Sugar substitute that is actualy useful.

[Tengu]

The doctors have decided I am Diabetic.

(I feel just fine.)

(It is wonderful when GPs are more interested in your family history than you, isnt it?)

I have cut down on sweets.

Im getting thinner and my wallet is fattening. (all to the good.)

Oddly, I dont seem to be missing much. (I prefer savoury)

But there are things I like.

I need a good substitute for sugar for

tea
bland brekfast cerial
milk pudding

What do you use?

 

[Toddy]

Sorry to hear that Tengu. I hope things balance out for you though.

Just avoid adding sugar. Not so long ago I watched an American food scientist/anthrobotanist explaining about some of the issues with modern diets.
One example was sugar. To get the equivalent sugar from cane, as thick as a brush shaft, that was in a normal glass of juice/coke/irn bru/pop of choice, they would have had to chew a stick eight feet long. That rather put it into perspective for me.
We like sweet, well, some sweet, I too prefer savoury, but modern food is absolutely slathered with the stuff.

Milk is by itself inclined to be sweetish. Your taste buds slowly acclimatise to milk without added sugar. You can (carefully) add ground dried fruits instead, and things like lacuma powder, vanilla essence, nutmeg, all help too.

Sugar substitutes screw up the gut, though BR did grow the stevia stuff.
For jams/jellies, just pulp the fruit and slowly render it down, you need to stir all the time near the end, but it makes beautiful spreads like the sunwheel ones just from apples and pears.
A little goes a long way.

Best of luck with it Tengu.
M

 

[decorum]

Be aware that salt is extensively used as a preservative and that that added saltiness is masked with sugar ~ so trying to avoid too much processed, just bung it in to cook/reheat, foods will help . Even bread is loaded!

Learn the names/terms labeling bods utilise to avoid saying 'sugar' :yikes:

I find coconut oil* very useful ~ and it's supposed to be good for levelling out insulin spikes. There are varying levels with 'pure' generally being the cheaper option . Do an internet search on 'coconut oil and diabetes'.

* In the UK coconut oil tends to be solid at room temperature but in tropical conditions it's a liquid, hence 'oil' over 'fat'

 

[peachstone]

I tried the herb Stevia, which seemed to me to be about 1000 times sweeter than sugar. The sweetness lingers on the palate for a long time afterwards and to be honest, I found it too much and it's put me off sweet stuff all together. Others might like it, though.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

 

[PDA1]

I stoppedadding sugar to coffee/tea a long time ago. stopped putting milk/cream in it also. Quickly grew to love the purer flavour . NowI can't drink coffee with either milk or sugar without gagging. Same story with cereal. BTW, avoid fruit juices, they contain masses of sugar and are digested really quickly. Milk puddings for a diabetic are a bad idea.

 

[Janne]

You did not tell us if you have a Type 1 or Type 2 .
Before you do anything, your dr should have sent you to a dietist. It is hugely important you follow what he/she says.
Do not experiment on your own. Do NOT follow any dietary advice given by well meaning friends or Internet friends.

Sugar substitutes?
Stevia and Xylitol.
Stevia is the sweetener that did not raise the blood sugar in a recent pilot study. . Every other sugar replacement did. Xylitol was not tested.

Both have a different sweetness feel than Sucrose ( sugar).
Stevia is more intense, and the sweetness lingers.
Xylitol has a "cooling" feel.
I like both.

The best is to get used to drink tea and coffee "au naturel". I did that many years ago. Do not miss it.
You should be able to find chockolate sweetened with Stevia.

If you like jams and preserves, the only way is to make your own. Cook the fruit just like normally, (but without sugar.) a short time, then cool, put in small plastic containers and freeze.

Be aware of that fruits contain lots of sugar, so again, follow what the dietist says.
Usually I fully agree with Toddy, but not here. By boiling down fruit you are increasing the % sugar in the jam per serving.

This is an ancient way to preserve fruit, from times before sugar became available.
We can buy a product calle Lekvar in Eastern European food shops. Kind of Plum concentrate.

 

[HillBill]

I just use sweeteners in tea and coffee, but only one. I used to have 2 sugars in those. Now after around 18 months of no sugar. I really can't stand the taste of sugar. Sweeteners are horrible too though.

Once you stop the sugars, you quickly go off the taste... at least i did.

But sugars are just the tip of the ice berg.

Carbs are bad too if you have too much. So pasta, rice, potatoes, pastry, bread etc all need to be taken in moderation.

