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Sugar free

djry

djry

Well-Known Member
Messages
74
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
What does everyone think about sugar free foods & sweets good or bad??
 
If you're talking about processed foods, just be very careful with those that replace "real" sugars with sugar alcohols, as these can have some very unpleasant side effects if consumed in any quantity. So if anything claims to be sugar free, look carefully at the ingredients to see what's been added instead. They can be just as bad or worse than real sugar. :eek:

Naturally sugar free foods (or those with very low natural sugar/carbohydrate content, e.g. berries) are a different matter and are usually OK to eat in moderation.

Robbity
 
GrantGam1337 said:
How and why?
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I agree with what Robbity said. Low or 'no sugar' products marketed at the diabetic community, or for weight loss, contain substitute additives that can be harmful to us, or can exascerbate our condition. There has already been much debate on this topic covered in other threads, and if you take a little excursion to view what others have already said, together with trial studies that back up the evidence, then you won't need to ask your question again. These products are not offered with your health in mind. More like the depth of your pockets.
 
Oldvatr said:
I agree with what Robbity said. Low or 'no sugar' products marketed at the diabetic community, or for weight loss, contain substitute additives that can be harmful to us, or can exascerbate our condition. There has already been much debate on this topic covered in other threads, and if you take a little excursion to view what others have already said, together with trial studies that back up the evidence, then you won't need to ask your question again. These products are not offered with your health in mind. More like the depth of your pockets.
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I'm not talking about diabetic friendly products by the way.

When I'm out with friends for lunch and it comes to the drink side of things. I normally have water but sometimes I go totally wild! I'll have a diet irn bru and I don't think this negatively affects my health does it...?

Again I'm reading this thread purely as "sugar free products being bad" not the diabetic population being targeted by the marketers.

I've never eaten (on purpose) any food labeled diet or sugar free apart from drinks.

Grant
 
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I personally think they're fine in moderation, I have sugar free drinks with my meals and the odd boiled sweet. It's a personal choice if you want to use them. I find that they don't impact on my bs but others I know do - there is no right or wrong answer it's a choice
 
Really it is a personal choice but by eating to your meter you will find what spikes and you and thus what to avoid

I personally avoid sweeteners as they give me the 'taste' of sugar and the desire for more.
 
I've only just tried sugar free things this week things like biscuits and some sweets and it hasn't affected my bs at all. I just feel like I can't eat hardly anything so thought I'd give it a try
 
GrantGam1337 said:
I'm not talking about diabetic friendly products by the way.

When I'm out with friends for lunch and it comes to the drink side of things. I normally have water but sometimes I go totally wild! I'll have a diet irn bru and I don't think this negatively affects my health does it...?

Again I'm reading this thread purely as "sugar free products being bad" not the diabetic population being targeted by the marketers.

I've never eaten (on purpose) any food labeled diet or sugar free apart from drinks.

Grant
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I did an experiment on myself, and found the diet coke raised my bgl by 2 mmol/L within half an hour. A similar test with Coke Zero also raised me but by only 1 mmol/L. May be this was the placebo effect, but as I was performing at the time, I did not really have time to think much about it. My fellow performer (T1D on pump) has also found similar rises when consuming diet drinks. But of course full fat sodas are much worse, so the sugar free varieties are an improvement.

Note I reported a rise, but working as a performer on stage would normally drop my bgl. My buddy quite oftten suffers hypos on stage, so the spike these drinks could actually be causing is probably more than just recorded in my test. I think if you are talking this type of product, then it is likely that some sugar alcohols such as Malitol get added to the brew, and these do not get reported as sugars in the labellling.

It is well known that Malitol in particular can make the average bgl meter give a false low reading, Also some artifical sweetners have been linked to increasing Insulin Resistance and of affecting gut enzyme actions that can push up insulin levels in T2D's This would not show up as increased BGL in itself, but will nonetheless lead to a rise due to storage pathway being inhibited by the insulin.
 
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