What You Should Know About Sugar Substitutes

By Jill Melton, M.S., R.D.; Photographer: Scott Little

Thanks to low-calorie sweeteners, it's a lot easier today to have diabetes and still satisfy your sweet tooth -- but it's also a little confusing. To answer your questions about cooking with sugar substitutes, our Test Kitchen put some of the more popular options through their paces.

Slide 1 of 10

Next >>

With more than 10,000 reduced-calorie food products on the market, cookies, cakes, and soft drinks may fit your diabetes eating plan better than ever. And if that's not enough, you'll also find an array of sugar substitutes and sugar-substitute blends you can use in cooking and baking.

How big a role should these sugar substitutes play in your diet? What do they cost? Can you use them to bake a great cake?

While it's good to know you have sweet alternatives to sugar, figuring out how to use them can be complicated. That's where our Test Kitchen stepped in to help.

Next: The Science of Sugar

rhemingway11 says:

whatdo you substituate for light Karo syrup

From the editors of Diabetic Living: Artificial or no-calorie sweeteners have been approved by the government and are deemed safe for use in our food supply. They provide one way for people with diabetes to significantly reduce calorie and carbohydrate intake, which can ultimately impact weight and blood glucose control. If you prefer to avoid such sweeteners, your choice is respected.

11/12/2009 07:42:15 AM Report Abuse

twops2 wrote:

I have a health restaurant that serves foods for Diabetics. I would never never use the sweetners I see listed. Please chek it out. I use the natural products like Chicolin this I mixed with stevia,I have cook books on it and Agave nectar This products are safe. The others are actually dangerous to your health

11/4/2009 11:17:15 AM Report Abuse

emuk1 wrote:

I ordered the magazine through the current winter edition's mail form.

11/2/2009 05:24:03 PM Report Abuse