Carbs in Supposedly "sugar-free" Ricola sweets.

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Downhill Racer

Downhill Racer

Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I've been sucking on Ricola Sugar-Free sweets to curb my appetite, but now I've read the nutritional information on the back I've discovered they contain 2.4 gms of carbs per sweet! (polyols) I've been consuming at least 6-10 a day stupidly thinking there were no carbs or calories in the things. I'm having real trouble losing weight, could these secret carbs be part of the problem and should I return the packets I ordered on Amazon back to them and find another truly carb free sweet to suck on to take my mind off food? Please help! from a new member.
 
Polyols apparently don't have much of an effect on blood sugar and used in products like low-carb chocolate and sweets.
Have you tried testing before and after?
 
We cannot digest polyols easily - but our gut flora and fauna can - I had a violent stomach upset when I ate some bars sweetened with them.
 
Ah, yes, sugar free sweets with the 'Consumption can have a laxative effect!'

I once at a bag by accident years ago and spend most of the evening running to the loo for a number 2.

Best avoided.
 
harbottle said:
Polyols apparently don't have much of an effect on blood sugar and used in products like low-carb chocolate and sweets.
Have you tried testing before and after?
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Thanks harbottle, No-one has suggested testing. I'm newly diagnosed and my levels don't seem that high compared with others on the forums. My hba1c was only in the low 50's I think. Tomorrow I'm starting an online course with the Diabetes education centre at Torbay hospital. I'm hoping I can get some answers to many things there. Especially as to why I haven't lost any weight in spite of watching carbs and eating less than 1000 calories/day.
I'm very impressed with your weight loss. Care to share any tips please? Do you think the Metformin helps?
 
Downhill Racer said:
Thanks harbottle, No-one has suggested testing. I'm newly diagnosed and my levels don't seem that high compared with others on the forums. My hba1c was only in the low 50's I think. Tomorrow I'm starting an online course with the Diabetes education centre at Torbay hospital. I'm hoping I can get some answers to many things there. Especially as to why I haven't lost any weight in spite of watching carbs and eating less than 1000 calories/day.
I'm very impressed with your weight loss. Care to share any tips please? Do you think the Metformin helps?
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I went on a low-carb diet, pretty much eating fish/chicken with veg and cutting out all things like rice, pasta, bread and potatoes. I used the recipes in this book:

The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook: Eat to Beat Diabetes with 100 Easy Low-carb Recipes – THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER (Diabetes Series) : Caldesi, Katie Caldesi & Giancarlo: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook: Eat to Beat Diabetes with 100 Easy Low-carb Recipes – THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER (Diabetes Series) : Caldesi, Katie Caldesi & Giancarlo: Amazon.co.uk: Books
www.amazon.co.uk

I don't think the Metformin helps with weight loss.

(I do use some other books, but the Caldesi one has so many delicious recipes I tend to go back to that one.)
 
Not necessarily the sweets but people fall into the trap that sugar free or no added sugar or low sugar means Low carbohydrate. Always look for the TOTAL carbohydrate in nutritional information as that is the relevant number.
Many people find a low carb less than 130g per day regime successful in losing weight and managing blood glucose. I started off with an HbA1C of 50mmol/mol and went low carb and reduced to 42mmol/mol in three months no meds, I also lost 15kg.
 
At Christmas someone gave me low carb Turkish Delights. One or two were not enough, went to loo and it was only then that I read the label “eating more than 3 or 4 may have a laxative effect”.

Learned my lesson and ended up binning them as I knew there would be a temptation.
 
harbottle said:
I went on a low-carb diet, pretty much eating fish/chicken with veg and cutting out all things like rice, pasta, bread and potatoes. I used the recipes in this book:

The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook: Eat to Beat Diabetes with 100 Easy Low-carb Recipes – THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER (Diabetes Series) : Caldesi, Katie Caldesi & Giancarlo: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The 30 Minute Diabetes Cookbook: Eat to Beat Diabetes with 100 Easy Low-carb Recipes – THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER (Diabetes Series) : Caldesi, Katie Caldesi & Giancarlo: Amazon.co.uk: Books
www.amazon.co.uk

I don't think the Metformin helps with weight loss.

