Question:
Which Is Better For Me, A Cookie With Sugar Or A Cookie With Artificial Sweetener?
Background:
Show Background Information
I try not to eat sweets, but sometimes I crave them at bedtime. I want to eat something that will have a minimal effect on my blood glucose level. Which is a better snack: a cookie with sugar that has 9 grams of carbohydrate or a cookie with artificial sweetener that has 12 grams of carbohydrate?
Asked by:
Jennifer
| October 19, 2009
Categories:
Food & Nutrition
Share:
The important thing for you to consider when choosing a cookie is the amount of usable sugar it contains. The amount of usable sugar in the food you eat has the most impact on your blood sugar. The usable sugar is determined by looking at the food label. The “Total Carbohydrate” on the food lable refers to the grams of usable sugar + the grams of sugar that do not go into your blood (fiber and sugar alcohols). Sugar free cookies may contain sugar substitute which may or may not be usable sugar. Sugar alcohols are a sugar substitute that is only partially usable, while non-nutritive sweeteners such as saccharine or aspartame are not usable. The amount of sugar alcohol a cookie contains is included in the “Total Carbohydrate” on the food label as well as listed under it. To calculate the usable sugar in a cookie with sugar alcohols, you subtract ½ of the grams of sugar alcohols from the grams of total carbohydrate. Then you can compare the usable sugar in this cookie with the usable sugar in another. In your question, the cookie that has sugar must have a “Total Carbohydrate” on the food label of 9 grams, and assuming no fiber or sugar alcohol, the usable sugar is 9 – 0 or 9 grams. The cookie with artificial sweetener would have a “Total Carbohydrate” of 12 grams and may have no fiber or sugar alcohols then the usable sugar would be 12 – 0 or 12 grams ( 3 grams more than the cookie with sugar). If this cookie does contain sugar alcohols, you would subtract ½ of the grams of sugar alcohols from 12 to determine the usable sugar. In any case, there is not much difference between the usable sugar in either cookie, and both would have about the same effect on your blood sugar.