat. In one diet 45 g of complex carbohydrate was replaced by 45 g of sucrose taken at mealtimes. There were no significant biochemical differences between the two diets in either Type 1 or Type 2 patients. In Type 1 patients the mean (+/- SEM) fasting plasma glucose was 10.5 (1.8)mmol/l on the control diet and 10.3 (1.5) mmol/l on sucrose. In Type 2 patients the levels were 9.1 (0.8) mmol/l and 8.9 (0.8) mmol/l respectively. Glycosylated haemoglobin for the Type 1 patients was 9.9% on control and 10.3% on sucrose; for Type 2 patients the figures were 9.3% and 9.0% respectively. There were no differences in mean daily plasma glucose levels or diurnal glucose profiles. Cholesterol (total and in lipoprotein fractions) was unchanged, as were diurnal triglyceride profiles and plasma insulin profiles in the Type 2 patients. There were no changes in medication or body weight. We conclude that a moderate amount of sucrose taken daily at mealtimes does not cause deterioration in metabolic control in diabetic patients following a high fibre/low fat diet. Continue reading >>
5 Sugar Substitutes For Type 2 Diabetes
1 / 6 A Small Amount of Real Sugar Is Best, but Sugar Substitutes Can Help If you think that people with diabetes should always avoid sugar, think again — they can enjoy the sweet stuff, in moderation. "The best bet is to use a very minimal amount of real sugar as part of a balanced diabetic diet," says Keri Glassman, MS, RD, CDN, of Nutritious Life, a nutrition practice based in New York City. That being said, sugar substitutes offer sweetness while controlling carbohydrate intake and blood glucose. There are many sugar substitutes to choose from, but they’re not all calorie-free and they vary in terms of their impact on blood sugar. "The major difference between the sugar substitutes is whether they are nutritive or non-nutritive sweeteners," says Melissa Mullins, MS, RD, a certified diabetes educator with Johnston Memorial Hospital in Abingdon, Va. "Non-nutritive sweeteners provide no calories and no changes in blood glucose levels, which is perfect for people with diabetes.” Here are six sweet options to consider. Continue reading >>
9 Fruits That Protect Against Diabetes
Diabetes is a metabolic disease which is characterized by high blood sugar levels that result from defects in insulin secretion, or its action, or both. Diet control is an integral part of diabetes care and management. Food selection, preparation, portion size, timing of food consumption, activity adjustments has significant influence in diabetes management. Recently in one study, it is clearly mentioned that whole fruits help in lowering the diabetes symptoms. Fiber is a major content in fruits which lowers the symptoms of diabetes. Fruits are generally rich in, Pectin, which is one of the richest soluble fiber sources and is considered beneficial for people with either form of diabetes. Fiber helps slow the digestion of foods, which then controls the sudden spikes in blood glucose that may occur after a low-fiber meal. Often people suffering from diabetes avoid fruits out of fear that the sugar present in fruits could push up their blood sugar level. However, this is a false conception. Sugar present in fruits is usually in the form of fructose. Unlike other forms of sugar, like sucrose, fructose has low glycemic index. Minimal insulin is needed for the metabolism of fructose. Intake of this fruit sugar is not associated with sudden surge of the blood sugar level. Studies have shown that by reducing cholesterol and triglyceride production, fructose could protect us from diseases such as arteriosclerosis, which leads to heart diseases and stroke. So, fruits prescribed for diabetics usually have high fiber content, low sugar content and low glycemic index. Apples Apples are a good source of soluble fiber with anti-inflammatory affect that may help diabetics recover faster from infections. Pectin, a form of carbohydrate found in Apple helps control blood sugar by releasi Continue reading >>
Does Sucrose Increase The Sugar Level?
