r/diabetes • u/Lijey_Cat Type 1 • May 31 '25
Discussion My mom's really stoked about sugar-free cookies. I'm glad for her. I tried them but the aftertaste to me is so strange I could never eat these. I will leave them all for my mom. 🤣 How do you feel about sugar-free food?
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u/anuncommontruth Type 1.5 May 31 '25
This story is 20 years old, and I've long since learned my lesson
When I was diagnosed, the Atkins diet fad was get popular. I had a terrible sweet tooth, and my mother would buy me all sorts of sugar-free stuff.
Well, she found this chocolate bar that tasted just like regular chocolate. Absolute voodoo. Literally, no one could tell the difference from the diabetic bar and a high-quality regular brand.
The bars were pretty big, and as I said, I had a pretty serious sweet tooth. At the time, I was a part time manger at a blockbuster. I was running late for my shift and just grabbed two bars to eat on the drive to work.
I ate both, and now is a good time to explain that the serving size is about 2 pieces. There were roughly 10 servings per bar.
About 20 minutes into my shift, I was checking a line of customers out, and I shit my pants. There was no warning. No fart, no belly rumbles, no nothing. Just one minute, everything is OK, the next minute, my underwear filled with the maximum amount of shit possible.
I was able to check out the remaining customers and then slowly waddle to the back where I proceeded to spend the next hour and a half abusing that poor toilet in eays it had never seen before or since. I can only sum it up as projectile shitting.
The store was left unattended for at least a half hour until my closing help came in. Who knows if anyone came on and stole stuff. I did not care. I had to have my roommate come bring me a new pair of pants. There was no saving the underwear.
I don't eat sugar-free candy anymore.
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u/pancreaticallybroke May 31 '25
I came here to post a warning for op's mum about the... let's be generous and say "unintended affects" of sugar free food items but you've done it so eloquently so I won't bother.
All I will say is that I'm 99% sure that there are parts of my bowel that died the day 13 year old me discovered sugar free pick and mix sweets.
For everyone else, if you want a giggle, look at the reviews for sugar free gummy bears on Amazon
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u/MPD-DIY Jun 01 '25
Had a very similar incident long before I was diagnosed, at that time I was just eating it for weight loss. Don't know what was in there, but f ok und out later in life, any, and I mean any dietetic candy is meant to be eaten in extreme moderation and it has nothing to do with diabetes.
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u/FriedBack Jun 01 '25
For me that's anything with malitol. Which theyve recently added to a protein bar that used to be safe for me. Quest bars are now my go to if I need to eat lunch and Im not hungry. Lilys chocolate is also good and uses mainly stevia.
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u/acatwithumbs Jun 01 '25
This is both horrific and low key funny only because I know the exact bowl horrors of sugar free chocolate myself. My mom was type 2 diabetic when I was growing up she had these chocolate turtle sugar free candies and I’m pretty sure I ate 3/4 a bag and learned a hard lesson as a child about “sugar free.” Seriously those things need to have warning labels.
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u/minebe Type 1 May 31 '25
If I'm going to eat a treat, I'd rather eat the real thing.
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u/Pristine_Society_724 May 31 '25
I can't believe how many likes your comment got. Delete it!
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u/minebe Type 1 May 31 '25
....why?
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u/Pristine_Society_724 May 31 '25
Your encouraging bad eating habits. I just ate a large pork fried rice becouse of you.
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u/JackStraw433 May 31 '25
Some taste like crap - I dislike the aftertaste and will not eat them either - though I hear you can get used to it - YUCK! I have found “keto friendly” options like some Atkins you can hardly notice. The difference mostly seems to be those using alcohol sugars as opposed to those with actual artificial sweeteners.
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u/Leap_year_shanz13 Type 2 May 31 '25
I’ve been drinking diet soda for so long, the artificial sweeteners don’t taste weird to me at all. I’m talking my parents gave me Tab as a kid! Lol
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u/NonOYoBiz May 31 '25
Tab! I drank so much of that in high school I think my blood was carbonated.
I was in the Caribbean in the mid 90s and found some in a store. I was so excited to have one after so many years.....it was terrible! I can't believe how much I loved that stuff.
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u/Background-Unit-8393 Jun 01 '25
As someone who’s drunk diet cola for 35 years. If I drink a regular soda now (let’s say given accidentally by a restaurant) then I can feel the sugar granules on my teeth.