Basically you're better off not having sugar or sweeteners at all. Sweeteners are made from aspartame generally, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar and can leave a bad taste on the palate.. There was also a lot of stuff going around that it is bad for your health.

 

[Janne]

I am not giving this as advice to the OP, but we all should follow a diet developed for diabetics, it is called medical nutrition therapy for diabetics.

It will help to prevent disbetes.

 

[santaman2000]

.......For jams/jellies, just pulp the fruit and slowly render it down, you need to stir all the time near the end, but it makes beautiful spreads like the sunwheel ones just from apples and pears.
A little goes a long way.....

You did not tell us if you have a Type 1 or Type 2 .......

.....Usually I fully agree with Toddy, but not here. By boiling down fruit you are increasing the % sugar in the jam per serving.

This is an ancient way to preserve fruit, from times before sugar became available.
We can buy a product calle Lekvar in Eastern European food shops. Kind of Plum concentrate.

Agreed that concentrating fruit (any way tou concentrate it: boiling down or drying) still leaves all the sugar in a smaller form; but that's still less (although not enough less) that jams with sugar added. Also very likely accounts for Toddy's statement, "a little goes a long way."

As to what type diabetes, the fact that it's adult onset is the very definition of Type 2.

 

[HillBill]

As to what type diabetes, the fact that it's adult onset is the very definition of Type 2.

Unless you're me. Type 1 at 35.

 

[Toddy]

The simmered down fruit spread is concentrated fruit, Janne's right there, but what I said holds too. A very little goes a long way and it's a gentle sweetness, it's fruity and tasty and not just sugar, iimmc.
I've just checked the wee tub of Sunwheel stuff, and it says that of 100g, then 49g is sugars. That's all the sugars, not the refined stuff that comes in a Tate and Lyle bag.
100g of Sunwheel spread lasts ages.
Tengu's on a tight budget; Sunwheel's expensive but apples and pears when in glut (or supermarket dated outs) are very cheap.

M

 

[santaman2000]

I just use sweeteners in tea and coffee, but only one. I used to have 2 sugars in those. Now after around 18 months of no sugar. I really can't stand the taste of sugar. Sweeteners are horrible too though.

Once you stop the sugars, you quickly go off the taste... at least i did.

But sugars are just the tip of the ice berg.

Carbs are bad too if you have too much. So pasta, rice, potatoes, pastry, bread etc all need to be taken in moderation.

Basically you're better off not having sugar or sweeteners at all. Sweeteners are made from aspartame generally, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar and can leave a bad taste on the palate.. There was also a lot of stuff going around that it is bad for your health.

Good advise. I quoit adding anything at all to my coffee decades before I was diabetic. My tea is another story though and I need a little sweetener with hot tea and varied with iced tea (either I want it syrupy sweet or totally unsweetened depending on mood)

The point is that your tastes will adapt. YES! artificial sweeteners will be strange (and somewhat off putting) at first but your tastes will adapt (likewise you gut will adapt to where they no longer affect it; if indeed it's ever a problem for you) YES! totally unsweetened foods that you currently prefer sweetened will seem odd (if not downright bitter) at first but you tastes will adapt.

A few studies with artificial sweeteners have indicated that they can cause weight gain because the brain gets mixed signals: a sweet taste without the promised calories.

I also recommend you make an appointment with a dietician or a diebetic education nurse as Janne suggested. In fact your doctor should have made that referral along with one to a podiatrist and an opthamologist. Also inform your dentist as diabetes contribute to dental health (it increased my number of annual cleanings)

 

[santaman2000]

Unless you're me. Type 1 at 35.

Kinda defies the definition doesn't it? I'm on insulin now as well, but it's still Type 2. The bottom lines is mostly semantics though. Either way you might need insulin and the complications are still the same.

 

[santaman2000]

As others have touched on, sugar isn't your only concer. Most, if not all, commercial foods that advertise as "sugar free" or such usually have increased carbs so your net effect doesn't really change.

 

[santaman2000]

.....Carbs are bad too if you have too much. So pasta, rice, potatoes, pastry, bread etc all need to be taken in moderation.....

There's a few pastas on the market (albeit more expensive ones) that are lower on the glycemic index. My diabetic ed nurse recommended one, brand name Dreamfields. I've tried it but not enough to acsertain how effective it is (yes, even among diabetics, everybody has different needs) My daughter's celiac means that we have to eat gluten free so usually we have pasta that's made fro either rice, corn, or quinoa flours (even better for both of us is to use spaghetti squash instead.