Your blood sugar levels vary throughout the day in response to the foods you eat, your physical activity level, your stress and even your hormones. Many of these factors can interact to increase your blood sugar levels; regularly monitoring your blood sugars with a glucometer can help you better understand how your body works. Although foods can affect different people differently, grains, flours and sugars increase blood sugar levels in almost everyone. Sucrose is a type of sugar that can elevate your blood sugar levels in the minutes and hours following its consumption. Sucrose in Foods The main source of sucrose in your diet is table sugar, as well as most sweetened foods and beverages. For example, white sugar, brown sugar and maple syrup are mainly made of sucrose, which means that any foods sweetened with these sugars will also be high in sucrose, such as cakes, cookies, fruit punches, muffins, pancakes and granola bars. Although much of the sugar naturally found in fruits is in the form of free fructose, some fruits, including melons, peaches, pineapples, oranges and dates, also provide significant amounts of sucrose, albeit less than sugary foods. Avoid sucrose and sucrose-containing foods, with the exception of fruits, to prevent your blood sugar levels from increasing dramatically after your meals. Sucrose Sucrose is a type of sugar called a disaccharide. Disaccharide means that it is a carbohydrate made from two molecules of sugar. In the case of sucrose, the two molecules are glucose and fructose. Another common disaccharide in your diet is lactose, which is made of a molecule of glucose attached to a molecule of galactose. When you eat sucrose, it is easily broken down by digestive enzymes in your digestive system into single molecules of glucose and fructo Continue reading >>
Understanding Glucose, Fructose, And Sucrose
Considered the allies and enemies of many diabetics, glucose, fructose and sucrose are important carbohydrates. Although your tongue can't quite tell the difference between these simple sugars, they each play a different role in the body. People living with diabetes should pay especially close attention to glucose, which directly affects blood sugar levels. Here's what you should know about these three common carbohydrates. Glucose Glucose is the most the important simple sugar in our metabolism. It is the body's preferred energy source. Your body processes most of the carbohydrates you eat into glucose, whether to be used immediately for energy or to be stored in muscle cells or the liver as glycogen for later use. Glucose is measured in milligrams per deciliters and levels within the bloodstream naturally fluctuate throughout the day and night. Blood glucose generally becomes low between meals and during exercise. The hormone insulin is responsible for keeping blood sugar at a healthy level. Insulin converts sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. Unlike fructose, high blood concentrations of glucose trigger the release of insulin. Type 2 diabetes In Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, the body either does not make enough insulin or does not use insulin properly, which doctors call insulin resistance. In the early stages of Type 2 diabetes, the pancreas produces extra insulin to compensate, but over time it isn't able to sustain the overproduction. At this point, it becomes difficult for the body to keep blood glucose at normal levels. Type 1 diabetes People with Type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin. Only about 5 percent of people with diabetes have this form of the disease, which is usually associated with children and Continue reading >>
Fructose And Diabetes
As part of the overall diabetes discussion, there lurks the misconception that somehow fructose does not contribute to diabetes. This is a major misunderstanding. Fructose is directly associated with diabetes, especially high-fructose corn syrup. When one is cellularly addicted to glucose, sucrose, and/or fructose, they become stuck in sugar metabolism for making energy. For years, limited and conventional “wisdom” has held that fructose does not affect your blood sugar. This is accurate on a superficial level but unscientific in its assumption that because fructose does not raise blood sugar, it does not affect insulin resistance and cause many metabolic disease problems from the metabolic abnormalities associated with metabolizing an excess amount of fructose. It is therefore falsely deemed a safer sugar than glucose. None of this has been proven to be true. A primary difference is that fructose is metabolized differently than glucose. Fructose is