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Sweeteners and Maltodextrin warning:

sugarshy

Active Member
Messages
41
Location
Blackburn
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Walking past cake shops
I've was diagnosed with T2D well over a year ago and it's still a learning curve for me. I have been using sweeteners occasionally for coffee etc. Just recently I have been using Aldi's own brand and also Stevia. This morning I took the trouble to look at the ingredients and discovered that the main ingredient is Maltodextrin, in both products, I'm referring to the big tubs of sweeteners that are used with the equivalent volume as sugar in sweetness, then I discovered online that this substance is worse for you than sugar itself!

"Maltodextrin can cause spikes in your blood sugar because it has a high glycemic index, and this can be particularly dangerous for people with diabetes symptoms or insulin resistance. Maltodextrin’s glycemic index is even higher than table sugar, ranging from 106 to 136 (while table sugar is 65)."

Both tubs are now discarded. Many of you probably already know this but anyone who is still using these type of sweeteners I wanted to get this info out there.

https://draxe.com/maltodextrin/

Maltodextrin is also the main ingredient in Splenda
 
Bernstein mentions about avoiding maltodextrin in his book.
 
I think, though, that you only use tiny amounts compared to sugar, so its not that bad?
 
It's always worth checking ingredients - not only for sweeteners, but also other processed foods as it's often a real eye opener to see what been added.

The problem with stevia is that because it's so sweet, it's actually difficiult to use in small enough quantities to prevent it being quite overpowering, so it's usually bulked out with various fillers, some of whch are quite unsuitable for diabetics. You can get liquid stevia which is a much better bet, or tiny tubs of powdered stevia, though both these can often be pretty expensive! But also look for stevia/erythritol combinations which should be fine to use, and won't (or shouldn't) spike your glucose levels.

When I first discovered suitable alternative sweeteners, I actually used tiny tubs of powdered stevia and bought a tiny laboratory type "micro spoon" to scoop it up with. I now use either the liquid stevia (for drinks) or powdered Natvia erythritol/stevia combinations (mainly for baking) which are much easier to deal with!

Robbity
 
Cheers for that, I have simply stayed away from sweeteners so not looked at the ingredients. I do wonder if it sneaks into things without me looking properly?
 
lucylocket61 said:
I think, though, that you only use tiny amounts compared to sugar, so its not that bad?
Click to expand...

I'm not really sure about the tiny amount, the list of ingredients does not quote quantity. The quote that I posted within my original post was copied and pasted from an internet page so I'm still giving it a miss and trying to find an alternative.
 
Ross.Walker said:
Cheers for that, I have simply stayed away from sweeteners so not looked at the ingredients. I do wonder if it sneaks into things without me looking properly?
Click to expand...

Probably on the odd occasion! It takes me twice as long to do a weekly shop now, spend ages reading ingredients and looking at nutritional panels.....haha what a bore!
 
Thanks for the above Robbity and sorry for being late in replying. As I mentioned to Ross.Walker, I now spend a huge amount of time researching ingredients and it takes a month to do a weekly shop. I have to carry a magnifying glass around with me some of the print is that small!
 
I use only tablet sweeteners, on the assumption that much less malto-dextrin would be contained in them, when compared to the powdered variety .
 
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