Confused about sugar free Halls cough sweets

[Meg2009Arm]

Hi

Looking at the carb contents on a packet of sugar free Halls cough sweets I bought today it says carbs 97.1g (Of which Sugars 0.0g) I've read many times that it's the carb content you need to look at not the 'of which sugars' Does this mean they will send my BS sky high?

Cheers
Meg

 

[garythegob]

Hi meg, i have always been told that the OF WHICH SUGAR bit affects your bs almost IMMEDIATELY, where bs the rest of the carbs release slower into your blood stream, I AM SURE I WILL BE CORRECTED IF NEED BE!

Sent from the Diabetes Forum App

 

[Meg2009Arm]

Thanks Gary. Well I thought I'd give it ago and try one and see what happens. 1 hour after my BS is 6.8 the same as it was an hour ago

 

[Sid Bonkers]

If they contain 97g of carbs per 100g then if you ate 100g then yes it probably would shoot up your bg levels but one lozenge probably doesnt weigh "that" much does it?

If you want to know exactly how much each lozenge is then you need to either weigh a single lozenge, you will need very accurate scales I would have thought or divide the weight of the whole tube/tin/box of lozenges by the amount of lozenges present, that will give you the weight of each lozenge.

Alternatively you could just take one and see what happens I doubt if it will kill you

It is the CARBOHYDRATES that we as diabetics should be aware of as ALL carbs turn to glucose in our stomachs. It is best to eat foods that contain small amounts of sugar but dont be fooled into thinking it is only the of which part sugars that you need to watch

Any diabetic that takes insulin has to cover ALL carbs not just the sugars so that tells us that it is ALL carbs that we need to count/watch/be aware of :thumbup:

 

[hanadr]

I haven't checked out the details of Hall's cough sweets. I will!
However there's a problem for many people in understanding the cconcept of carbohydrates.. Not all carbohydrates are digestible [sic, dietary fibre, which is cellulose] and not all the digestible ones raise blood glucose. Only the carbohydrates made up of glucose monomers do that. there are many other "base" units for carbs, such as, trioses, tetroses and pentoses[and probably heptoses and octoses too!]. None of these raise blood glucose, but all are in the strict sense carbohydrates.
thus the Americans, correctly, list cellulose as a carbohydrate in all their labelling. We separate it off.
It's all quite complex unless you have some knowledge of organic chemistry and metabolism.
the carbs which are important to diabetics are the glucose based ones, such as glucose bases sugars and starches. They are the chief culprits for raising blood glucose.
Hana

 

[hanadr]

I looked it up
The Hall's sugar free sweets contain 97% polyols. Polyols are molecules which have characteristics of both sugars and alcohols. they are sweet, but usually less so than sugars. We don't metabolise polyols, so they don't raise blood glucose. I keep Xylitol crysals at home for cooking. It's a bit pricey, but has a better flavour than any truly artificial sweeteners.
I think it's extracted from birch tree sap.
Oh and not all alcohols make you intoxicated. They too are a FAMILY of molecules. the well known one found in booze is one of the smaller members of the family.ethanol! the smallest one "methanol" is pretty toxic.
Hana

 

[Meg2009Arm]

Thanks Hana, thats really interesting. I do find it quite complex trying to figure these things out. I am type 2 but on insulin. I'm pretty good at getting my doses right with the number of set meals I eat regularly but trying new things often throws a spanner in the works :shock:

Thanks for your help.

Meg