If you have a kind of diabetes and want to add foods to your routine to keep your blood sugar stable, it can be difficult to find a little something sweet that won’t impact your blood glucose (a.k.a. blood sugar) levels. People with diabetes can have sugar—just in moderation (and/or with a bit of medication if needed). But knowing the number-one sweetener a doctor and a dietitian say shouldn’t lead to a blood sugar spike may help you feel more confident in your eating plan.
Meet the experts: Courtney Pelitera, M.S., R.D.N., a registered dietitian nutritionist at VNutrition; Ankit Shah, M.D., an assistant professor of endocrinology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
The experts we spoke with said that if you’re bypassing table sugar, consider trying agave. Agave nectar, or agave syrup, is a natural sweetener derived from the agave plant. “Agave has a very low glycemic index score of about 20 on average, which means that it is digested more slowly compared to table sugar and will have less of an impact on blood sugar,” Courtney Pelitera, M.S., R.D.N., a registered dietitian nutritionist at VNutrition, previously told Prevention.
Table sugar has a GI of 80, Pelitera added, so it’s processed significantly faster by the body. This is because agave is about 80% fructose and 20% glucose, compared to a 50/50 split in table sugar. “The fructose molecule must first be metabolized in the liver, which blunts the spike in blood glucose levels,” Ankit Shah, M.D., an assistant professor of endocrinology at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, explained.
As a no-sugar option, Pelitera also suggested giving stevia a try. A natural, zero-calorie sweetener, it’s been linked to a reduction in blood glucose levels in people with diabetes and high blood pressure. However, stevia does have a slightly bitter, slightly herbal aftertaste that turns some people off and may cause stomach upset or GI intolerance, Pelitera added.
Ultimately, if swapping sugar for a lower-GI sweetener like agave feels doable, it may be a smart move. “It is best to limit the amount of added sugar if one is diabetic or prediabetic,” said Dr. Shah, and using agave as a replacement for maple syrup, honey, or sugar in drinks or baking may help you do that.
Dr. Shah added that while he doesn’t consider any form of sweetener healthier than another, “it should come down to personal taste preferences and what an individual chooses to use in moderation.”
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