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Advice please

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Tesseleanor0412

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My husband has been told his Type 2 diabetes is getting worse and is now on new medication. He has to test his blood three times a day then eat and take the tablet. This is the second day. He is of course upset its getting worse. He cannot drink tea or coffee without a sweetener. I used to just buy anything, no particular type. I am finding this rather a confusing issue. I would just like someone to say, buy this or this brand as they are the best. A friend whose husband has Type 2 but injects say that sweeterners do differ and some are not good so good. I do not want to cause any other problems. My husband is not fat, plays squash and tennis is very fit. He has no fat on him at all and feels the cold so much now, cold hands and feet. Any advice of sweeteners would be appreciated.
 
I use sweeteners. Anything that doesn't have saccharine in it. My definition of 'not so good' is any sweetener I don't like the taste of. I use Canderel or Splenda, depending on what is in the shop I'm buying it in. The little Tesco next to my work either has nothing, or Candarel. Big supermarkets have lots of choice!
I've just though of another thing that counts as 'not so good' in my book is something that's banned!
 
Oh thank you so much for taking the time to reply. So Canderel or Splenda. I did not know about the saccharine so I have learnt something. We live in France I am sure I can get these in the pharmacy. Thank you.
 
Sweetners including Splenda and canderel available in bigger French supermarches. Own brand 'edulcorants' are cheaper ( usually same active content as canderel: aspartame and acesulfame-K, )
 
Hi Tesseleanor0412

Another highly recommended sweetener is Zsweet, its available online www.zsweet.eu and they send out to all European countries.

What does your husband eat? Can he try to reduce some carbohydrate in his diet to achieve better control of his diabetes? Does he test his blood sugar after he has eaten and keep a chart to try and work which foods are causing him to have spikes?

All the best

Karen
 
To me saccharine tastes absolutely awful! I think it's one of those things you either can taste or you can't. Like vodka - I have no idea how anyone could ever drink it neat!
 
I took saccharine when I first gave up sugar many moons ago,vile stuff.Now could not drink tea with any sort of sweetener in it.Is you give up the sweeteners within a week you just don't want to drink sweet stuff again.
 
I must admit I gave up sugar in my tea when my Grandma started putting saccharine in it! I can't get used to coffee without added sweetness. Especially americanos from a proper coffee shop! Weaker coffee is OK without without a sweetener. But, what's the point :D
One of my friends lived in Holland for years and got used to good coffee. We meet for coffee in coffee shops where they make 'proper' coffee, and I'm hocked! Strong and black.......
 
saccharine, yeuch, remember Sweetex in the 70s!

Funnily enough, a tea shop I was in earlier this week only had Sweetex, so I grimaced as I took my first tentative sip, and was delighted that it tasted very different from how I remembered it.

Anyway, I use Candarel tablets for drinks. I can't quite get used to coffee or tea without a little sweetness. With very few exceptions if a recipe calls for sugar, we'll use Splenda.

Regards, Tubs.
 
Hi Tesseleanor0412
I use Splenda.If your husband is getting worse, how has this shown itself?
Has he tried a low carbohydrate diet? that is one way of keeping T2 under control that usually works.
 
Hi Tesseleanor,
I think the answer to your question is that it really doesn't matter which artificial sweetener you use because none of them will have any effect on blood sugar. It's really down to which one has the taste you prefer. I think what your friend was referring to is the sugar substitutes that are sometimes used in sweets, chocolate, cakes, yoghurt, etc. These are made from sugar alcohol (a form of laxative) - if you look at the ingredients the name always ends in "ol" (like sorbitol, maltitol), and they do raise your blood sugar although not as much as sugar itself.

For a diabetic sugar is not the main problem. By all means cut out sugar if you can but what causes the greatest raise in blood sugar is carbohydrate, and the worst culprits are the starchy carbs, bread, cereals, cakes, rice, pasta and potatoes. These are simply fillers and contain very little vitamins or minerals. If you can change your diet so that most of your carbohydrates come from vegetables and fruit then you are also getting a healthy amount of vitamins, minerals and fibre, as well as keeping your blood sugar at a lower level.
 
SilverAndEbony said:
I use sweeteners. Anything that doesn't have saccharine in it. My definition of 'not so good' is any sweetener I don't like the taste of. I use Canderel or Splenda, depending on what is in the shop I'm buying it in.
Click to expand...

Yes a very few people may have genuine problems with certain sweeteners but in general it's a taste thang, I personally prefer Splenda just as others personally prefer Canderel.

Likewise with sugar alcohols, some people seem to digest them into glucose as if they were sugar, others turn them into diarrhoea.

In order to improve his diabetes and slow his progression you really need to review the rest of his diet

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/NewlyDiagnosed.htm

it's the starches as much if not more than the sugars which are the danger
 
Have you tried without sweeteners?I gave up sugar in tea/coffee and now I could not drink them with any sort of sweetener.You soon get used to the unsweetened taste.
 
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