A friend bought me some sugar-free candy. I looked at the carbs. 15g for one serving?!?!?! I assume this is useless and I should toss it in the trash, because it will obviously raise my BG even thought it is “sugar free.” Am I correct?
I am sure she meant well. 
well Misty that is funny because I just blogged about using hard candy to quit smoking, lol, and that the sugar-free raised my bg. So funny that we both brought up the same subject. But, yeah I agree, totally useless since the whole deal is to not raise the bg with sugarf just to find out the carbs in it will do the same. You would probably be betteroff eating the real stuff…at least it will taste better.
Well I think the real stuff might have MORE carbs but I will check it out. I keep meaning to check on Altoids because I don’t like the sugarfree ones. I guess great minds really do think alike.
BRAVO on quitting smoking!! I bet you can post a question about what else to try instead of hard candy. I know for a lot of people it is their hands, not their mouth, that they need to keep occupied. I have a friend who took up knitting and she is fabulous now!
Yes Misty, you were absolutely right to look at the carb count!!
I avoid all sugar-free candies (except gum) because the real stuff tastes a lot better (but should be used in moderation) and often the sugar free has MORE carbs than the regular. On the packaging/advertising, they claim that “sugar alcohols” don’t count as carbs, but for most of us, they DO raise our blood sugar (some people only count half of the sugar alcohol, others count it all). So don’t trust the net carb calculations.
You will probably get more gifts like this from people who mean well. I tell them to buy me FUN SIZE candy bars. A small snickers is 6g of carbs and much better than some fake candy. The trick is learning to eat just one!!
Ugh. I hate SF candy. First, it’s gross. Second, there are the lovely side-effects (read the package if you don’t know what I mean). Third, the carbs aren’t significantly different from regular candy. And the big fourth that makes me the most irritated is that it’s such a marketing scam. People don’t read the labels or don’t understand what they’re reading if they look at the label, and marketers take advantage of that. they charge twice as much, give you half, and for what? Crappy candy that makes you crap and isn’t worth crap for controlling BG’s.
You’re right, Misty… WTF?
Admittedly, I’m in the all-things-in-moderation camp, so I can deal with having a little bit of the real thing without overindulging and destroying my BG (plus the insulin helps), but if you’re going to treat yourself to 15 carbs worth of candy, do yourself a favor and eat the real stuff.
Oh, and Kristin… the gifts! I have so much SF candy, all gifts, in my fridge that sits under the pile of real candy. The SF candy supply never goes away (I should really trash it), but the real candy supply needs regular replenishing
HAHA!! My husband eats the sugar free stuff when there’s NO other chocolate around… because EVEN then I don’t eat it. A waste of carbs, if you ask me!
OK, and the phrase “Crappy candy that makes you crap” has me rolling on the floor with laughter!! They should print THAT on the labels!!
Just thought I would weigh in here and say that we review quite a bit of sugar free candy and in my experience two points should always be kept in mind when dealing with sugar alcohols:
Sugar alcohols, on average, will contribute at least half as much as sugar to blood glucose, so act accordingly.
The packaging has suggested serving size for a reason. Some of the newer sugar free candies are actually suggesting trying less than the recommended serving size as a test. In terms of gastrointestinal problems from the consumption of these candies, we have found that we never have problems when staying below the recommended serving size.
They should just market the SF jelly beans as not-so-bad going down… fast-acting laxatives !!! LOL !!!
But on a serious note… be sure to check the labels on all those SF cookies and desserts too !!! If they take out the sugar they have to compensate for taste somewhere… usually by an increase in saturated fat —
I buy a lot of those 100 calorie snacks for my daughter … they taste good (of course just enough there to make you want some more)… but they have a lot of option for 15 carbs or less… not bad for snacking !!!
I agree - the real thing is better and better for you.
In Australia we have a brand of sfc called “Double D” don’t know if you have it where you are. I just checked and this one has no carbs (no sugar -nothing at all) and it taste yum good to take when I go to the movies…
Those 100-calorie packs are bad news IMHO. Too much packaging, way too expensive compared to buying larger bags and portioning out the snacks (do the math), and just NOT filling at all. I have heard of a lot of people (and I have done it too) eating 3-4 packages of them at one sitting. I try to stay away from them now.