How do sugar alcohols affect your blood sugar and insulin requirements? I’m getting confused with the Atkins’ diet. I know that you can subtract the fiber count of food from the carbohydrate count, but I can’t remember if you can subtract the sugar alcohols also? Could you please explain how the sugar works?

Sugar alcohols are a different form of sugar that doesn’t impact blood sugars as much as table sugar. The rule of thumb for sugar alcohols is that you can subtract one-half of the sugar alcohols from the total carbohydrate number no matter how little sugar alcohol is in the food item. Also, you can subtract all of the fiber from the total carbohydrates if the dietary fiber is 5 grams or more per serving. A word of caution about sugar alcohols: be careful about how much you consume…excessive intake can cause diarrhea in some folks. You will see this warning typically on foods that contain this form of sweetener.

JMS

[Editor’s comment: Keep in mind that the Atkins Diet is NOT recommended for children with type 1 diabetes. See a previous question about the Atkins’ Diet.

BH]