Energy drinks

[bigbenp]

Hello all!

I am fairly new to diabetes (T2 diet) and wanted to ask advice regarding energy drinks.......Are the sugar free zero calories one ok for people with diabetes?

Thank you in advance

Ben.

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[chris lowe]

Check the can for the carbohydrate levels. Personally I can't even stand the smell of the drinks, let alone the taste.

 

[diadeb]

Yep, I drink Lidl's own make, zero cals and carbs, nothing but flavoured water but lovely

 

[Neil Walters]

In a word no but they do affect different people in different ways so you need to work it out - drink a small amount and test your BG every 30 mins and plot the reaction.


Diagnosed Type II 1998 1 x 80 mg Gliclazide, 4 x 500mg Metformin and 1 x 100mg Sitagliptin - HbA1c - 48 mmol/mol

 

[diadeb]

bigbenp, as I have stated I drink them and have no problems when I have tested. Check the label but no calories, no carbohydrates, obviously no sugar so what is there to need to stay away from??

 

[Neil Walters]

I get spikes from a number of the artificial sweeteners so I avoid all of them which also means I am not feeding my sweet tooth etc etc


Diagnosed Type II 1998 1 x 80 mg Gliclazide, 4 x 500mg Metformin and 1 x 100mg Sitagliptin - HbA1c - 48 mmol/mol

 

[LittleWolf]

I do not routinely drink energy drinks but I do get fatigued at times and hypo here and there.

Oddly, the fancy new Lucozade in flavors like Acai, cranberry and lemongrass do not spike my blood sugar like fruit juice does. In fact when I tried normal Lucozade vs popular juice brands it went up slowly compared to ANY white grape juice and... Ribena. Ribena is most certainly off the cards.

I recommend doing the half hour testing to see what each drink does to you personally. x


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[hale710]

Ribena is most certainly off the cards.

It doesn't have to be - I drink the sugar free version

 

[mickey121]

The problem with sugar free drinks is the artificial sweeteners they use to replace the sugars excessive use can have a laxative effect


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Dennis]

Hi Mickey

The problem with sugar free drinks is the artificial sweeteners they use to replace the sugars excessive use can have a laxative effect

That is true of some sugar free drinks but I am pretty certain you will find all the Ribena "no added sugar" range use a mix of aspartame and acesulfame as a sweetening agent. Both of these have zero carbs so cannot raise blood sugar and have no laxative effect. You're probably thinking of sorbitol and maltitol, both of which are highly laxative but are not used in Ribena.

Dennis

 

[noblehead]

Sugar free or not I wouldn't drink them, they can cause a big increase in bp due to the high caffeine content:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/258125.php

 

[Dennis]

That's true - provided they contain caffeine, which unfortunately most energy drinks do. My response was about Ribena, which doesn't.

Dennis

 

[LittleWolf]

Artificial sweeteners taste bloody awful. Guess I can't have my cake and eat it (lol) Funnily enough the cakes I bake at home don't send me through the roof unlike juices and some fruits... Annoying because I love fruit and 'healthier' deserts than cake, which is often too heavy.

Too many caffeine addicts out there...


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[bigbenp]

Thank you all! This diabetes thing is complicated! Lol I don't test my blood sugars as I have not been told to by my doctor. .....should I be?

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[kezz01489]

It's always best to be careful with sweeteners because as sorbitol has a positive effect aspartame has recently come under fire as it is doing more harm than good. I won't describe what's going on but Google it or ask gp. It's scarey that trying to be healthy and its making you worse. There are scarey findings with aspartame.

 

[Neil Walters]

Thank you all! This diabetes thing is complicated! Lol I don't test my blood sugars as I have not been told to by my doctor. .....should I be?

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

Yes you should really


Diagnosed Type II 1998 1 x 80 mg Gliclazide, 4 x 500mg Metformin and 1 x 100mg Sitagliptin - HbA1c - 48 mmol/mol

 

[diadeb]

noblehead, many thanks for the links to that medical article. I had no idea that energy drinks had such adverse effects, I thought that if they were carb free and didn't make my B/G rise then they were ok. I do like the taste of them but I shall not drink them from now on, Deb

 

[ElyDave]

why would you be drinking an energy drink other than when exercising, or post exercise to replace depleted carbs? In that circumstance why would you be bothered about a temporary spike in blood sugars in order to replenish liver and muscle glycogens?

Surely by definition an energy drink that is zero calorie, sugar free is not an energy drink, just flavoured water and should be avoided as a pointless gimmick in the first place?

 

[diadeb]

I was thinking of the Red Bull type drinks to go with vodka

 

[ElyDave]

even worse!

Why not just have a double espresso? Get the same high plus you get the positive health effects if you have real coffee and none of the artificial sweetners.

I have no objection to good vodka by the way, as long as it's suitably chilled.