(I do use some other books, but the Caldesi one has so many delicious recipes I tend to go back to that one.)
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Thank you for the cookbook link. I haven't eaten rice, pasta, bread or potatoes for over 2 months. It's disheartening... I do have 4 multigrain crackers with Vegemite for breakfast but that's only 12.9gms carbs. I've been keeping carbs below 40gms a day and still not losing.
 
Thanks harbottle, I've ordered the Caldesi's latest cookbook (March 2022) as on taking a quick look inside, it seems to cover what they had in previous editions. I do like the comparisons with teaspoons of sugar for various food items. Was shocked to see a banana is the equiv of 6 teaspoons of sugar! Eek! I've been having a banana on my salad and it's the only fruit I've been eating. Guess I'll be stopping that silly habit.
 
I also recommend the Caldesi cookbook.
I stick to blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, as they're less sugary, and you can weigh out a small portion of them fairly easily.
 
Downhill Racer said:
Thank you for the cookbook link. I haven't eaten rice, pasta, bread or potatoes for over 2 months. It's disheartening... I do have 4 multigrain crackers with Vegemite for breakfast but that's only 12.9gms carbs. I've been keeping carbs below 40gms a day and still not losing.
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You could have some cheese on your crackers then you would be having some protein and fat to help with not feeling hungry or you could try Greek yoghurt and berries.
 
I absolutely adore fruit but only restrict myself to berries for tge past two years, also a good idea is to keep a supply of frozen berries in the freezer.
 
I think it would be pretty much impossible to find any sort of sweet which contains no carbs at all! Some good suggestions on here for what you could snack on instead. Cheese, meat, berries, olives etc depending on what you like.

My brother found out the hard way about artificial sweeteners - got himself a couple of bags of sugar-free Werthers sweets, thought he could just pig the lot as they had no sugar in, then spent most of the next two days on the toilet :rofl:
Serve him right for not sharing!
 
Downhill Racer said:
Thank you for the cookbook link. I haven't eaten rice, pasta, bread or potatoes for over 2 months. It's disheartening... I do have 4 multigrain crackers with Vegemite for breakfast but that's only 12.9gms carbs. I've been keeping carbs below 40gms a day and still not losing.
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You might actually be eating too little - crackers are just as much a carb as cake.
I eat twice a day, 12 hours apart, but I have two proper meals.
Today's breakfast was tuna salad, other options are steak and stirfry or a pork chop with mushrooms. I have under 10 gm of carb early in the day as I am more resistant then.
Later in the day I have up to 30 gm of carbs when I have a dessert, which I might do a couple of times a week. I do not have low fat options, as we need fat and protein, we do not need carbs in order to survive.
 
nonethewiser said:
Go easy on them sugar free sweets, artificial sweetners can make you crap through eye of needle at 50 paces.
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:rofl: Luckily, they've never had that effect on me. I'm still wondering if I should send the box back to Amazon or just limit myself to 4 sweets a day so that i have something in my mouth when I get the hungries?
 
Drummer said:
You might actually be eating too little - crackers are just as much a carb as cake.
I eat twice a day, 12 hours apart, but I have two proper meals.
Today's breakfast was tuna salad, other options are steak and stirfry or a pork chop with mushrooms. I have under 10 gm of carb early in the day as I am more resistant then.
Later in the day I have up to 30 gm of carbs when I have a dessert, which I might do a couple of times a week. I do not have low fat options, as we need fat and protein, we do not need carbs in order to survive.
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Telling me I'm not eating enough is music to my ears, but I somehow don't think that increasing my calories is going to solve this inability to lose weight. Is there an expert area in the forums about this, does anyone know? I love fats and proteins so no problems there 🙂
 
Downhill Racer said:
:rofl: Luckily, they've never had that effect on me. I'm still wondering if I should send the box back to Amazon or just limit myself to 4 sweets a day so that i have something in my mouth when I get the hungries?
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Better things to have would be nuts or cheese, or you could try Protein bars, Nature Valley do them or KIND or Fibre 90 all approx 10g carb per bar or some shop own protein nut bars are only 5g carbs per bar.
 
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