Sweeteners for diabetics review

Diabetes and Sugar Intolerance

The body energizes itself with carbohydrates and sugar, which are turned to energy by insulin. This can be disrupted by diabetes, a widespread malady that stops the body’s effective usage of insulin, leading to very dangerous, high blood sugar levels. The fact that diabetes renders the sugar consumed unusable it also makes sugar avoidance a priority for sufferers of this ailment. Sweeteners can provide a different method of consuming sweet food, as they have a low glycemic index – making them a diabetic-safe product.

Sweeteners and Sugar Replacing Products

Fructose,Blackstrap Molasses, Syrup, Rice Syrup, Maple Syrup, Refined White Sugar, Turbinado Sugar and Pasteurized Honey all possess a low glycemic index, with 80 being the highest figure and 15 the lowest. Alternatives to these include the Stevia and the Agave plant.

Stevia is one of the primary sugar sources historically, and it also a natural sweetener capable of replacing sugar. Located mostly in South America, this plant looks very much alike the mint plant, and is significantly more potent than the sugar when concerning the sweetness, allowing for smaller amounts of Stevia to be used in proportion to sugar. This can reduce the amount of calories and carbohydrates taken in meals. Many sweeteners, such as Truvia, contain the Stevia plant. Truvia comes in jars that hold packets, with each one being the equivalent of two teaspoons of sugar. Besides the much lower glycemic Index (GI), Truvia has significantly less carbohydrates and calories than the sugar it replaces, as it contains no calories and 5.4 grams of carbohydrates less per packet. This plant has a myriad of positive effects and side effects to the body of both diabetics and fully healthy persons. It has been attributed to aiding the treatment of obesity and heightened blood pressure. Possibly due to an apparent lack of negative side effects Stevia was a subject to scrutiny and criticism, with implications that it could have ill effects to the body. However, this has been largely disproved, with an overall confirmation of the plant's benefits in relation to sugar and its obvious advantages for sufferers of diabetes.

In the case of Stevia not being an option for whatever reason, there is also the option of the Agave plant extract. The Agave plant extract is a natural sweetener utilized for a long period of time. Not only does its taste resemble the taste honey, but it also contains identical amounts of calories and carbohydrates in one gram as sugar. However, the extract also features a GI of around 25, significantly less to the 65 GI of sugar, making it suitable for its role as a sugar replacement.