September 13, 2005
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Ontario, Oregon, USA:
I need to know what kind of sugar mom can have. Can she have fructose, dextrose, sucrose, corn syrup, cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, and brown sugar? My dad thinks she can have corn syrup because mom said she could. Would you please give me a medical answer regarding what forms of sugar mom can and cannot have? I currently give mom Splenda and Sweet One for her sugar substitute. As you can imagine, I get tons of flack for not allowing mom corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup. They think that because it says fructose it must come from fruit and be good and acceptable.
Answer:
I would suggest you continue to use Splenda or Sweet One for sweetening purposes. These artificial sugars are safe to use and do not affect blood sugars at all. With regard to the other types of sugars, I would recommend reducing the amount of any of these. It will be hard to cut them entirely out of your mother’s diet, but with some help from a registered dietitian, a meal plan can be developed to incorporate these in moderate amounts and still obtain optimal blood sugar control. Ask your physician for a referral to a dietitian if needed.
JMS
