Sugar-Free Products

[Spykerboy]

Is it generally considered safe overall, to eat or drink anything you buy off the supermarket shelf that is labelled "Sugar-Free"?

 

[Drummer]

@Spykerboy Sometimes.
Sugar free drinks and jelly are fine, from what I have seen.
Cake, biscuits, bars, no - they are likely to have starches or actually be no added sugar - always check the label on the back of the packaging.

 

[Inka]

Is it generally considered safe overall, to eat or drink anything you buy off the supermarket shelf that is labelled "Sugar-Free"?

It depends @Spykerboy If the sugar has been replaced by sweeteners, you might find they have a laxative effect if you eat too much of them. Also, sometimes things are advertised as ‘no sugar’ but contain a fair amount of carbs.

I’d look at each individual item before deciding. Also, personally I like to keep my intake of sweeteners to a minimum.

 

[Leadinglights]

Is it generally considered safe overall, to eat or drink anything you buy off the supermarket shelf that is labelled "Sugar-Free"?

Something that is sugar free or low sugar does not mean it is low carbohydrate and as Type 2 that is what is important as all carbs convert to glucose.
What particular foods are you thinking of.

 

[Spykerboy]

Well, a couple of biscuits packs for example with morning coffee with 11 Canderel tablets for example?
Maryland Choc Chip Carbs = 6g per biscuit and Vanilla Wafers Carbs is 60g per 100g.

 

[Inka]

Those Maryland ones only seem to have slightly less carbs than the normal ones. You could try a Nairns biscuit. They do a Dark Chocolate Oat biscuit, 6.5g carbs and just with reduced sugar. No sweeteners and more appealing than the Maryland ones.

The second ingredient on the wafers is Maltitol which has laxative effects. It’s better to just eat things that are naturally low in carbs, than processed stuff like that IMO.

 

[Leadinglights]

Well, a couple of biscuits packs for example with morning coffee with 11 Canderel tablets for example?
Maryland Choc Chip Carbs = 6g per biscuit and Vanilla Wafers Carbs is 60g per 100g.

My goodness you must like your coffee sweet if you have 11 Canderal tabs in 1 cup.
The biscuits are what I would call 'empty' carbs.

 

[Spykerboy]

My goodness you must like your coffee sweet if you have 11 Canderal tabs in 1 cup.
The biscuits are what I would call 'empty' carbs.

 

[Spykerboy]

Yes, I have a bit of a sweet tooth, Canderel themselves have told me this number is not harmful and the diabetic nurse at my local health centre doesn't seem to be overly concerned with this number, 11 tablets for me with tea in the morning and 11 late morning with coffee, gives me the same sweetness as two teaspoons of sugar. My eGFR is currently 63 mmol/l.

 

[Leadinglights]

Yes, I have a bit of a sweet tooth, Canderel themselves have told me this number is not harmful and the diabetic nurse at my local health centre doesn't seem to be overly concerned with this number, 11 tablets for me with tea in the morning and 11 late morning with coffee, gives me the same sweetness as two teaspoons of sugar. My eGFR is currently 63 mmol/l.

If you only taste the same amount of sweetness as 2 teaspoons of sugar I wonder if you are one of the people whose genetics means they are insensitive to artificial sweeteners which is why you need 11 to give that amount of sweetness. My other half has 3 and that to him is the same as 2 heaped tea spoons of sugar.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I wonder if it might be helpful to gradually reduce the sweetness of things you are eating @Spykerboy

Some taper off to reduce sweet things gradually, others find it easier to go ‘cold turkey’.

When I was first diagnosed I had only ever had coffee with sugars. But the kindly WRVS woman bringing the coffee round when I was in hospital simply said, “no dear” when I asked if i could have some sugar in my hospital coffee.

I got used to it within about a week - and now if I accidentally have a sip of a coffee with sugar in, it’s unbearably sickly.

I’m currently shifting to black coffee when camping (as milk is such a faff in a small tent) and will just push through the initial weirdness until my tastebuds catch up 🙂

Once I’d reduced the amount of ‘free sugars’ in my diet, I began to be able to taste sweetness in all sorts of things. Stuff just tasted better to me!

 

[rebrascora]

I found it easiest to go cold turkey too as I had a really sweet tooth and was essentially a sugar junkie. I didn't spoon the sugar into my coffee, I just tipped it in as it could never be too sweet for me even with sugar sediment in the bottom after stirring.

