My Mom Started Reading the Ingredients on Her “Sugar-Free” Sweetener and Now She Has a Question

My mom has Type 2 diabetes and has used stevia and sucralose packets in her coffee for years because she figured they were an easy way to avoid adding regular sugar. Recently, she actually looked at the ingredient list and noticed that some of the packets also contain dextrose or maltodextrin. That got her wondering whether “sugar-free” and “carb-free” really mean the same thing. She sometimes uses several packets in a day, so she started thinking about whether those small amounts could add up and affect her glucose or eventually show up in her A1C. At first, she was ready to throw everything away. Then we started looking at the bigger picture instead. The amount of carbohydrate in one packet can be pretty small, and what matters isn't just the ingredient name. The serving size, number of packets, total carbohydrate intake, and the person's own glucose response all matter too. She also realized that an A1C isn't going to suddenly change because of something she ate yesterday. It reflects her average blood glucose over a period of roughly the previous two to three months. So instead of panicking over an ingredient list, she's planning to look at the nutrition information, keep track of how much she's actually using, and talk with her healthcare provider at her next appointment. It has definitely made her more aware of something I think a lot of people overlook. We tend to see “sugar-free” on the front of a package and stop reading. Sometimes the ingredient list tells a much more complete story. For those of you who use stevia or sucralose packets regularly, do you check whether they contain dextrose or maltodextrin? And if you use several packets a day, have you ever noticed a difference in your glucose readings when you switched to a different product?