Can you still eat sweet tooth if you have diabetes？
Do you have family members or friends who are suffering from diabetes?
Once you become diabetic, you must limit your food intake to control blood sugar. You will need to say goodbye to most delicious foods, especially those high in sugar, oil, and calories. Not to mention that sweet tooth!
Eating sweet without raising blood sugar!
Most of the food’s sweetness comes from sucrose. All those sugars used for cooking, for example, table sugar, brown sugar, and rock sugar, all belong to sucrose. Once the sucrose is being digested, it will be broken down into glucose and fructose, which will be absorbed in the small intestine and thus raise the blood sugar and calories.
In fact, diabetes still can enjoy "sweet tooth” with sugar substitutes in moderation if their blood glucose is under control. As the sweetener tastes like sugar but it is not sugar, and the best thing is - it contains almost no calories. Generally, there are two types of sweeteners which are nutritive sweeteners (sugar alcohols) and non-nutritive sweeteners (sugar substitutes).
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Non-Nutritive Sweeteners （Sugar Substitute） |
Nutritive Sweeteners （Sugar Alcohol） |
|
Stevia |
Xylitol |
|
Saccharin |
Sorbitol |
|
Sucralose |
Erythritol |
Sucralose
Sucralose is derived from sucrose, and it tastes about 600 times sweeter than sucrose with no calories. Only a small amount to get a very sweet taste. Sucralose does not immediately spike your glucose level as sugar does. Instead, sucralose appears to increase insulin by triggering the sweet receptors in the mouth.
Erythritol
Erythritol belongs to a sugar alcohol, that is naturally found in fruits and vegetables. It contains about 70% of the sweetness of sucrose.
Your body can’t digest them due to their unique chemical structure. They pass unchanged through your digestive system, being absorbed in the small intestines, and most of them are excreted in the urine. Only 10% will be excreted in faeces.
Erythritol does not raise blood sugar levels, making it an excellent alternative to sugar for people with diabetes or obesity.
In short, although both sugar substitutes and sugar alcohol will not cause a direct impact on blood glucose levels, diabetic patients should closely monitor their overall intake to enjoy the sweetness feast without compromising their health.
