A very brief post to emphasise an important point.
When we as diabetics are choosing foods for the menu or checking the ingredients of a recipe, sugar should be treated as just another carbohydrate. It is more concentrated than most carbs but my meter has repeatedly shown me it is the total carbs that count, not just the sugar content, when I test my blood glucose after eating.
Food products which are marketed as sugar-free are very rarely carbohydrate-free. In fact, more often than not they have just as many carbs as the sugared versions. I encountered a classic example of this a couple of days ago when I saw a large display in my local Aldi store promoting 'healthy' sugar-free products.
These are photos of just some of the products. Sorry about the smart-phone quality of the pics; the carb counts are clear enough. I'll let them prove my point.
99.5% Sugar-free Shortbread = 67.9% carbohydrates
99.5% Sugar-free Wafer Biscuits = 62.4% carbohydrates
99.5% No Added Sugar Dark Chocolate = 57% carbohydrates
The piece-de-resistance. Sugar-free Mixed Fruit Drops:
I could not believe this one when I turned the can over. There was no added sugar, so it must be healthier than other fruit drops...yeah, right.
It is 93% carbohydrates.
Always read those labels, folks.
Cheers, Alan, T2, Australia.
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter
Everything in Moderation - Except Laughter
2 comments:
How much should be the carbohydrates %age. I gather that you think its too high on the above biscuits,fruit drops etc. I dont know what is good number. ps: Im new to this calorie counting, label looking world.
The percentage is less important than the total grams of carbs in a normal serve. My main point was to make it clear that claims of "sugar free" or "no added sugar" do not mean a food is carbohydrate free or even reduced.
You said you are new to this. I wrote this to help you answer your questions for yourself using your meter: https://loraldiabetes.blogspot.com/2006/10/d-day.html
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