hi, Jewels, don’t worry too much about the forum, if it’s really in an awkward place the admins move it.
I don’t find I have any problem with the sugar substitutes - thank God, because I have enough problems with food already! My favorite is the Tropicana or Minute Maid diet lemonade in the can or the Lipton diet Green tea in the plastic bottles.
I find that sugar alcohol and the amount effect me in different ways. Dr B says that FDA allows food companies to be off by up to 20% on their food labeling so what you see may not be what you get. I am watching the sugar alcohols more closely when it says sugar free.
Yeah, this is true… and they did a test on the news recently, and some of those foods were off my more than 30% – even more than what the FDA allows. This is why I quit using toothpaste with sugar alcohol, or sucralose, as I noticed it affecting me in the mornings. Not healthy, and not worth it. I find toothpastes with sodium saccharin now.
I often get frustrated with labels too… The fact that there are some food and drinks labeled “diet” or “low” doesn’t really mean it is sugar-free (because of sugar alcohols) or diabetic friendly. I also tend to read the"fine prints" and the number of servings recommended as per the nutritional facts claim.
Everything consumers can lie about to sell their products they will. It is maddening to say the least.
@ Jewels, My experience with so-called Lipton “Diet” Green Tea is it raised my bg big time. I read the darn label and thought I finally found something I could drink besides water, but I was so wrong!
Yes! I was so excited to see diet tea and so disappointed when I drank it.
I drank it often to make sure I was correct in my findings, and sure enough every time.
The cup of hot peppermint tea think really blew my mind. That little packet of sweetener blows my bg’s bigtime. So depressing. I’m wondering now if my home made kool ade made with splenda is a no no as well.
I’ve never had any problems with fake sugar, but I don’t consume all that much. How much are you using? Its true (and stated on the package) that splenda has less than 1 carb per packet, so if you are using 5 or 6 in a coffee that is probably 4 or 5 g of carbs. They have to cut the splenda with something because the volume of splenda to get the desired sweetness would be about 1 microgram or something that small. They have to make it usable with maltodextrin.
Other than the occational coke zero and making hot cocoa with 1/2 packet of splenda, I avoid the fake sugars. They are not great for you (I know for us its the devil you know…). Sugar alcohols should be counted as 50% of the stated value, so if you are eating something with 10 carbs, of which 8 are alcohols, subtract 4, not 8- this food would have 6g carb, not 2 like they try to convince you.
You don’t have to completely avoid sugar- a carb is a carb.
I just use Stevia… I don’t risk it. I’ve made unsweetened teas, and added my own stevia to it, and it was fine. In large amounts, Splenda CAN increase blood sugar… because they cut it with sugar alcohol. On this link, http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/sweets/9252/2, you can find the nutritional data for Splenda, and can adjust the serving sizes to see not just the carb count and how it changes, but how much of a glycemic load this product would put in our blood streams. Anything above 20 is very bad… Anything above 10 is like having a meal on its own, pretty much… Consider the amount of Splenda you would need to put in a whole 2 quarts of Kool Aid (which is about 225 grams), and how much people do NOT stop at just the one glass… and consume it all throughout the day… And you will see how much extra glucose this will put in your blood stream. You might as well be having real sugar.
Artificial sweeteners can be a useful tool, but just like imitation salt, if used too much, they can have bad consequences.
I am sure that the Ego waffles my son so loves for breakfast are way higher in carb than the label says. We keep adjusting his breakfast ratio and increasing what the carb # is and he is still high by lunch. Can’t seem to find what the real carb count for them are. All his other meals seem fine.
Learning to read labels and interpreting them is an education in itself…it takes time. The only artificial sweetner I ingest are included in drinks. I long ago gave up adding sweetners to drinks without it. Like I said reading labels take time and hopefully you’ll have a lifetime to do so. The Calorie King book has detailed information on all foods, condiments and others food stuff.
You think you’re fustrated.
I live in three areas of the country: three different major chains to deal with, each with its own brands. I move around.
I take nothing for granted.
My exercise is re-acquainting myself with the labels on food in each of the stores where I have to shop and finding the nearest place where almond meal and good whey protein are sold.
There are so many brands that tout sugar free & low sugar that ought to be put out of business.
I feel most for newbies learning their way around.
I’m trying not to rant.
I’m new to the site but not to diabetes.
Been diabetic for 18 years. They’ve changed the “rules” on me so many times over the years.
My frustration is even the diet lipton tea in the bottle spikes my blood sugars.
Also the tropicana diet stuff. So there’s something in them that is carb or sugar related.
I just don’t think it’s right for them to label sugar free when things are not sugar free.
I also don’t do well with the whole net carb thing. Everyone’s body reacts differently to carbs no matter how complex etc… you know? So how can they say we can count it as a net carb of 5? Not all body’s break down things the same.
I am new to pumping though.
Thanks to all for advice, support and feedback.
It is nice to have the support and all…
Yeah, I agree jewels… I still react to something which has a lot of carbs, even if half of it is fiber. Fiber still raises my blood glucose as any other carb, maybe not as much, but significantly enough for me not to go overboard on it, justifying it to myself as ‘15 net carbs’ when in reality there’s 30. It just doesn’t work for me.
