a taste of honey

[timbla]

please forgive me if this has been discussed before, but...

i have read that honey can be processed quite well by some diabetics - ie, wont spike your BGs too badly. has anyone here found that honey works ok for them? i had one desert spoon's worth of honey in a greek yoghurt earlier to test my reaction, and an hour after ingestion tested a 5.4mmol/l. i am inclined to feel encouraged by this, but still being new to diabetes, i am reluctant to get too excited just in case this is a freak result or something.

t

 

[Northerner]

That's a great result 🙂 When I was diagnosed I gave away two jars of honey I had in my cupboard because I thought it was now a no-no. I used to have a generous spoonful in my porridge. However, as I learned more about how I reacted to food I discovered that, by including it in my porridge this would lower the overall GI (glycaemic index) of the food and therefore produce less of a spike. I'm also in the happy(?) position of being able to time (or attempt to time!) my insulin to match the food peak.

I would repeat the experiment and if you get similar results then it would appear that this food combination can happily be tolerated by you 🙂

 

[donnarob]

Hi Northerner,

That's interesting, as I would have assumed that honey would spike. I'm away to conduct a little experiment and have a spoonful with some Greek yogurt. I'll let you know the result.

Donna

 

[timbla]

gosh, i hope it works for u. suddenly feel a little responsible for the result u get, so i am hoping it is positive. just to clarify - i used one small pot (170g) or 'total 0%', fat free greek yoghurt. u get it in sainsburys, and i added one desert spoon's worth of honey. it tasted great, of course. but i am new to diabetes and still feeling my way through it all, learning what i can and cannot eat, trying to lose weight, and testing all the time. i have so many holes in my little finger now that i occasionally re-prick an old hole, and boy does that hurt. the first 70-odd 'pricks' were almost painless. not so now. anyway...i am going off subject a bit. just wanted to say good luck.

 

[donnarob]

Hi Timbla

My fasting bg level was 6.5 and 2 hrs after eating the yogurt and honey only went up to 7.1 - no spike!

Donna 🙂

 

[timbla]

i am pleased for you. when you didnt respond for a few days i started to get worried that i had been responsible for u having a nasty reaction.

the jury is still out for me.

i have done the yoghurt/honey thing a few times now. it really hits the spot when like me, u have a nasty sweet tooth and miss all the goodies of my 'old life' but...

while i dont seem to spike, my fasting BGs the following morning are higher than if i hadnt indulged in the honey/yog thing the night before.

i am not sure if this is a factor or not. i have read that stress and emotion can also have an effect, and since ive also been feeling a little moody of late, i realise that this too could be a factor.

but i am pleased for u. i think a tiny amount of honey can have a major impact on the taste of otherwise sugarless yoghurt, but i am not entirely convinced of its benefits. yet.

thanks for getting back tho.

t

 

[Lilies]

Timbla just wondering how u were getting on with the honey?

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I'd be interested in the reaction to just the honey itself a dessert-spoonful eaten from a spoon so perhaps something like 10g CHO. (I would suspect a spike from it). If you are using smallish quantities of honey to sweeten (a teaspoon or less) then I'd guess the entire weight would only be 5g. Even if that was pure glucose then it still might not produce much of a spike because there's just not very much of it!

I assumed you were talking about low fat yoghurt, but of course if not then the fat in the yoghurt should result in a slowing down of absorption.
M