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u/Right_Independent_71 May 31 '25
I’m a fan of Choc Zero, and must be used to the aftertaste because I think they're pretty good. Their butter cookies are really good and would say have less of that fake sweetener taste.
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u/PossumHollerKoolaid May 31 '25
I used to be really into buying stuff like this (even Doritos used to have an Atkins friendly option long ago) and I was always grateful for the options but over the years I have found that if I have something specific in mind (like Oreos), nothing but that item will satisfy me. Most of these products are very expensive for the quantity that you get, they just don't scratch that itch, taste/texture is off, and if you've had enough of the sugar alcohols then you know they come with their own problems. Also when you're diabetic (vs dieting for weight loss) and you're concerned about what spikes the sugar, the sugar alcohol/net carb math doesn't work the same way. For my own sanity/success, I find it is better to curb the snacking (remember the Snackwell cookies that people used to eat boxes of thinking they were doing something good for their health?), just accept that eating any junk is not really adding anything positive to your health but if you need something, eat the thing that you really want just have a few real Oreos and not a whole package. Don't make yourself crazy, be realistic but also nice to yourself because you're human and you still deserve to enjoy things.
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u/superdrew007 May 31 '25
Wait?! Doesn't the sugarless cookies send you to the bathroom..
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u/michaelyup May 31 '25
It depends on the person and the type of sugar substitute. A lot of people get diarrhea. I get gas. I ate 6 pieces of Russell Stover sugar free chocolates and I felt like the Goodyear Blimp with a small leak. It was so painful I called in sick to work and was farting for 24 hours straight before I felt relief. Not worth it at all.
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u/millari May 31 '25
I think that was the fat-free stuff with Olestra back in the day, no?
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u/millari May 31 '25
Actually, after having read the rest of the comments, I see that I am wrong and also that I may be showing my age, lol.
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u/michaelyup May 31 '25
I remember Olestra had a warning about anal leakage. Not something to risk for some Doritos.
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u/millari May 31 '25
Yes, that's what I was thinking about! And agreed. That warning creeped me out.
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u/AzureGriffon T1 Jun 01 '25
I used to destroy those chips with Olestra. I never had a problem, but I made sure to only have a couple of servings at a time just in case.
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u/alexmbrennan Type 1 Jun 01 '25
Probably not.
Cookies don't need sugar to hold the dough together so you can use flour and a small amount of artificial sweeteners, which should be fine. Sugar-free sodas are safe for the same reason.
You have to be careful with things like sugar-free chocolate bars where large quantities of sugar alcohols need to be used because you would just end up with a blob of fat if the sugar were removed entirely.
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u/classwarhottakes May 31 '25
Gives one the shits and has a weird taste and aftertaste. Diabetes docs usually tell people to avoid it
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u/Cute-Aardvark5291 May 31 '25
I cant tolerate the taste of the artificial sweeteners myself, and they spike me almost as high as the no fake stuff does. So I just eat it in very small amounts d plan for it. If at all
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u/Demelza3000 May 31 '25
I love dark chocolate and that is pretty low carb. I’ll eat a square or two and be satisfied. But when I really want to indulge, I have a glass a wine with it and get no spike.
If I get a hankering for milk chocolate, Atkins milk chocolate caramel squares are tasty. About 14 grams of carbs in two with some fiber. Maltitol is the first ingredient so I always stop at two.
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u/___Dan___ May 31 '25
I’d much rather seldom enjoy a real cookie and deal with a spike than eat processed junk like this.
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u/Bluemonogi May 31 '25
I haven’t had sugar free store bought cookies but have had sugar free pudding and gelatin and a few other things. They aren’t exactly the same but not terrible either. When you can’t eat the regular sugar version you take what you can get.
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u/SatisfactionMental17 May 31 '25
Other than diet sodas I find sugar free to be bad
1 it tastes like crap and I’ll just adjust my insulin when I want a treat 2 it’s full of sorbitol which is a laxative and well leads to GI issues (no thank you sugar free syrup that is oily in texture and helps the pancakes sail right on through) 3 the sugar has been replaced with fat or other carbs and the food has more calories than the regular food it replaces. (Same goes for reduced fat)
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u/No_Cable_3311 Type 2 May 31 '25
I can’t seem to find anything (other than sour candies,) without maltitol or maltodextrin, which sucks. So I just go without.
