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You are here: Home / Eating Healthy / Diabetes and Carbohydrates – What You Need To Know About Sweets

Diabetes and Carbohydrates – What You Need To Know About Sweets

December 10, 2021 By Toby Smithson

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Ever notice how everyone without diabetes is anxious for you to give up sweets? No more sharing birthday cake, drop that cookie, donut holes are evil! So, if you’re not willing to swear off sweets forever, you’d better watch as I tell you exactly what you need to know about sweets.

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Table of contents

  • Our Surprise Dessert
  • Here are Some Basic Tips

Our Surprise Dessert

We have made a grievous error in my series of videos on the different groups of carbohydrate foods, and it’s really a sort of funny one. In our video on Beans, Peas, and Lentils I said “stay tuned next for THE LAST VIDEO of this series…. Fruit.” Then in the fruit video, I said “this is my last video on the different groups of carbohydrate foods.” Those statements were incorrect… I left out the group of carbohydrate foods that we’re talking about today, and it’s one you’ll love… Sweets. The funny thing, though, is that I didn’t leave it out…. It was my husband, Tony, who often scripts our videos, and who sold me on making this series. For him to leave out sweets is like Romeo leaving out Juliet. This is a guy who has this special pie recipe he makes now and then and eats right out of the pie pan. He even leaves a fork in there so he can get right to it without the distraction of taking a clean fork out of the drawer. But I have insisted that he put away his pie and help me finish this series on groups of carbohydrate foods properly….in a way, this is sort of like a surprise dessert.

I hope you know by now that sweets…..sugar…..isn’t the only thing we need to be concerned about. With diabetes, we need to manage all carbohydrates, right. When talking about all the other groups of carbohydrate foods……milk and yogurt, grains, starchy vegetables, beans-peas and lentils, and fruit….you heard me say these foods are too nutritious to just eliminate from our diet. Remember? Well, I can’t say that about sweets. Sugar itself has no redeeming nutritional value….only extra calories, a blood sugar boost from the glucose, and high triglycerides from fructose. And that includes all of those sugars that claim nutritional value…. coconut sugar, date sugar, turbinado, syrups, nectars, etc., etc.….. whatever trace nutrients they have you can get more of from a healthier source.

So, you might expect me to say “eliminate all sugar from your diet.”  Surprise! If I’m not going to eliminate dark chocolate from my diet after 50 plus years with diabetes….and I most definitely am not… why would I do that to you. If we’re eating a healthy diet most of the time and managing our carbohydrate consumption (and our blood sugar levels) most of the time, then sweets can be a reasonable emotional treat. We simply count the carbohydrates like we would with bean soup or parsnips.

Here are Some Basic Tips

  • Manage portion sizes…desserts often give us carbohydrates from flour and fruits in addition to the sugar….make desserts a treat
  • Use low calorie sweeteners. They are all  FDA approved so don’t believe things you may hear on the internet. Check my video on peanut butter cookies (see link below) to see how satisfying desserts don’t have to wreck our carbohydrates budgeting.
  • Check my channel for other fantastic desserts on video….I’ve personally approved the portion size and nutrition for a smoothie recipe, pumpkin pie cheesecake squares, chocolate lava cake, chocolate chia pudding, blueberry and peach crisp, 90 calorie chocolate cupcakes and others.
  • Get your sugar from desserts….not from drinks or sugar added to foods that aren’t sweet like tomato sauce or soups…. You can now find “added sugar” right on the nutrition facts label.

Be Sure To Check Out – Diabetes-Friendly Peanut Butter Cookies and Crispy Cinnamon Wraps

This really does complete our series on the groups of carbohydrate foods, and it seems just right that we can end with a group many of you think is off-limits. Maybe I just made somebody’s day. It is all that you need to know.

Don’t forget to take a look at our most frequently asked questions.

You May Also Enjoy

  • 5 Surprising Facts About Diabetes
  • Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Squares
  • Banana Milk Shake
  • Diabetes and Carbohydrates- What You Need To Know!
  • Diabetes and Carbohydrates – What You Need To Know About Nonstarchy Vegetables

Filed Under: Diabetes and Nutrition, Eating Healthy

Toby Smithson Diabetes Everyday

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Toby Smithson dynamically combines her knowledge as a certified diabetes educator and registered dietitian nutritionist with her life experiences successfully managing type 1 diabetes for more than five decades.

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I have so many feel goods from attending and presenting at this conference. 
❤️sharing diabetes knowledge at my presentation on Monday morning.
❤️hearing on how the presentation impacted them from so many of the dietitians who attended. 
❤️learning from the amazing speakers at other sessions.
❤️learning and schmoozing with vendors at the expo.
❤️networking with fellow dietitians throughout the conference.
❤️And reuniting with my dietitian bestie. We were academy of nutrition and dietetics spokespeople together for 9 years. ❤️ 
Thank you Todays Dietitian Symposium for another fabulous conference! 
@todaysdietitian #TDinFL @sarahrdtv #dietitianlife #dietitianapproved

I have so many feel goods from attending and presenting at this conference.
❤️sharing diabetes knowledge at my presentation on Monday morning.
❤️hearing on how the presentation impacted them from so many of the dietitians who attended.
❤️learning from the amazing speakers at other sessions.
❤️learning and schmoozing with vendors at the expo.
❤️networking with fellow dietitians throughout the conference.
❤️And reuniting with my dietitian bestie. We were academy of nutrition and dietetics spokespeople together for 9 years. ❤️
Thank you Todays Dietitian Symposium for another fabulous conference!
@todaysdietitian #TDinFL @sarahrdtv #dietitianlife #dietitianapproved
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Curious? Are you currently including fermented foods to your diet for gut health?

Fermented foods: may be healthy for microbiome.
Increase gut microbial diversity to improve gut health. I’ve been adding 1/4 cup serving of kimchi to my lunch which is one serving. Listening to @katescarlata #TDinFL #guthealth #kimchi #diabetes #diabetesmanagement @todaysdietitian
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Enjoyed presenting @todaysdietitian symposium this morning. I’ve received many kudos through the day regarding how much the information impacted the audience. ❤️ Thank you for sharing your personal stories about diabetes. Presented alongside Dr Bev. #TDinFL #diabetes #cognitivedistortions #diabeteslife #livingwithdiabetes #diabetes ...

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I’m off to speak at a conference. Hoping that when I get back, my tomatoes will be ripe and ready to eat. I’m already meal planning. Thinking of combining my home grown tomatoes, cucumber and onions with rice vinegar dill weed and a packet of low calorie sweetener to make a low carb side dish. 😋
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Excited to pick and eat a cucumber from our garden. Love this low carb veggie that provides fiber, potassium, magnesium, vitamin c and lots of vitamin k. Simple pleasures… sliced the cucumber in my black bean taco salad tonight. #diabetesfriendly #diabetes #cucumber #gardenveggies #joysofgardening ...

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🌻 attending a flower arrangement class to prepare for selling our homegrown flowers at our farmers market.
🌻Walking on the bluff in our neighborhood this morning.
🌻Enjoying views of wildlife as I walk my dog.
🌻and tending to my vegetable garden.
Happy Earth Day! Stay beautiful. #earthday #earthday2022 #earthdayeveryday #physicalactivity #joy
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⬆️ definitely a topic to pay attention to… don’t let some of your eating habits get in the way of keeping your bones healthy and strong. TY @graciouslynourished and @eatthisnotthat for using my insight. #bonehealth #eatinghabits #reducesodiumintake #osteoporosis #osteoporosisprevention @kin.di_rd @freshnutritionny

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