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May 4, 2004

Meal Planning, Food and Diet

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Question from Tamarac, Florida, USA:

My daughter’s doctor tells us to count carbohydrates for her food. If I give her cookies that have 10 grams of carbohydrates, is there a difference with cookies that have 10 grams of carbohydrates but are sugar free? Also, how long does the food take to start getting her blood sugar high again?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

I would stress that you and your daughter focus on the total carbohydrates rather than sugars. The sugars are included in the total carbohydrate. Carbohydrates will typically affect blood sugars within 15 minutes to 1 hour after eating them. This timing may differ with varying amounts of protein and fat added to meals. Sugar free foods are a little misleading because a food can have no sugar added to it but still have carbohydrate from other sources (i.e. flour, fiber, sugar alcohols, etc.) that will contribute to the total carbohydrate in a food.

JMS