Not long after I was diagnosed as diabetic, a friend brought me a small bag of miniature sugar-free Hershey bars. Throughout the day I ate several, and by afternoon I was nursing a bloated stomach.
Three months later I tried a sugar-free snack cake and the same thing happened.
After some investigation, I determined I should not eat products made with sugar alcohols as the sweetener -- ever. They tally fewer calories than table sugar (sucrose) because they are not absorbed as well in the body. And since they are harder to digest, eating products sweetened with them has been proved to cause digestive complaints such as gas, cramping or worse.
The American Diabetes Association (diabetes.org) says sugar alcohols are a type of reduced-calorie sweetener often found in ice cream, cookies, baked goods, candies and gum. The products are usually labeled "sugar-free" or "no sugar added."
The sugar alcohols have names like glycerol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol and xylitol. I have learned to look at nutrition labels for sweeteners whose name ends with "tol," and steer clear of them.
The Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard Medical School in Boston (joslin.org), says that sugar alcohols come from plants like fruits and berries. The carbohydrates in these plants are altered through a chemical process for use as a sweetener.
Many people are also under the mistaken impression that sugar-free or no-sugar-added foods won't affect their blood sugar count. But the majority of the foods they are in still have carbohydrates from other ingredients. Foods containing sugar alcohols still need to have their calorie and carbohydrate contents accounted for in a diabetic's overall meal plan.
The carbohydrates in foods using sugar alcohols can be counted a little differently. When figuring them, subtract half of the grams of sugar alcohol listed on the label from the total grams of carbohydrate.
For example: Say you have an item with 29 grams of carbohydrates and 18 grams of sugar alcohol. Calculate half the grams of sugar alcohol -- here it's 9. Subtract the 9 grams of sugar alcohol from 29, and you'll see the food has 20 grams of carbohydrate per serving.
The association suggests comparing the nutrition information in sugar-free foods to the regular versions to see if we are really getting fewer calories.
Some people like to use the regular versions and cut back on the serving size instead of buying sugar-free. Consider price as well, they say. Sugar-free versions tend to cost more.
Thankfully, there are other no-calorie sweeteners. Those of us who use them tend to have a favorite. Mine is saccharin.
According to the association, there are six artificial sweeteners that have been tested and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
• Acesulfame potassium with the name brands Sunett and Sweet One
• Aspartame with the name brands Nutrasweet and Equal
• Saccharin with the brand names Sweet 'N Low, Sweet Twin and Sugar Twin
• Sucralose with the brand name Splenda
• Neotame
• Stevia with the brand names Steviva, Truvia, PurVia and Sun Crystals.
For years, my maternal grandpa used liquid Fasweet. It was always three drops in his coffee and three in his cereal. Just thinking of it brings back sweet memories. As a kid I enjoyed the cute commercial with its catchy tune and the little animated cheerleader mascot.
Fasweet is made with saccharin and is still in production at a facility in Jonesboro. It is sold online in lots of 12 (12-ounce) bottles for $35. For information go to Fasweet.com.
Email me at:
rboggs@arkansasonline.com
ActiveStyle on 11/21/2016