metabolized much more rapidly than any other sugar into fat via the liver. It is also primarily metabolized in the liver. Because of this it has also been associated with a high level of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and a rapid accumulation of a particular kind of fat (triglycerides) that is stored in both the liver and general fat tissue. This is related not only to NAFLD but also to heart disease and hypertension. Glucose, when combined with fructose (as in sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup), accelerates fructose absorption. These metabolic differences are further enhanced in light of recent research reported in the March 2011 Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, which found that cortical areas around hypothalamus in the brain responded differently to fructose than to glucose. They found that in brain scans Continue reading >>
Diabetes And Dessert
Eating desserts with diabetes A popular misconception about diabetes is that it is caused by eating too many sugary foods. While sweets can and do affect your blood sugar, they do not cause you to develop diabetes. However, when you have diabetes, you must carefully monitor your carbohydrate intake. This is because carbohydrates are responsible for raising your blood sugar levels. While you can enjoy sugary foods when you have diabetes, it is important to do so in moderation and with some understanding of how it could impact your blood sugar. This includes sugars found in desserts. 10 Diabetes Diet Myths » When you have diabetes, your body is either not able to use insulin correctly or not able to make any or enough insulin. Some people with diabetes experience both of these issues. Problems with insulin can cause sugar to build up in your blood since insulin is responsible for helping sugar move from the blood and into the body’s cells. Foods that contain carbohydrates raise blood sugar. Carbohydrates need to be regulated when you have diabetes to help you manage your blood sugar. On nutrition labels, the term “carbohydrates” includes sugars, complex carbohydrates, and fiber. In desserts, a number of sweet-tasting ingredients can be added to enhance sweetness. While some foods, such as fruits, naturally contain sugars, most desserts have some type of sugar added to them. Many dessert labels will not list “sugar” as a key ingredient. Instead, they will list the ingredient as one or more of the following: dextrose fructose high-fructose corn syrup lactose malt syrup sucrose white granulated sugar honey agave nectar glucose maltodextrin These sugar sources are carbohydrates and will raise your blood sugar. They can be found in cookies, cakes, pies, puddings, ca Continue reading >>
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Which Form Of Sugar Can Be Eaten By Diabetics
Sugar is a carbohydrate that occurs naturally in every fruit and vegetable in the plant kingdom. It is the major product of photosynthesis, the process by which plants transform the sugar energy into food. Actually carbohydrate is of 3 types: Further, simple sugar is 2 type: Single Sugar or Monosaccharide and Double Sugar or Disaccharide. They are further divided into various types. Please look at the chart below to understand the structure of Sugar: Single Sugar contains one type of sugar molecule & Double sugar contains two types of single sugar molecule. Like: Sucrose is formed by combination of glucose & fructose. What is Glucose, Fructose, Sucrose, Maltose, Lactose..? Glucose is the most important simple sugar in human metabolism. It is the main energy source for plants, animals and also humans. It is found in the human bloodstream where it is referred to as blood sugar. The normal concentration of glucose in the blood is about 0.1%, but it becomes much higher in persons suffering from diabetes. The energy yield is about 686 kilo calories per mole which can be used to do work or help keep the body warm. It requires no digestion and is often provided intravenously to persons in hospitals as a nutrient. Fructose is almost similar to Glucose as it is also simple sugar. When it enters the body, fructose also eventually make their way to the liver to be metabolized. Fructose does not often occur alone in nature, but is typically found in combination with glucose or sucrose in fruits and vegetables, including honey, oranges, berries, sweet potatoes and onions Although glucose & fructose are similar in many ways but still they are different: Glucose is eaten, absorbed into the blood stream, and makes it way to the liver where it is broken down to supply energy to the ent Continue reading >>
Glucose And Sucrose For Diabetes.