 

[Janne]

As others have touched on, sugar isn't your only concer. Most, if not all, commercial foods that advertise as "sugar free" or such usually have increased carbs so your net effect doesn't really change.

I find it interesting to read the labels on processed foods. So much crap, and can we really trust them?

For example, the ( in Europe) upmarket orange juice Tropicana contains 10.8 grams of sugar per 100 ml. The German economy brand of fruitjuices, Rauch Happy Day, contain 9.4 gram per 100 ml.
So not a huge diffetence, but how come that Tropicana tastes far sweeter than the Rauch?

I suspect that many if those figures given are simply not true.

 

[Janne]

As info, the two types are no defined these days by age.
Type 1 = the Insuline producing cells have been destroyed by the immune system, no or very little Insuline is produced.
The patient must inject Insuline
Type 2 = the cells exist, but are low producing, or the body is resistant to the Insuline. Can be regulated by the diet.

Then we have a diabetes that pregnant women get but only during the pregnancy. After partus it mostly goes away.


Both types occur now in all ages. Type 1 mainly in young people. Type 2 mainly in fat people.

I hope the OP has Type 2 as it is much easier to live with.

 

[Robson Valley]

Based on a hunch, the Dr. figured out that I was Type II. While I have never had much of a sweet tooth, he said to cut down sugars in everything else. So I did. Fruit on cereal. Adams sugar-free peanut butter on toast. Black coffee (aren't we just the tough guys?) On the BBQ, cut the sugar in dry rubs to 1/4 of the recipe, same for stewed fruit and fruit pies. Fast forward 6-8(?) years.
Sweet foods are revolting. With so little sugar, I can really taste the flavors of the fruit.

I grew Stevia. I used it twice. The long-lingering sweet after taste put me off.

Read the labels on store bought stuff. Hard to find foods in a village grocery store which aren't laced with sugar. My direct conclusion is to keep on preparing most all of my food from basic ingredients.

What bothers me the most? Lawry's Seasoned Salt, for example, has some chili pepper in it. OK, fine by me. But, it's also got sugar in it. Why the Hello put sugar in salt? So I asked the company. They won't say why, just some corporate baffle-gab about the superior quality of their products. Now, I use salt and chili powder.

So the Dr. prescribed Metformin. Over the next 2 years, I watched my A1c go down and down and down with every 3 months testing. I'm told any value less than 7.0 is good news. Mine has been hanging around 6.7 and 6.8 for the past 3 years. Next, the Dr asked me if I wanted to go off the Metformin altogether. I said let's split the difference and go half as much. A1c = 6.8.

Cutting out sweet things is problematic in the beginning. But I did what I had to do. Food without sugar, fruit in particular, has been a pleasant surprise.

 

[Nice65]

I got Lymphoma a few years ago and read quite a bit about sugar and carbs being yummy food for cancer cells to divide and flourish. So, though I'll eat fruit and a few carbs, it's not enough to worry me. Obviously not the same as diabetes, but I'd not be bothered giving up all sugars and most carbs.

I've never taken sugar in tea or coffee. Aspartame, AsulfameK and saccharin all bother me, and taste awful. Stevia seems to be the best of the bunch, but I don't like that enough to really use it in food. If I need sweet, I'll use a dark muscovado. Not helpful in your case though.

Maybe try just cutting it out, you'll soon adjust. All the best R, I hope it doesn't have too big an impact on you.

 

[santaman2000]

As info, the two types are no defined these days by age.
Type 1 = the Insuline producing cells have been destroyed by the immune system, no or very little Insuline is produced.
The patient must inject Insuline
Type 2 = the cells exist, but are low producing, or the body is resistant to the Insuline. Can be regulated by the diet.

Then we have a diabetes that pregnant women get but only during the pregnancy. After partus it mostly goes away.


Both types occur now in all ages. Type 1 mainly in young people. Type 2 mainly in fat people.

I hope the OP has Type 2 as it is much easier to live with.

Actually no, Type 2 can't always be regulated by diet for more than a year or two (seldom in fact) It normally requires at least an oral medication and/or non-insuiln injections which usually progress to insulin dependence (ALL diabetes is progressive) But you're right that the old definitions aren't hard and fast any more. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001356/

One thing compounding the relationship between obesity and Type 2 is the fact that most of the oral meds used to treat it also stimulate the appetite; the non-insulin injections work mildly as an appetite suppressant (although those are side effects rather than the purpose of the drugs, which is to reduce insulin resistance)