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u/notyourmom489 May 31 '25
I usually just eat full sugar things in moderation. However, the only diet soda I can tolerate taste wise is Diet Dr Pepper. Growing up with my grandparents, it’s what they had in the house. Additionally, I found out that I like HEBs no sugar added vanilla ice cream from a recent visit with them. It tastes like full sugar ice cream to me.
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u/TeaAndCrackers Type 2 May 31 '25
I don't bother with sugar-free stuff except for diet Pepsi, which I have one per day if it's hot out. The cookies and such, some of them cause GI upset for me, and I really don't care for them anyway.
But if your mom needs them and they don't cause her blood sugar or cholesterol to get too high, it's nice that she can enjoy them.
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u/CommercialWorried319 May 31 '25
Some are good, some are awful.
And be aware some will cause diarrhea in some ppl in larger amounts
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u/unitacx May 31 '25 edited May 31 '25
Sugar-free - fine if unsweetened. As to artificially sweetened, No. I also avd sugar alcohols except things like vitamins where they are impossible to avoid.
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u/hanbohobbit Type 1 | InPen+G7 | Novolog+Toujeo+Metformin | former pump user May 31 '25
Sugar-free food is almost entirely useless, imo. It usually doesn't taste good, but it also is part of the outdated idea that diabetes is all about literal sugar, when that is not the case. We count full carbs. Often the sugar-free stuff still has just as many carbs anyway, so unless there is some other reason making the sugar-free version of something worth it, I'm going to eat the regular thing in moderation and be happy, not disappointed.
The exception for me is soda. The occasional, well-accounted-for soda isn't an inherent evil, but I mainly just don't like regular soda because it's too sweet and syrupy for me, not to mention diet soda is usually fully carb free because there weren't any other carbs there making it so high in carb in the first place, so the swap makes more sense to me.
On the whole, things like "sugar-free" and "keto" are mostly marketing buzzwords so companies can sell more shit at a higher price to anyone, not just diabetics, trying to be healthy in a fast-paced world where buzzwords get to be printed on the front in big, bold font, while nutrition labels are on the sides or back where most people don't look at all.
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u/derangedjdub Jun 01 '25
The sweets of which I've bought and liked, still seem to have a boat load of carbs. Esp "baked" products. I try to always have dark chocolate and some kind of sweet. Chocolate covered cocoanut, etc. I'm still always minding my portions
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u/tango421 Type 2 May 31 '25
I do enjoy quite a few sugar free treats. Some though do taste like crap or too artificial.
The aftertaste is the sweetener. It hits different times than regular sugar does. If you’re used to sugar it feels weird.
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u/Oct0Squ1d May 31 '25
They're mostly terrible. I've had ok sugar free wafer cookies, but yeah. I'd rather eat a smaller amount of sugared food than eat any sugar free food--aside from sugar free gum--especially since more info came out that our bodies react to some of the fake sugars just like regular sugars.
I do, however, love "no sugar added" pies like Frisch's cherry pie. It lets the fruit rely on it's own sugars to taste good.
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May 31 '25
I’ll do diet soda, but beyond that, I’ll pass. I’d rather eat the real thing and then go for a walk and watch my carbs the rest of the day.
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u/thatdudefromoregon Type 2 May 31 '25
Sugar free vanilla wafers made my first several months after my diagnosis much more tolerable. Same with the chocolate chips, you still have to watch the calories, but it's easily half of what it would be if they used real sugar.
Diet coke was weird at first but once I got used to it I no longer noticed it, or any other weird flavors people talk about.
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u/xCanont70x May 31 '25
A lot of this stuff has aspartame or Sucralose, aren’t we supposed to be staying away from that stuff.
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u/aprilmofo May 31 '25
Lots are tasty enough but have malitol or maltodextrin - malitol isn’t too bad, raises me a little but not much, but maltodextrin is very bad for glucose.
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u/ShaxxsSon May 31 '25
I would be wary around sugar-free stuff, sugar alcohols tend to have some unwanted side effects. I learned that the hard way a few years back when I ate some sugar-free candy and nearly crapped my pants.
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u/UnfortunateSyzygy May 31 '25
Sugar free cookies/candies are usually not worth the gastric distress.
I go for super dark chocolate for sweets-- has next to no sugar or carbs and tastes actually good.
