Sweeteners: What the heck should I eat?
*Fresh, pureed fruit or fruit juice
*Molasses
*Organic palm sugar
*Date sugar
*Coconut sugar
*Monk fruit
*Organic maple syrup
*Honey (use the Ethical Consumer Guide)
*Stevia, sparingly (only brands certified by the Rainforest Alliance)
*Erythritol, also sparingly, although new data suggest it causes weight-gain.
Here Dr. Hyman suggests those sugars which are not totally refined but have a matrix rich in vitamins and minerals. A little like the SRF diet, Yogananda suggesting honey, molasses, raw sugar.
I do not agree totally with Dr. Hyman though. All the sugars listed, except monk fruit and Stevia and Erythritol which are sweeteners, not absorbed by the body, do spike blood glucose and may give rise to a prediabetic or diabetic condition. Now, that's individual. A couple of years ago I noticed that my fasting blood sugar was drifting upward into prediabetic conditions. I soon eliminated all sugars and all fruit. That avoided spikes in blood sugar but the fasting values kept high, until a little ago when apparently they dropped down.
Bottom line, dietary suggestions have a general part but must also be individualized. All the listed 'good' sugars are detrimental if a person exhibits glucose intolerance. They have the same effect as white, unhealthy sugar. They may contribute to the occurrence of type 2 diabetes, a metabolic dysfunction which elevates the odds of mortality.
If you are glucose tolerant, that's your good luck and you can indulge in healthy sweet food. In my case I've been indulging too much in healthy sugars and this probably gave rise to the recent glucose intolerance.
