High bg after drinking Sprite “zero” ?

[TimLibre]

Dear fellow type 1s,

I’ve noticed this before and today again! After drinking so-called ‘Sprite Zero’ i’m getting abnormal high glucose levels. I was around 10 mmol/l this evening after having dinner. Before I had been at the gym, so lower blood glucose were to be expected for the evening. But after having a small can of Sprite zero (25ml) my bg rose to 16 mmol/l ! I heavily suspect the sprite drink.
I had this before a while ago and sent an email to coca cola. But they only sent back a standard email telling me to call customer service in order to provide more information. (While i had already provided a lot of info such as batch, number place of purchase etc). So j didnt bother to follow up and just avoided the drink until today…

Did anyone experience this too after drinking Sprite Zero? In my case it were cans from the Netherlands. The standard. Sprite in the Netherlands is sold as ‘Sprite zero’ so officially there is no more sprite With sugar in our country. I know in other countries the standard sprite still contains sugar.

 

[Antje77]

I don't even like Sprite, but I'm willing to buy a Dutch can later this week for a test.
My BG is very stable and I eat lowish carb, so if there's something wrong with the ingredients vs the nutritional info it should clearly show.

 

[TimLibre]

Great thanks Antje! It concerns the long shaped sprite cans of 25 ml. I bought mine at Flink but I think AH also sells them.

 

[Antje77]

Long shaped 25 ml sprite can, check.
Next supermarket trip will likely be on friday so it needs a bit of patience. No Flink here in Friesland but plenty of AH's.
I'll have my yearly blood test as well on friday, I think I won't do the experiment until after the blood draw.

Any tips on which (no sugar!) booze will make the sprite a bit more palatable?
I mean, if I'm going to drink it I might as well enjoy it!

Long shot, but @JoKalsbeek , do you drink things like Sprite?

 

[Rachox]

Great thanks Antje! It concerns the long shaped sprite cans of 25 ml. I bought mine at Flink but I think AH also sells them.

25ml is extremely small for a can of fizzy drink. Do you mean 25cl (which is 250ml)?

 

[Antje77]

25ml is extremely small for a can of fizzy drink. Do you mean 25cl (which is 250ml)?

I automatically read that as 250ml, must have been a typo.

 

[In Response]

Any tips on which (no sugar!) booze will make the sprite a bit more palatable?

How about advocaat and make a snowball?
Not sure about the sugar content if advocaat though.

 

[Antje77]

How about advocaat and make a snowball?
Not sure about the sugar content if advocaat though.

Your link leads to a pasta dish, but the google is ever helpful.
A snowball sounds very interesting, but sadly advocaat is high in sugars so not suited for this experiment.

I guess it'll have to be a boring wodka or jenever or such.

 

[Suzanne O (Engand)]

Dear fellow type 1s,

I’ve noticed this before and today again! After drinking so-called ‘Sprite Zero’ i’m getting abnormal high glucose levels. I was around 10 mmol/l this evening after having dinner. Before I had been at the gym, so lower blood glucose were to be expected for the evening. But after having a small can of Sprite zero (25ml) my bg rose to 16 mmol/l ! I heavily suspect the sprite drink.
I had this before a while ago and sent an email to coca cola. But they only sent back a standard email telling me to call customer service in order to provide more information. (While i had already provided a lot of info such as batch, number place of purchase etc). So j didnt bother to follow up and just avoided the drink until today…

Did anyone experience this too after drinking Sprite Zero? In my case it were cans from the Netherlands. The standard. Sprite in the Netherlands is sold as ‘Sprite zero’ so officially there is no more sprite With sugar in our country. I know in other countries the standard sprite still contains sugar.

I would avoid that drink. Well done for taking note of what you eat and drink and keeping a log to see any changes in pattern that way, to know what caused it. Best is avoid that drink. Water is best.

 

[TimLibre]

Long shaped 25 ml sprite can, check.
Next supermarket trip will likely be on friday so it needs a bit of patience. No Flink here in Friesland but plenty of AH's.
I'll have my yearly blood test as well on friday, I think I won't do the experiment until after the blood draw.

Any tips on which (no sugar!) booze will make the sprite a bit more palatable?
I mean, if I'm going to drink it I might as well enjoy it!

Long shot, but @JoKalsbeek , do you drink things like Sprite?

Captain Morgan has a more taste and is listed as 0g carbs, but not sure how it goes with sprite not sure if it might spoil the experiment..; )

 

[JoKalsbeek]

Long shaped 25 ml sprite can, check.
Next supermarket trip will likely be on friday so it needs a bit of patience. No Flink here in Friesland but plenty of AH's.
I'll have my yearly blood test as well on friday, I think I won't do the experiment until after the blood draw.

