Can diabetics eat honey?
As you may know from reading our blog on why bees make honey, honey is essentially sugar, and so it is understandably an important question to answer; can people with diabetes eat honey? The answer is the same as most things - yes, it’s fine... in moderation.
Pure Honey is 100% sugar and will affect your blood sugar levels, but that doesn’t mean you can’t eat it. If you have diabetes/are diabetic you will have discovered over time what and how much your bodies can and can’t take.
Often diabetics substitute honey for sugar. There are also some nutritional benefits to having honey over sugar, especially heather honey (check out our blog on the health benefits of honey here), with t’s anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial qualities. However if you do substitute honey for sugar, it is important to bear in mind that honey has more carbohydrates than pure sugar (roughly 18 grams of carbohydrates and 65 grams calories), and must be taken into consideration in your eating plan. It is best to speak to your doctor or dietitian if you are unsure of what you are and aren’t allowed.
It's often a good idea to check the companies honey certificate to see what is inside. To see our honey certificate, click here.
What are diabetes and why does sugar levels affect diabetics?
If someone has diabetes it means their blood sugar (or blood glucose levels) get too high. Usually this is to do with a lack of insulin in the blood (which lowers these levels), often due to problems with the pancreas which creates insulin. It is a chronic condition and a serious disease that, if not monitored carefully, can be fatal.
You may have heard people talking about types of diabetes. New research has shown there are actually five types, but there are two which are most common, known as type one and type two. People with type one diabetes have a complete lack of insulin (and must inject themselves with insulin daily), and those with type two often cannot use insulin effectively, or simply have too little insulin for the needs of the body. People with diabetes do not need to avoid sugar completely, intact sometimes their sugar levels are too low and need to have some to rebalance.
To read more about the make-up of our honey, click here
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1 comment
I am a Type 1 diabetic and have honey as a regular part of my diet – in porridge, on toast. As most Type 1 diabetics will know it is all about dynamically balancing carbs, exercise, and insulin. Go on…. get that honey (Scottish Bee Company) down your necks!