| | note on sugar substitutes and diet sodas:
Splenda
is good because it is made from sugar but supposedly does not have
whatever it is in sugar that causes your blood sugar to rise.
Most diet pops have Aspartame,
but I stay away from it usually because it impedes weight loss in some
people. (Though no one knows why at this time.) Nothing beats
Diet-Rite, which has Splenda. My favorite is the black-cherry,
which can be found in the can but not the 2 liter at this time.
When I was eating tons of sugar, all diet pops tasted gross. Once
I cut most of the sugar out (except natural sugars like that found in
fruits), then diet pops started to taste to me just like the sugar
filled pops. I used to hate Diet Mountain Dew, back when I was a
Dew freak. Now, Diet Dew tastes just like Sugar Dew
did. And if you're drinking juices, you might as well pour a cup
of white sugar down your gullet every day. Fruit juices are
nothing more than what's left when the healthy stuff in fruits is
stripped away and then combined with more sugar. When Angela was
pregnant with Katie, she thought she would eat healthier by drinking
juices. She put on more weight than with either two previous
pregnancies, and the nurse's first question was. "Are you drinking a
lot of juice?"
And now...
some snacks I like:
-sugar free pudding or jello
-cheese sticks
-sugar free gum
-any kind of veggie dipped in South Beach Ranch Dressing
(Here's why you should ALWAYS read labels: Even though the South Beach Diet talks like an Atkin's
diet regarding sugar, every item I've seen under the South Beach label
has SUGAR as an ingredient. EXCEPT their Ranch dressing.)
People like to joke about "veggies" being a healthy
snack and how they would rather have a cookie over "rabbit food"
anyday, but I'm not buying it. Whenever I've been at a party or
wedding reception and there is a vegetable tray with ranch or sour
cream dip on the serving table, everyone seems to have some of
it! I think this is one healthy snack that few people will
complain about if it is presented to them, because they already
probably like it but just have never really had it on their radar
screen. We have a serving dish with a spot in the middle to pour
ranch dressing in, and I like to put out cucumbers, sliced tomatos,
green pepper slices, baby carrots, radishes, and black and green olives around
the sides. I suppose one could include broccoli or cauliflower,
but that seems too high-falutin' or health-nutty to this regular guy.
-sugar free ice cream, cake, candy or cookies (YES! YES! YES! I'M ADDICTED!)
(Important note about "maltitol:"
Those sugar free snacks are great, but they have one MAJOR
drawback. To get that chocolately taste, they must rely on
maltitol, a sugar alcohol that does not affect blood sugar
levels. But they DO affect something else. Every package
will come with a warning that excessive consumption of maltitol will
have a laxative
effect. That means it will cause much stomach rumbling, followed
by possible flatulence and/or diarrhea, along with social isolation and
spousal rejection. Children should definitely stick to small
portions, as their guts have not developed to the um...tolerance
level...that mine has.)
Wal-Mart has a wide selection of sugar-free pies, including a
chocalate cream pie that is delicious, but Meijer has a better
selection of sugar free cookies. Meijer and Buehler's both carry
sugar free cakes and cupcakes, which are indispensable when celebrating
birthdays. (The kids get their sugar cake, and I get my
sugar-free cake. Hey, we could share, but remember what I said
about giving the kids too much maltitol...)
There are tons of ice cream labeled "no sugar
added." Most will not be low-carb unless they are labeled that
way. The ones NOT low carb will be very delicious, except the
Carb Options brand is also very good. Many will also have dextrose
added, which actually is a sugar, though I don't know how they get away
with that. (They are called "no sugar added" instead of sugar
free because there is natural sugars in milk.) My FAVORITE is
Edy's cookies-n-cream, though the mint chocolate chip and the fudge
tracks are close seconds.
CANDY! CANDY! I WANT CANDY!
There are good tasting sugar free candies out there if you
know where to look. First off, do not waste your money on Russel
Stover low carb candy. It is the EXACT SAME product as their
sugar free candy, but TWICE the price. Plus there is better
variety in their sugar free line. Wal-Mart used to have an
AWESOME sugar free candy section next to their other candies.
Meijer kept their Russel Stover sugar free candy next to the Hallmark
cards (?). However, Meijer is currently discontinuing almost
everything sugar free, since they love seeing their customers shop more
and more at Wal-Mart. The Reese's sugar free peanut butter cups
may actually taste BETTER than their more famous sugar-bound
brother. (Again, always read labels. The same companies
like Reese's and Hershey's put out "low carb" versions that contained
dextrose, which is a sugar.)
Well, I gotta go and eat some Russel Stover sugar free caramel crunches....
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| | Posted 12/12/2006 11:06 PM - 57 Views - 10 eProps - 6 comments
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My favorite part had to the the "spousal rejection" line. 
...and you'll be happy to know, you have inspired me to cut veggies for your dippin' pleasure.
