Diabetes and cholesterol patients need to pay extra attention to their diet in order to be healthy and to be protected from other diseases. Especially fatty and sugary foods pose a great risk for these patients. However, a new study suggests that not all types of sugar are created equally in the eyes of the cardiometabolic effect.
CHANGE YOUR SUGAR SUPPLY
The researchers behind the study say that replacing your usual source of sugar with raw honey can get the most out of your sugar intake by helping to lower your blood sugar and improve your LDL cholesterol.
TOO MUCH SUGAR CAUSES SERIOUS PROBLEMS
Most people are aware of the harmful effects of saturated fat on LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels, but experts say that eating a diet high in sugar can have a similar effect. As fatty cholesterol deposits build up on the walls of the arteries, they can block blood flow. As a result, this can lead to a number of major medical emergencies, including blood clots, heart attack or stroke.
The Cleveland Clinic explains that in addition to raising your LDL levels, eating too much added sugar can lower your HDL or “good” cholesterol and raise your triglyceride levels. This can cause arteries and arterial walls to harden over time.
PROTECTS HEART HEALTH
A study published in November 2022 in Nutrition Review conducted a meta-analysis of 18 controlled nutrition trials involving more than 1,100 healthy subjects. Researchers have found that raw honey and monofloral honey have a protective effect on the heart and help keep blood sugar and LDL cholesterol low.
STUDY RESULTS ARE AMAZING
“These results are surprising because honey is about 80 percent sugar,” Tauseef Khan, a researcher on the study and a research associate in nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto’s Temerty School of Medicine, told U of T News. “But honey is also a complex combination of common and rare sugars, proteins, organic acids, and other bioactive compounds with likely health benefits.”
“The phrase ‘sugar is sugar’ has long been used by public health and nutrition experts,” said John Sievenpiper, a clinician-scientist at Unity Health Toronto and the study’s principal investigator. “These results suggest that this is not the case, and they need to stop describing honey as free or added sugar in dietary guidelines.”
THE RESEARCH WAS DONE WITH HEALTHY EATING PEOPLE
There was a crucial caveat in the researchers’ findings: The study subjects were mostly healthy individuals who followed nutritious diets. One condition for their participation was that added sugars made up less than 10 percent of their daily calories. This suggests that maintaining a low overall sugar intake is still an important factor in maintaining low blood sugar and low LDL cholesterol.
YOU CAN PREFER HONEY INSTEAD OF TABLE SUGAR
“We’re not saying you should start eating honey if you’re currently avoiding sugar,” Khan told Medical News Today. “If you use table sugar, syrup, or another sweetener, swapping those sugars for honey can reduce cardiometabolic risks.”
HONEY HAS VARIOUS BENEFITS
According to the Mayo Clinic, adding honey to your diet instead of other types of sugar may have several additional benefits. In addition to being associated with a lower risk of heart disease and cardiometabolic risk factors, honey may also act as a cough suppressant, improve gastrointestinal symptoms, ameliorate neurological diseases, and provide topical relief for wounds and burns. Raw honey, which is unpasteurized and tends to be richer in antioxidants, can increase its benefits.