Control quantity, control sugar levels

In my previous post I tried to categorize the behaviour of non-diabetics towards diabetics. The level of awareness of most non-diabetics regarding a diabetic diet is limited to avoidance of sweet stuff. Non-diabetics (and even quite a few diabetics) are not aware of the concept of glycemic index to know that foods that are not generally considered sweet can also raise blood sugar levels beyond acceptable levels. There are quite a number of such food items  - e.g. Bhelpuri, poha (rice flakes, can be had raw or prepared in various ways), white bread, fruit juices (even without added sugar), tomato ketchup etc.

When a diabetic, aware of the glycemic index of the food being passed around, declines to have a food item with a high glycemic index the others are surprised and wonder what the issue is when it is not sweet at all. What can the diabetic do? This is no time for explaining glycemic index. Smile apologetically and stay away or join the gang? .Such situations can be handled by controlling the quantity consumed. That way the glycemic load stays low. A complete rejection stands out and invites attention and comments. Having a small quantity allows you to go be with the gang and yet keep your sugar level under fair control.

Another mistake that many make is to decide on the level of sugar in an item merely by its taste. The actual sugar content can be high but the sweet taste offset by some other ingredient misleading one to conclude that the quantity of sugar is low and therefore more of it can be had. It is not always possible to get to know what has been added and roughly how much. Therefore here again controlling the quantity is the only way to avoid raising sugar levels.

But if you do happen to consume a substantial amount compensate by having less or none of something else and stick to you medication and exercise.

Diabetics and the temptation of sugar-free sweets

Diabetics now represent a relatively large and growing segment of the Indian populace and with India wearing the crown of 'The Diabetes Capital of the World' it is not surprising that businesses are attempting to address the specific needs of diabetics.

One such thriving business is that of traditional Indian sweets labelled 'sugar-free'. They are sweet but supposedly do not contain any sugar and therefore safe for diabetics. Are they really sugar-free and safe? When I see something marked sugar-free I always ask the guy at the counter what has been used as the sweetner instead of sugar. The reply that I get most often is - dates. And then I am told that dates are fine as they are 'naturally' sweet and so OK for diabetics. The other choice of sweetners are the common fig/anjeer(Ficus carica) or apricot/jardalu. Dates, figs and apricots all have sugars and Glycemic Indices (GI) in the medium range i.e. between 56-69. Therefore it is wrong to claim that the sweets are sugar-free.

However, all of them are rich in terms of nutrition. Therefore I would be inclined to think that a small quantity of these 'sugar-free' sweets should not be a problem if otherwise the prescribed regimen for medication, exercise and diet plan is being followed with some compensation in diet for the small amount of sweets consumed.

The above sweeteners (in fact all sweeteners) cost much more than equivalent amount of sugar needed to achieve the same sweetness. But how can I be sure that plain sugar was not used? The makers of the sweets could have lowered the quantity of natural sweeteners and added sugar to achieve the same sweetness. It may be difficult to conclude for or against the idea even after testing for blood sugar levels because the natural sweetners have a medium level glycemic index and therefore would certainly be raising the blood sugar levels to an extent where it would become impossible to distinguish between their effect and that of plain sugar.

Maybe sprinkling a bit of powdered cinnamon on the sweets before having them may make them safer?