[matt37664]

Feel free to move to a more appropriate forum as i'm not good with computers and couldn't find one on suger so i'm sure this is the wrong forum. Anyway, my mother in law just got back from the doctor and he told her that she is better off eating 1/2 candy bar than a full sugar free candy bar. He also told her that there is not much difference between suger free vs regular type foods. I called her doctor and asked him a hypothetical question. I asked him if I had a half a pound candy bar vs a 1 pound candy bar are you saying it is better to eat the 1/2 pound candy bar and he told me yes because their is not much difference in sugar free vs regular. I'm wanting to post on here to find out if what he is saying is true. I dont see this ever being true and I think the doctor is a idiot. She has type 2 diabeties and just found out like 3 months ago.

[princesslinda]

Welcome Matt! The answer depends on how many carbs are in the s/f bar vs the regular one. I keep the Dove dark chocolates in the freezer and will have 2-3 when the urge hits...and its not bothered me at all.

Often times, s/f foods actually have more carbs than the regular counterparts...S/F oreos for example have more carbs than regular oreos.

Pay attention to the labels...then ALWAYS test 2 hrs after that first bite and see how various foods affect blood sugar, as we are all different in our tolerances.

Many people think that all diabetics need to do is avoid sugar....but a piece of white bread would run me much higher than a candy bar. Carbs are our enemy...not just sugar!

[Mich]

The answer is: It depends.

If it's a half of a peanut butter cup as opposed to a sugar-free peanut butter cup, she's all wet. The carbs may not be that different, but the rate at which your body absorbs the carbs is quite different. With the sugar-free which is sweetened with sugar alcohol, you usually don't get a sharp rise in your blood sugar. Much better when trying to maintain good levels.

The regular peanut butter cup, with its very sweet peanut butter, real sugar and milk in the chocolate would cause a big bump in the blood glucose.

If it's a fairly low-sugar, high fat item (like dark chocolate) it is absorbed more slowly because of the fat. No big bump in the blood sugar. But even with dark chocolate, the sugar-alcohol sweetened ones make an even smaller bump. Dove has some good ones in mint, raspberry and chocolate creme. Target carries them.

And of course, everyone absorbs carbs at slightly different rates. I second the motion to test test test until you know how it all works with you.

[xMenace]

If you think of candy bars as **** then 1/2 a pound of **** is better than a full pound!

Sugar is an unregulated word. We focus on carbohydrates. Sugar free **** has been found to have as much or more carbs than sugared ****.

I think you'll agree though that one of the problems your mother in law is facing is her diet. Candy bars are not food. They're food-like substances. In my experience, it's best to shift the whole diet towards real food. This whole "it's ok to eat half your diet as ****" concept is just that, ****!

Watch: Michael Pollan on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos on CBC

[ohcarolina]

Make friends with super-dark chocolate and a dollop of natural peanut butter! Sugar free "food" is very strange stuff and may cause digestive distress. When I got DX'd my friends brought me "sugar free chocolate bars" and I lived on the toilet for three days.
I agree, it would probably help to focus on real, whole foods... it starts to taste way better as you feel better!

[Emm]

Xmenace... what's under those asterix's?

I'm in general agreement with others here... it does depend on the bars you're comparing, but I generally avoid the sugar free stuff. A bite of a real chocolate bar is no big deal. Half a bar is still a problem, but an improvement from a whole bar. A whole one is asking for trouble!

Naturally, foods like that are best avoided - along with potato products, pasta & rice, and breads... but most of us don't actually give it all up, it's just a matter of balance. (like for example saving a few bites of chocolate for after exercise, saving the higher carb meals for a busy day when the numbers are lower, that sort of thing). There's some planning involved but it's a whole lot easier than losing your sight / legs etc from high blood sugar!

In short, your doctor was telling the truth - but just make sure she knows about carbs and how to balance them and avoid them sometimes. Testing is the key... use that meter for what it's there for! If testing a new food, test before, then an hour after eating, then 2 hours after eating. If the spike is horrible but it balances out ok, then try eating less / combining with exercise. If the numbers are all good then the food is all good (Or the pancreas is still working!). It's worth putting the effort into this sort of testing, as diabetes is an individual disease and we react in different ways.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by Emm

Xmenace... what's under those asterix's?

