For those of us that like to eat the Store bought SF candies & bars !!

[joagain]

AS most of you know Tyler is a FTS guinea pig . We also have been dealing with sugar spikes and we test often with new foods . Well he belongs to a web site  (kinda like Facebook for Diabetics ) they had a topic about the sugar alcohols a while back about the  store bought candies and bars .

What they were suggesting is that after their testing anything over 6 sugar alcohols almost always made them have a blood sugar spike . So we already new that the RS spiked Tylers sugar & we found out a couple of weeks ago that the SF Resses cups do also .
What they said was anything over 5-6 sugar alcohols should be counted into the net carb . If you did that would you be able to eat it without insulin . The answer to that question for Tyler was no he would have to take  1 -2 units depending on the candies or bars . Like the RS candies have 2 net carbs but if you add the 14 SA to that it makes it 16 net carbs . That would explain why Tys sugar was always high when he ate them . We still have them every once in awhile but not often .
So we went ahead with or own experiment
Atkins bars spiked both of our sugar
RS raised both of us
Reeses cup rasied both of us
Hersheys bar raised both
Carbsmart ice cream & bars did not raise his sugar
The brownies I make do not either
The quest bars were the only bars that did not raise his sugar the original ones that have very little SA   
JUst thought I would let everyone know so if you are eating those and not losing it could be the reason why ,they are easy to get addicted too . So if you had to count 10-14 carbs for the 5 resses or 5 Hershey bars would you still eat them ?

[Rena]

Thanks for the info, Jo. I'm not diabetic, but it runs in my family. My mom is Type 2. Rick's dad takes insulin also, so your experiment is good to know. I don't think he eats a lot of sugar free candy, but it's good to know some spike more than others.

What about Umpa's chocolates? Do those raise your and Tyler's levels?

[mouseissue]

That's very interesting, Jo... Thanks for sharing!

I guess your experience explains why Doug recommends SF candies as a treat to be enjoyed only occasionally.
Too much and/or too often will mess us up.

[joagain]

yes that is right tony ! I am not a diabetic and it makes my sugar go up I think mine was like 89 and it went up to 109 or something like that .
No anything that I have made does not cause a rise in his sugar are mine  the peanut butter cups the coconut cake ,banana nut bread Tylers brownies . I made a cheesecake for christmas that was so good that I have not made it again and will not LOL . It did not raise it either .
 It must be the malitol or just all the processed garbage in those things

[umpa]

Tyler is such a good sport

[shawn116]

Very interesting Jo...thanks for sharing.  You know I read somewhere that they are starting to think the malitol reacts in our bodies the same as sugar does.  Figures.... that is what most companies use for their sugar free stuff    I've notice that mine spikes as well when I eat them.  Better to stick with the homemade stuff and just as a treat.  I'm trying hard 

[Maddysmom]

Wow Jo!  Thanks for all this information.  Honestly, I am SOOO happy to hear that the cheesecake didn't raise the blood sugar.  I know Sherripie enjoyed cheesecake most every week while losing her weight.  I have just been making the cheesecakes for special holidays.  Hmm...I may rethink this and have it more often!   

[Alex Cruz]

Thats interesting, but Jo what I am confused about is the following..  It is normal for your sugar to spike after eating/drinking something.. Are you testing after 2 hours? Also, what are the sugar spikes after eating them? low or high? I am what I would call a dormant Type 2 (my last AIC was 5.9 from 8.4) and the way I was taught to determine how the food were causing unsafe spikes were by the sugar blood test after 2 hrs...

[joagain]

Hey Alex that is true we are told BS is o to rise unless you stay up over 2 hours . So that means that if you are 170 1 hour after you eat but you are 120 2 hours that is ok . I dont agree with that . I would rather our blood sugar to be 79 rise to about 100-120 then in 2 hours be around 79 again and that is what it is when we eat food that is not processed and FTS approved .
I can not remember all the numbers of our test but I do remember the one right before I did the post . we were out at about 10 one morning tyler felt low he checked and his sugar was 79 . I said well you can get 2 RS candies cause we will be eating lunch in about a hour ..
So he did when we got home and he checked for lunch it was 11;30 and his sugar was like 128 . I said the RS candy did that ? we were both shocked . I did mine ate one and mine went up too I was 87 and it went up to 120 . I did not recheck so I dont know how long it stayed up . Alex I guess if you went by the ADA that would be ok ,but in my opinion I would rather our sugar stayed at 79 for that hour instead of going up to 128 then back down to 79 2 hours later .
We have checked after all the FTS baked sweets and the sugar might have changed 5-10 points but that is it . So yes Jan we will eat the cheesecake instead of the Atkins bars . We have decided to stay away from the processed food as much as possible except for the ones that did not raise his sugar .
So after the BS check and then reading on the diabetes forum that alot of them count anything over 6 SA toward the net carb . We have since started counting  it like that and that means I would not eat them because it would be too many for me & tyler does not eat them because he would have to take a shot with a unit or two of insulin . We both say it is not worth it . But again that is just my Opinion ,just thought yall might find it helpful .
Maybe Doug can chime in about what he thinks .

[shawn116]

I agree with you Jo.  Alex I don't know if you are like me but when I was taught those same things they were also suggesting that I eat 180 carbs per day,  or 60 carbs a meal.    They didn't care how much my sugar spiked as long as it went back down to a good level in the 2 hours.  My spikes were all over the place.     I like roller coasters but not that kind  

I may be wrong but it makes sense to me that if you have a high blood sugar spike you are going to be burning that first for energy, even if it is a sugar free item.

[joagain]

Ditto Toosweet I really do not believe that the ADA is correct about a lot of things !!! Level steady Blood sugar for health & weight loss is what I believe 

[Alex Cruz]

I agree. It's just so heartbreaking that these are professionals and you put your trust in them. But I agree with you guys