Diabetes has been known since ancient times as a wasting disease in which sugar was lost in the urine, but more recently the name has been used to describe the presence of more than the normal amount of glucose in the blood, even in the absence of glucose in the urine. Some of the medical ideas regarding the original form of the condition have been applied to the newer form. Cultural "paradigms" or ideologies are so convenient that people often don't bother to doubt them, and they are sometimes so rigorously enforced that people learn to keep their doubts to themselves. Public concern about diabetes has been growing for decades, but despite the introduction of insulin and other drugs to treat it, and massive campaigns to"improve" eating habits, mortality from diabetes has been increasing during the last 100 years. Diabetes ("type 1") has been increasing even among children (Barat, et al., 2008). A basic meaning of homeopathic medicine is the support of the organism's ability to heal itself; the essence of allopathy is that the physician fights "a disease" to cure the patient, e.g., by cutting out tumors or killing germs. Confidence in the organism's essential rationality led the doctors with a homeopathic orientation to see a fever as part of a recuperative process, while their allopathic opponents sometimes saw fever as the essence of the sickness to be cured. Homeopaths concentrated on the nature of the patient; allopaths concentrated on a disease entity in itself, and were likely to ignore the patient's idiosyncrasies and preferences. Diabetes was named for the excessive urination it causes, and for the sugar in theurine. It was called the sugar disease, and physicians were taught that sugar was the problem. Patients were ordered to avoid sweet foods, and in hospita Continue reading >>
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Switching From Sucrose To Fructose Lowers Insulin And Blood Glucose In The Obese And Diabetics
Switching from sucrose to fructose lowers insulin and blood glucose in the obese and diabetics Blood glucose and insulin levels were lower after consuming food or drink that contained fructose, compared to those with sucrose or glucose. By Gary Scattergood Swapping table sugar for fruit-derived sugar helpsreduce blood glucose, especially in people who are overweight or have diabetes, a new review has reported. Researchers from theUniversity of Canberra'sHealth Research Institute examined the short-term and long-term effects of swapping sucrose or glucose, for fructose, the sugar found in many fruits, vegetables and honey. The research, which has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,found blood glucose and insulin levels were lower after consuming food or drink that contained fructose, compared to those with sucrose or glucose. The authors wrote: "We searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform Search Portal, and clinicaltrials.gov. We included randomised controlled trials measuring peak postprandial glycemia after isoenergetic replacement of glucose, sucrose, or both with fructose in healthy adults or children with or without diabetes. The main outcomes analyzed were peak postprandial blood glucose, insulin, and triglyceride concentrations." University of Canberra adjunct professional associate and senior author of the report Dr Kerry Mills said that in the short-term study, the reduction in blood glucose was far greater in people who were overweight or had diabetes than in those with normal blood glucose levels. The sharp rise in blood glucose after eating glucose and sucrose is a risk factor for diabetes. Fructose, on the other hand, has to be converted by the liver before it can affec Continue reading >>
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Fructose: Good Or Bad For Diabetes? - Dlife
Long thought to be the better sugar for people with diabetes, fructose may not be so great after all. Most people think of fructose as a natural fruit sugar. After all, its one of the main sugars (along with glucose and sucrose) in fruits. In fact, the amount of fructose in most fruits is relatively small, compared with other sources. Fruit also contains a host of greatnutrients, including fiber, which slows the absorption of sugars. The fructose found in processed foods, however, is another story. Between 1980 and 2000, Americans decreased their intake of sucrose (table sugar), but the amount of fructose consumption more than tripled. The reason for this was that food makers replaced sucrose (table sugar) with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) to sweeten foods and beverages. HFCS does not come from fruit. Its a highly processedblend of sugars (typically 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose) derived from corn. Because the fructose in HFCS is part of a man-made blend (as opposed to the natural compound of sugars found in fruit), the body metabolizes it very differently from other sugars. Also, people with diabetes were told that because fructose doesnt raise blood glucose levels, it was a good alternative to sugar. Therefore, they began using fructose-rich agave nectar under the mistaken assumption that itposed no diabetes-related risk. Unlike glucose, which enters the bloodstream and raises blood sugar levels, fructose is taken up directly to the liver. Sugar and honey contain about 50percentglucose and 50 percentfructose, so regardless of which is consumed, blood glucose will rise. By contrast, agave nectar contains about 85percentfructose, on average, so it has less of an impact on blood sugar and is considered a low glycemic sweetener. However, high fructose int Continue reading >>
How Safe Is Fructose For Persons With Or Without Diabetes?