Any tips on which (no sugar!) booze will make the sprite a bit more palatable?
I mean, if I'm going to drink it I might as well enjoy it!

Long shot, but @JoKalsbeek , do you drink things like Sprite?

Sorry, no... Used to, but tastes far, far too sweet for me now. Plus, these particular sweeteners don't agree with me. (Migraines, gut-health). Should be sugar free by default, though... 7up and the like still use sugar, but Sprite's all artificials.

Good luck with the upcoming blood draw, and the experiment!

 

[Laineybod]

Good luck with the experiment, I hope you get to the bottom of it. I drink zero sugar sprite and noticed last year (I'm in Scotland) that they had brought out a low calorie sprite, I'm not sure if trying to have that one on the market instead of the full sugar. It does mean that for now there are three types available and a lot of people I know who aren't diabetic have got confused between them and thought the low calorie had no sugar. It does just less that full version. I am a stickler for checking labels thankfully. Not that it has anything to do with your situation but it's very frustrating so needed somewhere to talk about it lol.

 

[lovinglife]

Good luck with the experiment, I hope you get to the bottom of it. I drink zero sugar sprite and noticed last year (I'm in Scotland) that they had brought out a low calorie sprite, I'm not sure if trying to have that one on the market instead of the full sugar. It does mean that for now there are three types available and a lot of people I know who aren't diabetic have got confused between them and thought the low calorie had no sugar. It does just less that full version. I am a stickler for checking labels thankfully. Not that it has anything to do with your situation but it's very frustrating so needed somewhere to talk about it lol.

They sent me that as a replacement in my shopping over Christmas, luckily I noticed and sent it back 250ml has 11g carb, scary if you’re caught out

 

[TimLibre]

Maybe sprite is accidently using the full or half carbs version to fill up ‘zero’ cans? Or maybe its just me. I still have 3 cans left so anyone that wants to try let me know

 

[Antje77]

Long shaped 25 ml sprite can, check.
Next supermarket trip will likely be on friday so it needs a bit of patience. No Flink here in Friesland but plenty of AH's.
I'll have my yearly blood test as well on friday, I think I won't do the experiment until after the blood draw.

The experiment has started!
My first finding is that it tastes absolutely vile, next time someone wants me to do an experiment, please make me try something I actually like!

BG at 2:25 pm was 5.5 with a fingerprick. (5.4 according to sensor.)
No active insulin on board, no unusual activity (drinking coffee on the couch and trying to get rid of the taste of sweeteners).
Took me 10 minutes to down the can, and now we wait.

Ingredients and nutritional information copied from supermarket website, double checked, it said the same on the can:

Ingrediënten: Sprankelend water; voedingszuren: citroenzuur, wijnsteenzuur; zuurteregelaar: natriumcitraten; zoetstoffen: aspartaam, acesulfaam-K, sucralose; natuurlijke citroen-limoen aroma's; conserveermiddel: natriumbenzoaat

Soort	Per 100 Milliliter
Energie	5 kJ (1 kcal)
Vet	0 g
waarvan verzadigd	0 g
Koolhydraten	0 g
waarvan suikers	0 g
Eiwitten	0 g
Zout	0.04 g

 

[Antje77]

Conclusion: Definitely no sugar in my can of sprite.

Maybe sprite is accidently using the full or half carbs version to fill up ‘zero’ cans? Or maybe its just me. I still have 3 cans left so anyone that wants to try let me know

I was around 10 mmol/l this evening after having dinner. Before I had been at the gym, so lower blood glucose were to be expected for the evening. But after having a small can of Sprite zero (25ml) my bg rose to 16 mmol/l ! I heavily suspect the sprite drink.

Can it have been the meal you had prior to the Sprite?

Fingerpricks were taken right before drinking and at 30 minutes and one hour.

Before: 5.4
30 min: 4.6
1 hour: 4.7

 

[aylalake]

@Antje77 a heartfelt thank you for taking one for the team! Truly above and beyond!

 

[Antje77]

@Antje77 a heartfelt thank you for taking one for the team! Truly above and beyond!

I love those experiments, but I must admit I liked the one with plums I did last year a lot better, taste wise. Not so much BG wise though, but it was great fun still!

 

[EllieM]

I agree with @aylalake , that was truly noble and public spirited @Antje77 .

 

[TimLibre]

Thanks for the efforts @Antje77 ! So apart from the taste, sprite should be alright for us it seems
In that case I’m not sure what caused my high bg..i remember i was at the gym and made a sandwhich (soft bread) with fried egg after it, took a bit of insulin. Normally no reason to rise to 16, especially after gym.
Probably it wasnt the Sprite then. But I think i’ll offer the remaining cans to visitors anyway