Eating to beat diabetes: use your sweet smarts

Do sweets have a place on your plate when you have diabetes? The answer is a qualified "yes." There's room for any food on your plate as long as you keep calories under control.

Forget the old notion that sugar is inherently bad for you. Sugar is just another form of carbohydrate, and studies over the years have led many health professionals to conclude that sugar itself doesn't make blood sugar rise any faster than any other type of carbohydrate.

• However, sugary snacks and desserts can raise blood sugar faster than other foods because they contain practically no fibre — and fibre slows digestion of food and thereby tames its impact on blood sugar.
• The real problem with sugar is that it has loads of calories but little nutrition. To sidestep extra calories while still indulging your sweet tooth, use sugar substitutes whenever possible.
• Although the safety of artificial sweeteners has been questioned over the years, numerous studies have shown them to be safe in the quantities normally used in food. There are more sugar substitutes on the market now than ever before, so you have several choices.

Sold under brand names such as NutraSweet and Equal, aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar.

• It's used as a tabletop sweetener and is generally used in foods or drinks that aren't cooked, because it can break down and lose its sweetness when heated.

About as sweet as aspartame but stable when heated, acesulfame-K (Sunette) is typically used in sweet foods that you cook, such as gelatins and puddings.

• It's also used in beverages and chewing gum and as a tabletop sweetener.

Sold as Sweet'N Low or Hermesetas, saccharin is one of the oldest sweeteners on the market.

• About 300 times sweeter than sugar, it has a slightly bitter aftertaste.
• It is allowed as an additive in the United States, but only as a tabletop sweetener in Canada.

Although made from sugar, sucralose (Splenda) is chemically altered so the body doesn't recognize it as a carbohydrate and doesn't absorb it.

• It's used in a variety of low-calorie foods and drinks and as a tabletop sweetener.
• It's heat stable, so you can cook with it.

There you have it -- four sugar substitutes that can help quench your need for sugar without adding tons of calories to your daily diet. Try these substitutes whenever possible so you can enjoy the sweet taste without sacrificing your health or your waistline.