 If you have type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes or even insulin resistance trying to lose weight You may have heard the claims that honey may be better for you than the other sweeteners Are these claims true or are they false? Are they partially true? Let's talk about that right now Hi guys, I'm Dr. Ahmed Ergin. I'm an endocrinologist with specialized in hormones and diabetes management I practiced in Florida, but try to help everybody with this YouTube channel all around the world Well, honey may have some health benefits and to be honest, it tastes and smells great If it's a good honey, like the Maninkwa Honey, it is still a source of simple sugar and carbohydrates So it can spike your blood sugar. Here's the big question Are benefits really worth using honey instead of regular sugar? So what are the benefits of honey that you're looking trying to get? Or why are you trying to avoid? Is it better to stick to a sweetener or use that a little bit of a honey instead of a table sugar? That's the decision that you need to make and I'm sure you'll be able to make that decision at the end of this video Yes, if you have diabetes, you need to be careful about your carbohydrates as most of you already know But some of you still have that sweet tooth that you cannot get rid of My patients will tell me, Doc, I'm using honey instead of sugar. So I'm good, right? I'm like, um, uh, well, I don't know Not so sure. Here's what you need to know before you decide how you should handle honey in your diet At the end of this video, I'll give you an important tip. So stick around for this short video until the end, please A tablespoon of honey has 64 calories and 17 grams of glucose, which is carbohydrates, pretty much simple sugars It is high in fructose and also glucose The honey has a glycemic index of 58 and a sugar, the table sugar, has a glycemic index of 60 So it's really not a big difference there in terms of how fast it can really spike your blood sugar Most of the time, actually, we recommend patients to eat honey if blood sugar is too low due to insulin or esophonylurea agents such as like the gliposite, the glimopride, or glibride, etc But here's a big but with one T, okay? Sorry, my accent sometimes gets in the way Because honey is sweeter than the granulated sugar, to be exact, one and a half times sweeter than the table sugar You will need less sugar in the honey than you would need with table sugar in your coffee, for example On the other hand, sweetener can be a hundred to thousand times sweeter than the sugar, depending on the sweetener So honey is not as sweet as you think compared to artificial sweeteners But hey, it's natural, right? That makes a difference I recommend, though, Stevia Leaf Extract for those who want the more natural sweeteners Instead of like Splendor, for example The research shows that the honey has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties So yes, that is important for people with diabetes because they typically have higher levels of oxidative damage and inflammation in their body But remember, many foods we talk about in this diabetes channel also deliver a lot of antioxidants without driving up your blood sugar sky high So you definitely don't need honey to get those nutrients You have a lot of other options that would be just better for you Now, if you cannot live without the honey and you're just so in love with it With the taste and the smell, I'll give you this If all you want is to sweeten your coffee in the morning with a tablespoon which is around 17 grams of carbs and that will make you happy, go for it Provided that you do not also eat a piece of toast and a jelly and a banana and an orange juice at your breakfast Well, believe it or not, a lot of people do that You have to balance it out and make sure you do not exceed your carbohydrate goals Some people will blame me for, by the way, allowing moderate amount of carbs But hey, I like to work with people instead of behaving like a dictatorial prohibitionist style kind of a doctor I'm not that I believe people can learn and apply that knowledge in their daily life And still have a balanced life without having to deal with diabetes complications Also, not everybody is the same So if your body can tolerate honey because you're a new diabetic, you have more insulin Making capacity or you're exercising a lot now or you're on the medications or supplements that will control your blood sugar Even if you need a little bit of extra carb and then you have more flexibility for sure Now to conclude and I'm going to give you the final tip But it's coming and before that there's not likely to be a benefit of swapping sugar for honey if you're diabetes Since they affect your blood sugar in a similar way Just want to make sure that that's clear if you do choose to eat honey Make sure you know how much you are getting also remember the foods that have honey in their name Or the sauce or whatever they contain more honey But they may contain more carbohydrate than you realize so just because they have honey doesn't make them any better That can negatively affect your blood sugar or even skyrocket it and if you are on insulin etc The same insulin that you're taking it may not work Just because you're eating something that has honey that you may not account for well Here's the final tip guys the health benefits of honey Totally also depend on its processing as well as the quality of the flowers the bees collect the pollen from So the raw honey is the honey that has not been heated Posterized or clarified or filtered in any way and this form is typically retained They retain more of a health promoting benefits the antioxidants as said that we talked about that can be lost To the standard processing methods So if the honey looks too good to you on the shelf and they look this purified nice beautiful golden color Don't buy it the raw honey is the best honey The minimal process honey is the best honey if you're going to have honey. That's the way to do it All right guys. Thank you for watching. We'll see you in the next video. Remember to share subscribe and like see you later Hey guys, I hope you're enjoying this channel so far and I hope you subscribed already If you didn't do it and if you did watch this video right there, I think that will help you too