The same thing my neighbor's dog leaves all over my yard! ****!

[fgummett]

In principal, I agree that natural foods are better than chemicals... I'd rather have a small amount (not 1/2 pound!) of dark chocolate than a larger amount of something artificially sweetened. In the same way I prefer the taste of butter over margarine, and mature high-fat cheese over it's milder lite version BUT because the taste is better I can do with a whole lot less of it and still get my "fix".

What the doctor is saying should not give you a carte-blanche to feel you (and your MIL) can eat any amount of anything at anytime. With so many things, moderation is the key. As already stated above... check the label for carbohydrates and test to see how different foods affect you.

If you are unsure about nutrition labels, I know that most of the local grocery chains here (for example) have professional Dietitians on staff who regularly run education sessions and are even available for 1:1 "tours" of the store to learn about reading labels and nutrition; often at no charge (it's probably seen as good PR/marketing for the store). I wouldn't be surprised if the same is available where you live... sometimes you just have to ask

[davef]

Originally Posted by fgummett

What the doctor is saying should not give you a carte-blanche to feel you (and your MIL) can eat any amount of anything at anytime. With so many things, moderation is the key.

Frank,

Any chance you could come over here and try beat that into my Father? He has a major heart attack 3 years ago and has been "fairly" good on diet etc. he was trimming fat of meat, avoiding salt, cut back on alcohol, went easy on dairy. Then his doctor said that as he is on lipitor a little fat on his meat would be ok and a few drinks would be fine - Father took this as a cue to eat lots more fat and drink more beer. Then his cardiologist told him that certain cheese (such as brie) is better, so he told me I can eat as much brie as I want, I have tried to explain that he wasn't told that

[fgummett]

If he's any bit as stubborn as my Dad... well... Good Luck David

I was just trying to find a joke to post that has a guy sat at the bar drinking beer from a 2 gallon bucket... the caption reads, "The doctor says I'm only allowed one drink a day!"

[davef]

Originally Posted by fgummett

I was just trying to find a joke to post that has a guy sat at the bar drinking beer from a 2 gallon bucket... the caption reads, "The doctor says I'm only allowed one drink a day!"

Oh that sounds familiar. I knew a guy who drank in my Brother's pub in Florida. He used to say he'd only had one glass, but it had been refilled several times!

It's not that my Dad drinks vats of beer, he just needs to cut back a little and stop putting his own spin on what the doctor tells him.

[kgm0612]

Welcome to the forum, Matt.

I do NOT buy any type of sugar free, or no sugar added products. If I'm going to have chocolate, or ice cream, or cookies, I want the REAL thing!

Karen

[Evermont]

Welcome Matt!

See if you can talk your mother-in-law into joining us here, she'll learn a lot.

[jerryn]

A small dark chocolate candy doesn't spike me. Milk chocolate will.

[xMenace]

Originally Posted by fgummett

In the same way I prefer the taste of butter over margarine, and mature high-fat cheese over it's milder lite version BUT because the taste is better I can do with a whole lot less of it and still get my "fix".

I'm no food Nazi by any means, but I can't bring myself to eat plast ... err, margarine. It is so much a designer food. Does anyone really know what it is? The whole thought of eating it makes me sick. It may well be better for us, but I know where butter comes from. Same with cheese. How do they make cheese low fat anyway? I'm not sure I want to know. I'll go for the better tasting natural foods every time. I eat enough veggies, fruits, whole grains, and lean meats that I don't even wince at the odd tsp of butter. In fact the occaisional snickers bar, Moosehead ale, or slice of pizza (homemade) don't either.

Pollan's idea that if germs won't eat it, neither should we sticks front and center in my mind right now. Candy, practically all packaged foods, fast foods, margarine ... it's not even ****. Germs will eat ****!