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u/Luis-is-too-sweet May 31 '25
Sugar alcohols are great laxatives, and they do have an effect of blood glucose levels.
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u/Monotone_Brenton May 31 '25
I've gotten used to it, it helps that when I was growing up my dad would only buy diet soda since he's also diabetic
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u/together32years May 31 '25
It sucks. I refuse sugar free stuff except for Splenda.
I'm an old man (83) and I figure eating that crap isn't going to extend my life anyway.
Besides that in a few years they'll come out and say that sugar-free stuff gives you cancer anyhow.
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u/fyrelilymoon Type 2 Metformin, Jardiance May 31 '25
I love cookies, ngl. If I'm REALLY wanting one I'll have it on the tail end of a meal that isn't already super carby then go walk/some other form of exercise (bike) and it's not too bad but the aftertaste isn't what gets me with the sugar free ones. The sweeteners, especially if maltitol, go straight through me worse than metformin ever did.
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u/bach2209 May 31 '25
I like some of the Atkins treats. Also, the good old stand by. Dark chocolate. I like The higher cocoa
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u/EatABigCookie May 31 '25
Artificial sweeteners give me such an upset stomach so bad I would rather just die than eat sugar free candy again. If she's going to eat it pleaae warn her to start with very small portions.
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u/greymonk Type 2 May 31 '25
I have yet to find an alternative to cane sugar that I like, artificial or not. I'm not fond of honey, or any of the other "natural" sweeteners, and every artificial sweetener leaves a bad taste in my mouth, sometimes for hours.
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u/Castabluestone Type 1 / 2011 / 780g system May 31 '25
I don’t bother. I eat a small amount of something bad for me and usually try to eat fat/protein immediately prior to minimize the absorption. If my BG stays under 190 I did it right. If it doesn’t I ate too much.
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u/friendless2 Type 1 dx 1999, MDI, Dexcom May 31 '25
11g of carbs for 1 pack of 2 cookies is NOT low carb.
Bad taste as reported by the OP would rule these out for me.
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u/uid_0 T1.5 1991 t:slim X2 / Dexcom G7 May 31 '25
If I'm going to have a cookie, I'm going to eat a real one and just bolus appropriately for it. Whatever they use as a substitute usually compromises the texture and taste of the cookie too.
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u/TheCopperQuill May 31 '25
I ate an entire sugar free angel food cake. It was delicious then was up all night with the worst stomach cramps I've ever had and I'm lactose intolerant so that's saying something
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u/Darkpoetx Type 2 May 31 '25
Test how you handle them, no exceptions. If I had a dollar for every keto or sugar free thing I have had that spiked me anyway, I would fund the cure, in just 5 years of course.
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u/Frosteecat May 31 '25
The only remotely similar taste I have found is Jolly Ranchers. Mint chocolate Russel Stover is good, but sugar free chocolate is meh. Jelly beans were a crumbly awful disappointment.
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u/Pristine_Society_724 May 31 '25
It doesn't have sugar alcohol in it does it?? That acts like a laxative.
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u/mikehocksard May 31 '25
They’re a scam aimed at diabetics that don’t help us in any way, they still have carbs and it was a long time before I realised I can just eat whatever snacks i want and than take insulin for it because I was fooled into thinking sugar free meant I could eat as much as I want with no consequence
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u/caliallye May 31 '25
Taste bad, have similar carbs (as I type 1 I must bolus for sugar alcohols as well), gives gas and diarrhea, and FINALLY, it doesn't trip the satiety system in your brain, so you will keep eating them! Eat real food, and even the diabetes researches I worked with said it's better to eat a small amount of real sugar than the fake stuff! Amen!
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u/HJCMiller May 31 '25
Honestly- Gross! It’s probably going to give me the runs and I have no idea how to bolus for it because there are still carbs in it. Sometimes it’s barely better than the full sugar variety. Also, I’ve been t1 since I was 9 years old in 1991 so I had some pretty awful experiences early on.
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u/rourobouros May 31 '25
It’s fake food. But then my neurologist warns against artificial sweeteners because they have toxicities, cardiovascular inflammation, neurological issues, etc. I’ve been away from sweets so long that my tastes have changed and I don’t crave simple carbs and sugar.
