The Diabetes Food Pyramid: Sugar

Research studies show that, gram for gram, sugars, like table sugar, do not raise blood glucose any more quickly than do other carbohydrates, like potatoes, rice or pasta. This research holds true for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

A variety of factors influence how quickly food is digested. A meal with a large amount of fat or fiber, and lots of raw foods takes more time to digest. The blood glucose level at the time you eat and how much diabetes medication is in your body has a major impact, too.

It's Not A Sugar Free-For-All

If and when you choose to eat sweets, according to your individual diabetes and nutrition goals, substitute these foods for other carbohydrates in your meal plan. Recall the nutrition message for all Americans, it is the same for people with diabetes -- Choose a diet moderate in sugars.

To determine the amount of sugars and sweets to eat, answer these questions:

Is your blood glucose in good control and your hemoglobin A1C at a desirable level?
Are your blood fats in your target range -- total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and triglycerides?
How much do you enjoy sugars and sweets, and how often do you want a small serving to help you stay on track with your eating plan?

Get sugar-wise:

Keep the healthy eating guidelines top of mind.
Prioritize your personal diabetes goals. Which comes first -- blood glucose control, weight loss, or lower blood fats. Your priorities dictate how you strike the balance with sugars and sweets.
Choose a few favorite desserts and decide how often to eat these in light of your personal diabetes goals -- maybe twice a week, just when dining out, or only at a special celebration.
Note the calories, total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol of the desserts you prefer. Make your choices with these numbers and your diabetes goals in mind.
Quench your sweet tooth with a small portion of your favorite sweet.
Split a dessert in a restaurant (ask your server for one serving and four spoons).
Take advantage of smaller portions when options present themselves, such as at an ice cream or frozen yogurt shop.
Substitute a sugar-free sweetened food for the regular -- hot cocoa or an ice pop.
Use the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels to determine the number of grams of carbohydrate per serving size. This will let you know how to swap a sugary or sweet food in your meal plan for a starch, fruit, or milk.
Check blood glucose and observe the affect of different sugars and sweets. Let this information help you decide what sweets to eat.
Keep a watch on hemoglobin A1c and blood fats to see if eating more sweets leads these number on an unhealthy up swing.

Adapted from the book Diabetes Meal Planning Made Easy. Written by Hope S. Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, a nationally recognized expert on healthy eating and diabetes.

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