The last type of blood sugar friendly sweeteners are called Sugar Alcohols or Polyols

Their scientific name is oligosaccharides (ya sure) and without going too far down the rabbit hole they can be thought of as "sweet fibers"

These are NATURAL sweeteners. They are produced by extracting the "sweet flavour" out of vegetables.

Fruit is sweet because of the Fructose (fruit sugar) in them, Veggies are sweet because of the "saccharides" in them.

A good few of the saccharides processed into their respective Sugar Alcohols or Polyols are almost indigestible giving them either very low or NO Glycemic Index Rating - but they are not all equal

Currently the (favourite) in the industry is one called Erythritol

It is commercially available as the product called Swerve. It comes in table, icing and brown sugar formats - has zero calories and zero carbs and GI of Zero. It is generally well tolerated as a 1:1 sugar replacement with no after taste

Other common ones are Sorbitol (GI of 9), Maltitol (GI of 52), Xylitol (GI of 7)

So as you can see they are not all created equally and Maltitol, which is popular in "sugar free syrups" actually effects Diabetic blood sugar almost as much as table sugar (GI of 60)

Additionally since they are an "indigestible carb" (or at least partially) they can cause some tummy issues like bloating, gas, cramps - similar symptoms as a high fiber diet - your system "tries" to digest them and either can't or can only partially (think eating "baked brown beans" if you need to visualize what could happen) 😁

But all of these options are available and the Stevia, Monk Fruit, low GI Sugar Alcohols/Polyols or Artificial's will generally not effect our blood sugar negatively (for the overwhelming majority of us)

Last note - while not mandatory on a food label to list Sugar Alcohols/Polyols most do. If you see them on a food label they will be included in the total carbs but like fiber, if they are the low GI ones, they are subtracted along with the Fiber to calculate your "net carbs"

But as always, your meter will tell you how they may effect you. I personally use Monk Fruit and Erythritol and neither move the meter a single tick and neither cause any tummy discomfort for me.

@A DiabetesTeam Member aspartame from what I’ve heard and read in the past, is not good for anyone. I gave it up years ago because of this. Have you tried zevia soda? I think they make a cola. I tend to drink ginger root beer or grapefruit citrus. For me personally I try to steer clear of artificial sweeteners. Sometimes I find them in products as the last ingredient. Working on finding new products. It’s tough though.

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I like stevia

Like stevia and trivia both have a good taste just remember that you use half the amount if you are baking anything sugar free

@A DiabetesTeam Member yes I am watching for an interim report

They recruited for the study during the pandemic (2019) and they were looking to do a 5 year study - one group of diabetics using artificially sweetened products and the other group none at all and then will compare just about everything they can think of to see if there are differences

There has been different studies that kinda indicated they may not be as "safe" as thought but all of them simply recommended more intense study and none of them specifically looked at Diabetics

Usually a multi-year study will provide interim results/observations but the whole thing may have got stalled a little due to the lockdowns. I do have the study (tagged) so I will get notice if they release (publish) in notes etc - just haven't heard

I do occasionally drink a Coke Zero or Diet Gingerale, but for me it's not a daily thing so personally don't worry about the artificials at all - but they are in a range of products. If I have a choice of two products and one has sugar alcohol/polyols, I will generally choose that product "just because"

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