An article on the dangers sugar for the general public shows that a banana is equal to eight tea spoons of sugar.
Should T2 diabetics eat them?
That's absurd. The largest banana you could possibly find only has about 20 grams of sugar in it. That's 5 teaspoons worth, however it isn't the same because the banana's sugar is caught up within the rest of the complex carbohydrates, and it takes time for the stomach to release it.
All good diabetics know:
Since everything you eat that isn't protein or pure fat eventually turns into sugar, it isn't the amount of sugar foods have, but the time it takes for sugar to reach your blood stream that matters most.
8 Teaspoons of pure sugar will hit your blood stream almost immediately before the body has time to counteract it. A banana doesn't have that problem.
As well bananas have as many as 16 different phytochemicals and minerals that work against diabetes, (courtesy of James Duke's USDA Phytochemical Database)
Here is the link... once it is approved.
Just to clarify, I wasn't saying I didn't believe you about the article. I meant the article's contentions are absurd.
I knew that but that is the popular press for you. The Express is even worse with front page usually contradictory front page headlines several times a week.
are fruit more natural sugars
According to the current scientific understanding there are basically two kinds of sugars. one kind of sugar without any fructose and another that's half fructose and half glucose (or glucose equivalent). Most plant based sugars are the kind with fructose in it. All types of sugar are natural. The problem occurs during refinement when the plant (for example sugarcane) and all of it's beneficial components are separated out from the raw sugar so it will be easier to transport and perhaps more attractive to the end consumer who may be more concerned with the sweetness and smoothness of the product than how healthy it is at the time they ingest it. A whole fruit has sugar in it yes, but it also has fibre, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and dozens of beneficial bioactive compounds that help to keep your body systems in balance. Pure refined sugar no longer retains it's share of these beneficial qualities. As the name suggests, they've been 'refined' out of it.