The answer is Yes, No or Maybe 😁

Sugar substitutes cover a wide range of products.

Some are totally chemical others are organic.

The chemical ones like aspartame, saccharin, etc - usually seen in sugar free soft drink or in the little packets to sweeten coffee contain no ingredient that could be metabolized into sugar.

However, there are some individuals whose system reacts to the product triggering a sugar release by the liver. So in a round about way they could increase blood sugar due to a reaction to the product, not specifically the product itself.

Two Naturals - Stevia and Monk Fruit are the main ones seen, both have Glycemic Index of 0 (zero).

It's mostly the third main type of substitute that may or may not invoke a rise in blood sugar.

As Johanne noted they belong to a group called Sugar Alcohols (not sugar nor alcohol that is just an easier term to say then Oligosaccharides 😁 )

Some of them have a GI of zero (erythritol) while others (maltitol) have a GI of 35 (over 50% the effect of straight table sugar) so they are not all created equally in terms of how they will effect a diabetic, yet either substance could be used in a "sugar free product" - neither will rot your teeth but Maltitol will jack your blood sugar.

Sugar alcohols can be identified on labels by looking for any ingredient thatends in "TOL".

The Sugar Free Syrup that I use (either Smucker's or Mrs. Butterworth's) both use a sugar alcohol called Sorbitol as the sweetener. Sorbitol has a GI of 9, so not a "no effect" ingredient, but a very minimal - about on par with eating raw carrots. But do need to be aware that it will have "a bit" of an impact.

Sugar Alcohols are likewise "naturally sourced". They are naturally contained in fruit and veggies in the form of a "sweet fiber" - some are just a little more digestible then others so if you see a "TOL" ingredient on a "sugar free product" - just google the GI before you chow down.

Maltitol caught me off guard pretty early on when I assumed that all sugar alcohols had a GI of 10 or less after having looked up a half dozen that I had run across.

just give up sugar dont try to replace it with subs go natural fruits etc

I am not sure of this. But one thing which may be happening, is the diabetes progressing, things you were able to eat in the past may now become foods you cannot eat. Or maybe your body is going through something, such as stress, injury, wound, illness.

When I got Covid mid January, the 1st week sugars were good, but then they spiked, yet nothing had changed in my diet, so I tweaked my diet even more, but it left me with hypos, so went back to what used to work, so in that case it was my body recovering from Covid. I posted a few days ago about a study that came out on Covid and diabetes, where the 1st 3 months following infection some people are more at risk of developping diabetes (therefore us diabetics can also be afected). The study mentioned that most average time the sugar levels were affected in diabetics was 23 weeks in all. I calculated the 23 weeks and at 22 weeks is when my numbers started to improve again to almost back where I was at pre Covid, and as @A DiabetesTeam Member mentioned also in a post a while back, there are new people who where not diabetic pre Covid and became diabetic due to Covid. This is most likely due because it is an infection which our bodies have to get rid of, but being diabetic we take more time to heal. In my case I have 5 autoimmune diseases so takes even longer, yet I fit right ion that 23 weeks of improving numbers. Actually I thought my A1C would be around 6.4 as per Libre prediction it was suppose to be 6.2, but it was only 6.1, and the day the 12 hrs fasting blood test was drawn my actual blood test from vein was at 6.0. So as my doctor stated it must have been the Covid which disrupted my numbers for all those weeks following the infection. I am still eating the same foods now that I did back in January and numbers are good now (except my fbs, but that has more to do with how our bodies work while asleep and hormonal changes right before we wake up. The rest of the day I am in the 5's pre meals, this past week got a 4.1 and a 4.5 and a 4.9, so guess it truly was just post Covid infection recovery.

So it may not have to do with what you eat at all, maybe your body is under stress and reacting to the stress hormones also.

Mentioned Users

A Diabete...

Thank you, very informative. I guess that means your body won't just randomly start recognizing erythritol as a sugar? I generally only use erythritol and monk fruit but have a Coke Zero once a week (aspartame).

Well I do not use sugar replacement as in substitues such as artificial like aspertame. But for some diabetics sugar alcohol can cause spiking, I use Erythritol and never have issues with this one, but some people might : Here is an excerpt of an article about sugar alcohol : https://www.myketocal.com/blog/sugar-alcohols-a...
One specific type of sugar alcohol, Erythritol, is metabolized differently than other sugar alcohols. Erythritol is fully absorbed in the small intestine and excreted in the urine unchanged, so it does not affect blood glucose levels like other sugar alcohols. I had tried a few atkins products that did not have Erythritol and my sugar levels spiked, Maltilol is the worse for me.
Here is another article on sugar alcohol : https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-are-sugar-alcohols
If You Have Diabetes
Sugar alcohols can be part of a healthy eating plan when you need to manage diabetes. Unlike artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols are a kind of carb and can raise blood sugar levels, though not as much as sugar.

You'll need to count carbs and calories from sugar alcohols in your overall meal plan. Foods labeled "sugar free" or "no sugar added" might seem like "free" foods you can eat as much of as you like, but overeating them can make your blood sugar levels very high.

If you're counting carbs and the food has more than 5 grams of sugar alcohols, subtract half of the sugar alcohol grams from total carb grams. For example, if the label lists "Total Carbohydrate 25 g" and "Sugar Alcohol 10 g," do this math:

Divide sugar alcohol grams in half = 5 g
Subtract 5 g from Total Carbohydrate: 25 g - 5 g = 20 g
Count 20 g of carbs in your meal plan

One exception: If erythritol is the only sugar alcohol listed, subtract all of the grams of sugar alcohol from Total Carbohydrate.

If you need help creating a meal plan or managing carbs, ask your doctor or dietitian for guidance.

I only buy Erythritol, but it does not mean the others are bad for everyone, just that by testing before and 2 hrs after, only Erythritol does not spike me. Every diabetic is different, so you will have to test often at first and see what your body tolerates for your diabetes.