Sugar, Chai and the Sweet Tooth

Sugar is not the sole cause of prediabetes — insulin resistance is — but sugary things are where the easiest gains usually sit, because they deliver glucose fast with very little fullness in return.

Chai is the big one in Indian households, simply through repetition. Two spoons of sugar, four or five times a day, adds up to a meaningful daily load that nobody counts as food. Reducing it gradually — half a spoon less every fortnight — works better than stopping abruptly, because your taste genuinely adapts.

Jaggery and honey deserve a straight answer: they raise blood glucose much as sugar does. They may bring trace minerals with them, and that does not change what they do to your blood sugar. Switching from sugar to jaggery is not a meaningful intervention.

Sweet drinks — cold drinks, packaged juices, bottled shakes — are the single easiest thing to remove, because they contribute glucose without satisfying hunger at all. Fresh fruit is a different matter from fruit juice; the fibre changes the picture.

Mithai does not need banning. Small, occasional, and eaten as part of a meal rather than alone on an empty stomach is manageable.

And treat "sugar-free" claims carefully. Many such sweets are still built on refined flour, which your body handles much the same way.