Are you always trying to find a great
sweetener for your sweet tooth, but not one that will spike of your
blood glucose? Stay with me as we discuss some of the heavily
promoted substitutes for table sugar and other traditional
sweeteners.
Agave syrup is one of the heavily promoted sweeteners. For those with a sweet tooth, the promise of a
better sweetener might seem too good to be true. Unfortunately, that's exactly what it
is. Agave is not a good alternative sweetener for people with
diabetes.
Agave syrup comes from a succulent
plant that grows in warm climates. It has a lower GI index than most
sweeteners. Although it can be used as a sweetener, blue agave is
high in carbohydrates, and produces nectar that is high in a type of
sugar called fructose.
Some people in the alternative health
community have turned to agave as a potential alternative to table
sugar and other sweeteners. Support for agave stems from it being a
vegan sweetener as well as its glycemic index (GI).
The higher a food's GI, the more it
increases levels of glucose in the blood. Agave boasts a lower GI
than most other sweeteners, which means that it is less likely to
cause blood sugar spikes.
GI, however, is not the only - or the
best - way to assess whether a food is healthful for people with
diabetes. A 2014
study suggests that low-GI foods may not
improve how the body responds to insulin.
For people already eating a healthful
diet, the study also found that low-GI foods produced no improvements
in cardiovascular health risk factors, such as levels of fats called
triglycerides in the blood.
Agave contains higher levels of
fructose than table sugar and most other sweeteners. The
body releases less insulin in response to
fructose. This means that blood sugar may remain higher after eating
agave than other sugars.
A 2014
study of mice suggests that agave syrup might
be a healthful alternative to table sugar. Mice who consumed agave
nectar had lower blood glucose levels compared with mice that
consumed table sugar. They also gained less weight.
However, not all research conducted on
mice applies to humans. The study also only compared agave to table
sugar, which is already known to be harmful to people with diabetes.
Agave may be marginally better than table sugar, but this does not
make it healthful. More importantly, agave is still a sugar and,
like table sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and the other sugars,
people with diabetes should avoid it.
People following a healthful diabetic
diet should reduce the use of sugar rather than switch one type of
sugar for another. For people with diabetes who are tempted to try
agave instead of table sugar, there is another reason to avoid the
switch. Agave is a higher calorie sweetener than table sugar. It
contains 21 calories per teaspoon, compared with 16 calories per
teaspoon.
In addition to its high fructose
content, agave poses other risks to people with diabetes. A number of
studies have looked at high-fructose sweeteners. Fructose usually
produces worse effects than another type of sugar called sucrose,
which is found in table sugar. Fructose is broken down in the liver,
so consuming too much can cause liver damage. People with diabetes
already face a heightened
risk of liver disease, making agave a high-risk
sweetener.
In 2017, a
study of mice linked fructose to liver damage,
including fatty liver disease and liver cell death. The study also
found a link between fructose consumption and inflammation, which is
linked to a wide range of illnesses.
Another 2017
study also linked fructose consumption to fatty
liver disease. The study emphasizes that fatty liver disease that is
not linked to alcohol consumption has increased over the past decade.
A 2005
study linked fructose to insulin
resistance. Researchers also found that high
fructose consumption could trigger dyslipidemia, a syndrome marked by
high cholesterol
and triglycerides. This suggests that eating agave syrup, as well as
high-fructose corn syrup and other fructose-based sweeteners, could
lead to heart
disease. A 2015
study cautions that fructose is linked to high
blood pressure, insulin resistance, and other
cardiovascular risk factors.
People with diabetes should work to
avoid all added sweeteners, as well as sugar-rich processed foods.
Lifestyle and dietary changes are effective ways to fight diabetes.
Even though giving up sugar may be hard, it offers many health
benefits.
While maple syrup is a great natural
sweetener, it still contains sugar and should be used in small doses.
Those who are seeking a sweet treat should choose their sweeteners
carefully. Since artificial sweeteners contain no, or few, calories,
doctors once thought that they might be a safe alternative to
traditional sugar. New research undermines this recommendation.
A 2015
study found that artificial sweeteners alter
the bacteria that live in the gut, which could trigger insulin
resistance.
While honey and maple syrup may be
safer alternatives for people with diabetes, both are still sugar in
the body.
A 2009
study linked 8 weeks of honey consumption to a
reduction in weight and blood fat levels. However, blood sugar levels
increased, suggesting that honey should only be used sparingly and
certainly not as a remedy for diabetes.
Maple
syrup has antioxidant
and anti-inflammatory properties, which could make the effects of
other sweeteners less harmful. Used in small doses, this may make it
a good alternative to traditional sweeteners.
Whole fruit is the ideal way to sweeten
foods since the sugars are packaged along with fiber, antioxidants,
and other nutrients that can benefit health. Try fresh or dried
berries mixed into oatmeal, unsweetened applesauce in plain Greek
yogurt, or frozen bananas blended with cocoa powder to replace ice
cream.
