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January 9, 2005

Meal Planning, Food and Diet, Type 2

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Question from Petersburg, West Virginia, USA:

My grandmother has recently been diagnosed with diabetes. I am not certain if it’s type 1 or 2, but I know she takes oral medicine. Is it okay for her to consume alcohol sugar? She also has high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

Oral diabetes medicine is only useful for people with type 2 diabetes. People with type 1 have to take insulin. As far as products containing sugar alcohol, such as mannitol and sorbitol, it is fine in moderation since sugar alcohols take longer to break down into sugar in the blood. You need to look at the portion size and the number of grams of carbohydrate and include it in your total carbohydrate allowance for that meal. Eating too much sugar alcohol can also lead to abdominal discomfort and even diarrhea.

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