What is the Best Sugar Substitute for Diabetics?
What is the best sugar substitute for diabetics? If you or someone you care about has diabetes, natural sugar substitutes can be used in place of sugar to help control your condition without feeling deprived of taste. What makes sugar substitutes so sweet though? This depends on the product you are using, and the answer is usually naturally occurring compounds. These compounds are what makes sugar substitutes so sweet without all the calories. Also, depending upon the product you choose, they don’t contain carbohydrates. The best sugar substitute for diabetics is one that will not raise your blood sugar levels or cause a fluctuation in insulin production or use in your body. There are a number of different products to choose from, including Splenda, Equal, Stevia, SugarTwin, MutraSweet and others. Remember that not all of these products are the same though, and some can be used for cooking while others will not work as well when heated up to higher temperatures.
The best sugar substitute for diabetics is one that gives you the taste you want without having any effect on your blood sugar or insulin activity. Natural sugar substitutes can include honey or molasses, but these substances contain natural sugar which can cause an increase in the levels in your blood. Other substitutes like Stevia and Splenda do not have these effects, and can be hundreds of times sweeter that normal sugar. This means that a very small amount has tremendous sweetening power. Use care when using large amounts of any sweeteners though, because you may experience stomach upset and diarrhea. Even if you have diabetes, you can still enjoy the sweet side of life by finding the best sugar substitute for diabetics in your situation. Talk with your physician as well as a nutritionist on the best sugar substitute for your needs. In some cases, you may have to have a few choices on hand for the various types of eating and cooking.
The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.
12 Jan 2010
SweetLeaf Stevia, to my knowledge, is the only stevia product that retains all three of stevia's natural 0 calorie, 0 carb, and 0 glycemic index properties. Not only will it not harm diabetics (especially type 2ers), but I submit, it will probably do them good! Pure stevia has been use in a couple countries in South America to treat type 2 diabetes because my understanding is that it lowers blood sugar levels to put them in proper balance and nourishes the pancreas. It can also lower high blood pressure without lowering normal or low blood pressure. There are other great general benefits, but that will suffice. Diabetics should know that most stevia products have various forms of sugar in their product, some in large amounts, so it is important that they read labels.January 15th, 2010 at 8:59 pm