What do you think about sugar-free jams, cookies and others?

Sugar free, reduced sugar foods etc bring it on .Merry Christmas every one.

Bought loads of sweets for Christmas but have not ate them yet. But my wife did buy me some chocolate for diabetics which were quite nice but expensive. Asher's Vanilla Caramels which were tasty for a change and claim to be sugar free. They have half a dozen sweets per pack but should allow the choc fix to be somewhat resolved. Usual laxative warnings with excess consumption!

Being trained many years ago on my food intake commonly called tracking,I eat keeping an eye on my intake of food especially those which can be a hinderance to good blood sugar balance.    Over the time I have been diabetic I have got to know the types of food that are for instance high in calories or sugar. These food items I consume very carefully mentally noting and estimating their values and adjusting my intake accordingly.        When I was first diagnosed in 1988 with diabetes I became  obsessed with checking my blood sugars before and after every meal. Of course this is totally unnecessary but it gave me an insight as to what my body did with the different foods I ate.   I was reprimanded by my support nurse and slowly decreased the number of times I checked my sugar levels.      But I gained very valuable experience knowing what the various foods in my diet did to my blood sugar levels.  I was able to eat certain items I liked and sacrifice others I knew would send me  high on blood sugar levels.        So over the years this has been my own way of maintaining safe levels of blood sugars. This brings me onto drinks of all types.   I am very wary of sweetened drinks because I am not happy taking things like aspertame,  which I believe to be bad for the human body,   much more harmful than if you drank them with sugar.   I know that some of the drinks today have both sugar and sweetener added a fearful concoction.   I drink lots of tea and use a sweetener called SPLENDA a sugar alternative.   It is sugar with the carbohydrates removed and the other items bad for diabetics. It tastes like sugar and comes in two forms, one as a small tablets for tea etc. The other form it takes is very similar to sugar in a can which I use for cooking.   I have put it through the sugar machine (ME) and tested it at each drink and meal just as I did when I first became diabetic.       I have found it great if you have a slight sweet tooth like myself.   The only drawback is the cost being quite high in most of the outlets that sell it. I purchase mine from Tesco and for a 500 tablet dispenser it ranges between £5 and £6 .  I cannot remember the cost of the powder box.   So to sum up I steer clear of fizzy drinks,take the occasional fruit juice but stick to my good old cups of tea,morning, noon and night.

Best wishes to you all for this coming New Year,

Tony

Had about 10 chocolates during Christmas,i gave all the rest away to avoid temptation..i use no added sugar jams and no added sugar soft drinks,i keep fruit intake low as the fructose sends my glucose up. I look at the sugar content on all foods and the carbs,i cannot eat potatoes in any form,they send my glucose out of control!  Eileen.

If you are a Type 1 Diabetic PLEASE DON'T read.

I am a Type II Diabetic. My dietitian told me when I was first diagnosed some 10 or so years ago to eat everything in MODERATION. To the best of my ability I have done just that. We ALL have the occasional 'slip up', if you say that you don't? Try telling the truth to yourself, never mind us. 

The only thing that I changed was to go from ordinary sugar to a sugar free supplement, such as SPLENDA, and the like? If my glucose reading is a bit high I take a little more insulin (3 units of insulin per 10 units of carbs) and so on. If the reading is lower I obviously take less accordingly. 

Just remember everything in MODERATION......

Happy New Year Y'all.  

Reduced or sugar free is a blessing for some but one needs to be careful reduced sugar has extra fruit added which sounds  great and taste good, please remember fruit contain sugar albeit natural.

 The other point I want to make is the alternative sugars added are not necessary good for you in fact they can be very harmful to the body, it’s best to find out as much as you about them so you can make your own conclusion.

I can assure you that I did the necessary research before making my selection as to what to use and what not to use instead of sugar.  I know that some sugars are not necessarily good for you and to watch out for those 'hidden extras'.

Do the research and make your own mind up as to which route you want to take.

RichardO804, Good that you researched your products you buy before you try them but unfortunately not everyone do .

Sugar Free can be miss leading, 30% extra fruit added will increase the amount of natural sugar which is better than adding  cane or beet sugars which we have used for years. 

I feel we can all contribute our experiences on this subject, those who research can help others that don’t which may encourage some people to do their own research.

I feel if we work together instead off alone we can have a wider understanding of the subject..

 I was brought up, sometimes the substitute used instead of sugar is sweeter,so never use them. Just use ordinary products and have less.

Eat smaller portions. Just a little bit not huge dollops of jams etc.

Just to make you all giggle...the snooty Diabetic specialist nurse was insistent of my having only 100gms of ice cream....OK....

Now be honest...would you really bother with finding dish, spoon, weight scales etc? I would put good money on that if you didn't bother,,the portion would be well over the 100gms..ie naughty!! Plus it would take away the  immediate pleasure of eating the ice cream....and make some more washing up...

I solved the problem another way..I eat Magnums...83gm...and Coeliac friendly....(am both coeliac and T2).

The snooty nurse wasn't impressed....

In the words of another...more than one way.. Have fun....readings are steady at 5.9 to 6.3.....so I must be doing something right...