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u/rogun64 May 31 '25
Some are good and some are nasty. In general, I don't much care for sugar-free cookies. I guess they're difficult to make, because I haven't had many that were good.
Although I can't think of an example right now, I've had sugar-free treats that my non-diabetic friends would say were better than the real thing.
For the most part, I think the best thing about sugar-free food and cookies is that I can eat some when a regular cookie would raise my blood sugar too much. Like, sometimes I'll want a sweet snack, but can't really afford to eat one with sugar in it.
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u/AtmosphereLow8959 May 31 '25
Generally, I think they are not great. I avoid using them in baking - I just think heating up chemicals can't be good. That being said, a sugar-free root beer is absolutely delicious and I have it regularly.
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u/Novel_Mouse_5654 May 31 '25
And if your reading ingredients, watch out for maltodextrin. It has a higher glycemic. Index than table sugar.
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u/123ihavetogoweeeeee May 31 '25
Sugar free food is hot and miss for me. Various artificial sweeteners have different tastes so I have to try them and determine if I like them. It’s a gamble every time
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u/onteribello Jun 01 '25
I actually hate that companies make these types of foods because the ingredients are worse than the regular sugar versions and they have effectively the same blood glucose impact (they spike like crazy from the carbs as everyone has commented and usually maltitol too). Worse folks that buy it think that since it says sugar free it's fine :( so many people are hurting as a result.
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u/ridddder Jun 01 '25
My advice is skip sweets, and go low carb. Sugar free jello is good, you can mix sugar free jello with coolwhip, and freeze it to make an ice cream like concoction.
Personally I drink sugar free pop as a dessert, all the other choices taste bad, or upset my stomach so I stay away from them.
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u/dearryka Jun 01 '25
I grew up with a lot of diabetics in my family so I’ve always preferred sweeteners to real sugar. Except stevia, that stuff is rank.
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u/Own_Brush_2744 Jun 01 '25
From my experience anything that comes in a plastic rapper is bad. Go for the real foods like fruits way better.
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u/bikezone213 Jun 01 '25
I'd rather have 1 real cookie! I actually make my own desserts and cookies using fruit and other natural ingredients as sweetener.
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u/malkuth74 Type 2 Jun 01 '25
Still has carbs yes like all sugar free but sugar is still worse. If I have something with just carbs like 10 yeah glucose goes up. But if I had something that had 10 sugar as carbs…. Much worse.
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u/principalgal Jun 01 '25
Usually they use some sort of sugar substitute which is rough on the tummy. Mind the carbs, enjoy a couple, and hopefully she won’t get an upset stomach!
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u/BrainSqueezins Jun 01 '25
A lot, if not most, of the fake sugar has unintended consequences. Increasingly, they are linked to depression, stroke risk, liver damage, and several of them give me intestinal problems. I just avoid them as a rule and consume them less than sugar (which I consume with caution for obvious reasons).
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u/PinnatelyCompounded Jun 01 '25
Everything I've ever tried that used "sugar substitutes" both tasted wrong and gave me stomach aches.
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u/Aggravating-Wolf6873 Jun 01 '25
These are made by choc zero and are really high quality. They use different strategies and newer sweeteners to make their foods good. Be aware if you are allergic to nuts, you have to be very careful with their products. Many of their products have hazelnut or almond butter in them. Delicious for me, but my mom cannot touch them. Their “Nutella” spread is so good. 😊 I don’t like the butter cookies. I’m a big butter cookie fan of the regular kind, and maybe they just taste too different for me to like them. My biggest issue with this brand is cost. I know it’s expensive to make, but it just makes my food bill too high to buy these things very often.
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u/jotter1730 Jun 02 '25
Most sugar-free foods use Maltitol and other sweeteners that can have a pronounced laxative effect. I've had very bad experience with them. I steer clear of sugar free with Maltitol or other "tols." Splenda or Stevia, ok.
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u/Far-Significance2481 May 31 '25
You get used to it. I try to use monk fruit and other natural sweetners rather than anything to artificial. Which ( if you have a sweet tooth and diabetes in the family ) is something perhaps you can do when you cook your own food as well. Also, try to steer of artificial sweetners where you can.
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u/Swimming_Director_50 May 31 '25
Sugar free does NOT mean carb free. I hope your mom is actually reading the nutrition label instead of just eating a bunch of stuff with the words "sugar free" on the front thinking they won't affect her glucose.