White sugar continues to be blacklisted by health authorities.
In his book ‘Sweet Poison’ David Gillespie links over-consumption of sugar with almost every chronic lifestyle illness in Western society. Gillespie notes “in the space of 150 years, we have gone from eating no added sugar to more than a kilogram a week.”
In that same time, and despite improved healthcare, we’ve seen the rise and rise of diseases including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity, type II diabetes, arthritis, hormonal imbalances and of course, cancer.
You’ve probably heard many times, replacing sugar with honey is not the answer, especially for diabetic patients.
Yes, honey is high in sugars and calories, but if you want to sweeten your food every now and then, we’d choose raw, unprocessed honey instead of sugar every time. Here’s why:
- Honey, like sugar will cause an insulin spike. However, the sugars in honey (fructose and sucrose), combined with enzymes in its composition are easier for the body to use fast, so they’re less likely to be stored as fat later.
- While mass produced honey and sugar have a similar GI between 55-65, raw unprocessed honeys have a much lower GI ranging anywhere from 30-45. This means the sugars are released more slowly with lower impact on blood sugar levels.
- The sugars in honey help absorb essential minerals like zinc, magnesium and calcium. This is super important as regular sugar has the opposite effect. Processed sugar can actually leech minerals from the body; particularly calcium from your bones.
- Honey actually adds essential nutrients to the body. While sugar is often tagged as ‘empty calories’ the calories in honey are nutrient rich. Raw honey contains all the B Complex vitamins, plus Vitamins A, C, D, E, and K. It contains minerals including magnesium, iron, calcium, manganese, copper and more.
- Honey contains prebiotics which are essential for good digestion and gut health.
- Per teaspoon, honey is sweeter than sugar, so less is needed.
- Local, raw honey production is sustainable and environmentally friendly. More people are buying raw honey from local bee farms and many are investing in hobby hives for personal use. At a time where bee numbers are declining, supporting a local bee keeper and switching to natural raw honey is healthier and more environmentally friendly. The mass production of sugar meanwhile, continues to devastate natural environments and relies on pesticides, chemicals and massive amounts of water resulting in soil degradation and pollution.
- Raw honey is a live food. It’s full of enzymes, antioxidants and minerals your body needs to function. The live elements of raw honey contain antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Sugar on the other hand is dead, over-processed and lacks nutrient value.
We don’t recommending eating honey in vast quantities. We simply recommend reducing the amount of sugar you eat in general, and choosing a raw unprocessed honey to sweeten your food. When you look at the benefits, there’s really no comparison!
References