How safe is fructose for persons with or without diabetes? From the Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplantation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Search for other works by this author on: From the Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplantation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Search for other works by this author on: From the Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplantation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Search for other works by this author on: From the Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplantation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL Address reprint requests and correspondence to RJ Johnson, Division of Nephrology, Hypertension and Transplantation, University of Florida, PO Box 100224, Gainesville, FL 32610. E-mail: [email protected] . Search for other works by this author on: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 88, Issue 5, 1 November 2008, Pages 11891190, Laura Gabriela Snchez-Lozada, MyPhuong Le, Mark Segal, Richard J Johnson; How safe is fructose for persons with or without diabetes?, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 88, Issue 5, 1 November 2008, Pages 11891190, In this issue of the journal, Livesey and Taylor ( 1 ) present a meta-analysis of clinical trials evaluating the effects of fructose intake. They concluded that fructose is safe at doses of <90 g/d and that it may have the added benefit of lowering concentrations of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). This meta-analysis is difficult to interpret, because it involves randomized and nonrandomized studies of differing designs, mixed populations (diabetic and nondiabetic, lean and obese), different control diets (including some sucrose-based diets that contained fructose), different study durations, and limited Continue reading >>
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The Role Of Fructose, Sucrose, And High-fructose Corn Syrup In Diabetes
The Role of Fructose, Sucrose, and High-fructose Corn Syrup in Diabetes European Endocrinology 2014;10(1):5160 DOI: Concerns are growing regarding the role of dietary sugars in the development of obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, including diabetes. Highfructose corn syrup (HFCS) and sucrose are the most important dietary sweeteners. Both HFCS and sucrose have overlapping metabolic actions with adverse effects attributed to their fructose moiety. Ecologic studies have linked the rise in fructose availability with the increases in obesity and diabetes worldwide. This link has been largely underpinned by animal models and select human trials of fructose overfeeding at high levels of exposure. Although prospective cohort studies have shown significant associations comparing the highest with the lowest levels of intake sugarsweetened beverages, these associations are small, do not hold at moderate levels of intake, and are subject to collinearity effects from related dietary and lifestyle factors. Most systematic reviews and meta-analyses from controlled feeding trials have shown that fructose-containing sugars in isocaloric exchange for other carbohydrates do not show evidence of harm and, in the case of fructose, may even have advantages for glycemic control, especially at small doses. Nevertheless, trials in which fructose-containing sugars supplement diets with excess energy have shown adverse effects, effects that appear more attributable to the excess energy than the sugar. There is no unequivocal evidence that fructose intake at moderate doses is directly related with adverse metabolic effects, although there is potentially cause for concern where fructose is provided at high doses or contributes excess energy to diets. Further investigation is warranted due to Continue reading >>
Sugars, Sugar Substitutes And Sweeteners: Natural And Artificial
If you’re living with diabetes, or even if you’re not, you might think sweet foods are a barrier to your healthy, balanced diet. As a general rule,everyone should be eating less sugar– but sometimes, only something sweet will do. If want to lose weight, or you’re trying to keep your blood glucose levels stable, you may want to know whether artificial sweeteners could help. If you browse around your local supermarket, you’ll see a huge range of sweeteners on offer, so it can be baffling to know which, if any, to go for. So in this section we'll take you through: Sweeteners are ingredients that are added to food to enhance sweetness. They can be grouped in different ways: One way is to loosely group sweeteners as: sugar or sugar substitutes.Another way to group sweeteners is whether the sweetener is: natural or artificial. One of the most useful ways of grouping sweeteners is to look at those that have nutritive value, ie nutritive sweeteners, and those without nutritive value, ie non-nutritive or ‘low-calorie’ sweeteners. Nutritive sweeteners There are different types of nutritive sweeteners, but they all contain carbohydrate and provide calories. They are usually referred to as ‘sugars’ or ‘added sugar’, but they can also appear in the ingredient list of food packaging as: glucose fructose sucrose maltose honey and syrup, etc. Polyols One group of nutritive sweeteners is polyols, which are sugar alcohols, and include: erythritol isomalt maltitol mannitol sorbitol xylitol. They can be natural or artificially produced. Polyols contain carbohydrates and calories, but they have fewer calories and less of an effect on blood glucose levels than sucrose (sugar). Polyols and diabetes It’s not exactly clear how the polyols should be ‘counted’ by peopl Continue reading >>
