Avoiding sweets often becomes a challenging situation for people with diabetes. To make the festival season more enjoyable for diabetic patients, it is believed that replacing refined sugar with jaggery is a good option. This is due to the unrefined nature of the sweetener, which allows it to retain more nutrients than refined sugar. But is it so? Let's know.
Diabetes educator and senior nutritionist Shikha Walia explains that using jaggery can increase the sugar level. Due to its high glycemic index, jaggery may not be an option for people with diabetes. This figure is so high that it can be considered harmful for a person with diabetes, even though it is not as high as that of straight sugar and glucose. The blood flow absorbs it quickly.
Why is jaggery not the best option?
Since jaggery has a very high glycemic index, it is not recommended that diabetic patients include jaggery in their diet. People with diabetes should generally avoid eating anything sweet, even desserts made with sugar substitutes because they do not need sweet things to control their blood sugar levels.
Are sugar and jaggery equally harmful?
Eating both jaggery and sugar has a slight effect on your blood sugar level. Many people believe that consuming jaggery instead of sugar will help them maintain healthy blood sugar levels. However, this is wrong. Jaggery contains sucrose, which despite being complex when absorbed by our body raises the blood sugar level. This means that jaggery is also as dangerous as other sugars.
Conclusion
Those who do not have diabetes can use jaggery instead of sugar. It is a wise decision for them. Doctors recommend a diet with a low glycemic index for diabetes patients. That's why jaggery is not an option for them to eat. Keeping this in mind, if you are in very good health and do not have any problem with blood sugar, jaggery can be used in place of white sugar. However, if you have diabetes, then you should avoid jaggery completely.
