How can I include the occasional sweet treats in my diet if I have type II diabetes?
19/01/13 00:00 Type II Diabetes | Author - Dean Spilias
In response to a question on healthshare.com.au
An occasional sweet is OK. However, as a type II diabetic, your body will not cope with additional sugar - or even excess starch, which the body quickly converts into sugar - as effectively as if you were not diabetic. In addition to limiting how often you have sweets and how much you consume, here are some strategies to help deal with this:
- Diabetic-formulation foods use artificial sweeteners, or natural sugars that the body does not absorb, to give a sweet taste with very little change in your blood sugar level. Diabetic chocolate is a good example.
- Naturally lower-sugar versions of the same product - such as very dark (70-85% cacao) chocolate, which has half the sugar of milk chocolate and which is so intense that one square is often enough.
- Low-sugar fruits such as strawberries - 3.8g of sugar per 100g of fruit, compared to grapes, 15.5g sugar per 100g of fruit.
- Decreasing the carbohydrate content of the rest of your meal when having sweets afterwards. Avoid high-GI, high-starch foods such as white rice, bread or potato if you would like to have a sweet dessert.
- Make sweet tastes only for special occasions, to enhance the sweetness of special-occasion foods - avoid sweet drinks, gradually eliminate sugar or sweeteners from your coffe or tea.
An occasional sweet is OK. However, as a type II diabetic, your body will not cope with additional sugar - or even excess starch, which the body quickly converts into sugar - as effectively as if you were not diabetic. In addition to limiting how often you have sweets and how much you consume, here are some strategies to help deal with this:
- Diabetic-formulation foods use artificial sweeteners, or natural sugars that the body does not absorb, to give a sweet taste with very little change in your blood sugar level. Diabetic chocolate is a good example.
- Naturally lower-sugar versions of the same product - such as very dark (70-85% cacao) chocolate, which has half the sugar of milk chocolate and which is so intense that one square is often enough.
- Low-sugar fruits such as strawberries - 3.8g of sugar per 100g of fruit, compared to grapes, 15.5g sugar per 100g of fruit.
- Decreasing the carbohydrate content of the rest of your meal when having sweets afterwards. Avoid high-GI, high-starch foods such as white rice, bread or potato if you would like to have a sweet dessert.
- Make sweet tastes only for special occasions, to enhance the sweetness of special-occasion foods - avoid sweet drinks, gradually eliminate sugar or sweeteners from your coffe or tea.