Can I have Jaggery (Gur) in place of sugar? This is the most common question DIABETICS ask, particularly in winter
TO ANSWER THIS LET US FIRST SEE, WHAT IS JAGGERY?
Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in colour. It contains up to 50% sucrose, up to 20% invert sugars, and up to 20% moisture, with the remainder made up of other insoluble matter.
100 grams (half a cup) of jaggery may contain:
Calories: 383
Sucrose: 65–85 grams
Fructose and glucose: 10–15 gram
Protein: 0.4 grams
Fat: 0.1 grams.
Iron: 11 mg, or 61% of the RDI.
Magnesium: 70-90 mg, or about 20% of the RDI.
Potassium: 1050 mg, or 30% of the RDI.
Manganese: 0.2–0.5 mg, or 10–20% of the RDI.
There is a common misconception among diabetics that jaggery can be safely replaced with table sugar.
However this is wrong.
In spite of the fact that jaggery is more nutritious that table sugar, it still fails to become a healthy choice for Diabetics. The reason being that jaggery is also a food with high glycemic index, having almost same amount of carbohydrate as like that of table sugar.
Jaggery as mentioned earlier contains about 60 percent carbohydrates and thus affects the physiological function of the body in the same way as table sugar does.Even jaggery is rapidly absorbed into the blood streams causing spikes of sugar levels.
Therefore jaggery should not be allowed in a Diabetic diet.
You can definitely use jaggery as a sugar substitute, if you are not suffering from Diabetes or you are not at risk developing Diabetes.
But if a Diabetic consume jaggery , it no less than consuming toxin.
A Diabetic, Controlled or Uncontrolled should avoid jaggery or gur, to avoid spikes of sugar level and thus paving a way for complications.