Some ingredients are so commonly found in our kitchen and household that one can’t ignore them. And one of these ingredients is jaggery or popularly known as ‘Gur’. It has so many health benefits and it increases even more during winters.
This Gur or Jaggery is known as one of the best traditional sweeteners available in the market and it is widely used in many Asian and African countries as well. When you need to find an apt and healthier substitute for refined sugar, dietitians often recommend jaggery to add to desserts instead of sugar.
The reason behind this is, jaggery is unrefined therefore, it contains a larger number of nutrients than the traditional refined sugar.
It has been a common question, especially among diabetes patients whether to eat or not?
To answer this question, let’s look at the manufacturing process of jaggery. Though it lesser refined than the traditional but still very high in simple sugars.
If we talk about the other health benefits of jaggery, there are a lot of benefits including regulation of blood pressure due to the presence of iron. It is also very much helpful in relieving oxidative stress and makes digestion better as well.
And when we say what’s good for diabetics, an apt diet for them consists of foods that have low glycemic index. But on the other hand, jaggery’s glycemic index is very high. So, it is not advisable for diabetics to consume jaggery.
There are some more points you need to keep in mind while resolving this doubt:
Jaggery too contains sugar
It’s true that jaggery has so various nutrients but even this healthier sweet-alternative also contains about 65 to 85 percent sucrose. And this is the reason that experts never suggest to eat jaggery for diabetics, as the majority of it is sugar!
Jaggery can spike the sugar level
Eating jaggery has a somewhat similar effect on your glucose level as eating sugar. Though complex, jaggery contains sucrose, and when it is absorbed by our body, it further raises blood sugar levels. That means it is as harmful as any other form of sugar.
Although people who don’t have diabetes can replace sugar with jaggery. It is a healthy choice for them. And just because doctors recommend a low Glycemic Index diet for diabetics so this is not an option for them.
What Ayurveda has to say about this?
Even Ayurveda doesn’t recommend jaggery for diabetic patients. Ayurveda usually suggests using jaggery to treat lung infections, sore throat, migraines, and asthma. And it restricts diabetics to use jaggery in their diet.
So, just to conclude it all, if you’re perfectly healthy and have no blood sugar issues, you can use jaggery as an alternative to traditional sugar. But if you have diabetes, then you must stay away from jaggery altogether.
