Mail Bag
Sugar Substitutes
We have received a large number of questions and comments about our article on alternatives to sugar (“The Skinny on Sugar Substitutes,” Winter 2007, p. 14) regarding Splenda. Beth Anderson, a registered dietitian and certifi ed diabetes educator at Liberty Medical, responds: Splenda, a brand name for sucralose, is a low-calorie sweetener used worldwide in more than 4,000 food, beverage and nutritional products. Sucralose is benefi cial in the diet of people with diabetes because it helps to reduce the amount of carbohydrate that we get overall if we are using it as a sweetener in place of sugar. Sucralose can be used as a tabletop sweetener, or to sweeten beverages, desserts, fruit drinks and gelatins; it is also used in chewing gum. It is heat-stable, so it can be used in baking. It has zero calories and zero carbohydrates, so it will not affect your blood glucose. Using sucralose is a good way of reducing overall calories and carbohydrates, and in my opinion it tastes the most like sugar.
Success Story
Thank you for inviting our letters. I have had terrific success in lowering my blood sugar, which I wish to share with everyone who has type 2 diabetes. For the past 10 years, I have read everything I could find. I have kept a journal of all the foods I ate and the resulting blood sugar count. Chromium seems to be found in all the literature and works well for me. But what also works extremely well for me is glutathione, found in avocados or capsules. When I take it with protein, which has glutamine, an amino acid, my blood sugar plummets. The more glutathione I take, the lower my blood sugar goes. One evening it was 80 mg/dL, lower than it has been in 10 years. My fasting level dropped 145 points, from 274 to 129, in six weeks. I also should mention that the diet that helped my success was very low in carbs: only salad, vegetables like broccoli (rich in chromium), asparagus and avocados; no sugar, no fun foods like chocolate cake; mainly protein such as fish, chicken, tofu and lean beef, and some monounsaturated fat. Not much pleasure in eating, but as a diabetic, I have learned that whatever works is OK with me.
— MURIEL KEITHLEY
Mission Hills, Calif.
More Recipes Wanted
I was thrilled to receive Health Matters. I’m looking forward to trying the soup recipes (“Soup’s On,” Fall 2007, p. 8). I am diabetic and have just started on kidney dialysis. I am completely overwhelmed with the big adjustments in my life, physical as well as emotional. I’m struggling with how to eat the right foods for being diabetic and having heart and kidney damage. I would love to see a soup recipe that is within all the “legal” dietary guidelines for my illnesses. I’m a fi ghter at 53, and I want to sustain my life as long as God allows. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to the next issue.
— PAMELA B. LEDBETTER
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Thanks, Pamela! We’ll have lots of healthy recipes, including soups, in the upcoming issues.
— The Editors
We'd like to hear from you
The editors of HealthMatters are always on the lookout for story ideas from Liberty customers. If you have a story based on your own experience that could be either educational or inspiring to our readers, we'd love to have you share it with us. Send an e-mail to healthmatters@epscomm.com, or write a letter to Editor, HealthMatters, c/o EPS, 210 West Cummings Park, Woburn, MA 01801. All correspondence will be kept in strict confidence, and nothing will be published without your permission.