November 25, 2007
Meal Planning, Food and Diet
Question from Endicott, New York, USA:
My mother-in-law is diabetic and takes insulin. She obviously cannot have sugar and also cannot use sugar substitutes. She says that even with sugar substitutes, her blood sugar skyrockets and she doesn’t want to take more insulin than is necessary since she already takes very high doses of it. With the holiday approaching, I have been on many web sites looking for a totally sugar-free dessert to make for her. A lot use sugar substitutes. I feel horrible for her missing out on desserts. She especially wanted fruit desserts. Her favorite was fresh strawberries. Where can I find such recipes? I had no luck finding such recipes on the Internet.
Answer:
I would relay to your mother in law a couple of important meal planning considerations. Foods that are “sugar-free” are lower in carbohydrate content, but not necessarily carbohydrate free. I would rather your mother-in-law look for foods that have an artificial sweetener component, maybe Splenda, since it holds up in cooking and baking quite well. Foods made with artificial sweeteners allow folks with diabetes to have an occasional sweet and “spend” less carbohydrates in the process. You can look on the Splenda web site for some wonderful lower carbohydrate dessert ideas, some of which include fruit. Artificial sweeteners in themselves should have no effect on blood sugars.
JMS