I don't find sweeteners sweet either, although I only ever tried using a couple, I draw the line at multiples in the order you are using and I would not be reassured by the manufacturer saying that that level of consumption was safe or healthy. They have a vested interest in selling their product after all.
I stopped sugar in tea about 10 years ago because my partner drinks it without and he would just hand me a mug and I was too polite to make an issue of it and gradually I got used to it, but he has 2 sugars in coffee, so I had to deal with that situation myself at diagnosis. Unlike Mike, I could go back to my sugar addiction tomorrow, but I now have real double cream in my coffee instead of sugar and I really enjoy that and find it more comforting and satisfying than coffee with sugar ever was and cream is lower carb than milk and the fat provides slow release energy.

Like Mike, I also found that reducing the sweet things I ate meant that I found sweetness in things that I hadn't previously thought sweet at all, but it also enabled me to have a greater appreciation for other tastes like savoury, and mild sourness and bitterness and I now feel like I taste things "in colour" whereas I was previously eating in "black and white".

 

[Spykerboy]

I found it easiest to go cold turkey too as I had a really sweet tooth and was essentially a sugar junkie. I didn't spoon the sugar into my coffee, I just tipped it in as it could never be too sweet for me even with sugar sediment in the bottom after stirring.

I don't find sweeteners sweet either, although I only ever tried using a couple, I draw the line at multiples in the order you are using and I would not be reassured by the manufacturer saying that that level of consumption was safe or healthy. They have a vested interest in selling their product after all.
I stopped sugar in tea about 10 years ago because my partner drinks it without and he would just hand me a mug and I was too polite to make an issue of it and gradually I got used to it, but he has 2 sugars in coffee, so I had to deal with that situation myself at diagnosis. Unlike Mike, I could go back to my sugar addiction tomorrow, but I now have real double cream in my coffee instead of sugar and I really enjoy that and find it more comforting and satisfying than coffee with sugar ever was and cream is lower carb than milk and the fat provides slow release energy.

Like Mike, I also found that reducing the sweet things I ate meant that I found sweetness in things that I hadn't previously thought sweet at all, but it also enabled me to have a greater appreciation for other tastes like savoury, and mild sourness and bitterness and I now feel like I taste things "in colour" whereas I was previously eating in "black and white".

There's no way I could have coffee or tea without sweeteners, it just tastes too bitter, I have tried and tried but without success. Once a sweet tooth always a sweet tooth, well for me anyway. It is a large mug BTW and not a cup I hasten to add.

Could be something to do with genetics as one person has mentioned. In the meantime my meds are currently in the process of being adjusted, that is Gliclazide, Metformin and Linagliptin, added to that, I am a kidney transplant patient and being closely watched by the transplant team and diabetic nurse at the health centre plus the renal dietician who has been extremely helpful.

 

[Lucyr]

Canderel themselves have told me this number is not harmful

I don’t think it’s wise to trust the manufacturers opinion here, given they want to sell as much of the product as possible. Have you tried a different type of sweetener? There’s different ones so perhaps another brand will do the trick. Your tastebuds should adapt if you try to gradually reduce it though.

 

[trophywench]

I was exactly the same as Mike, except in my case a cup of tea, and bearing in mind I had the constant great thirst etc (polydypsia/uria) at that exact time it was wet, therefore I drank it! I had coffee the rest of the morning and brekkie on Day 2 and by day 3 I decided to try another tea and found it was actually more thirst quenching without than it was, with. And I had actually got used to the taste!

 

[nonethewiser]

Is it generally considered safe overall, to eat or drink anything you buy off the supermarket shelf that is labelled "Sugar-Free"?

Since diagnosis 42 years ago I've drank diet drinks & no added sugar dilute squash, also chew sugar free gum occasionally, don't use sweetners in hot drinks as prefer tea & coffee strong just with splash of milk, so lived this long without any adverse effect from sweetners.

 

[trophywench]

To me, one Sweetex tablet is about 3x as sweet as one teaspoon of sugar - step daughter who still likes 2 tsp sugar in her drinks, only has 1 Sweetex in her (gallon) mug of tea. (not a gallon obviously, but half a pint rather than about a third of a pint)

 

[JonathanGi]

I quite like the idea of a gallon mug of tea. Or bucket, I suppose. I have always drunk tea and coffee without milk or sugar/ sweetener. I must lead a very austere life!