Good Morning all...A friend that loves my cakes has just been diagnosed as borderline diabetic...What can I substitute for sugar in my cake recipes that wouldn't drastically change the taste...Mainly my Red Velvet and Carrot Cakes (use both white and brown sugars) Thanks
Substitute for Sugar
- Thread starter Slimjen06
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The thing about artificial sweeteners is that they can have a laxative effect if you eat enough of them. If your friend is borderline diabetic then I presume it is type 2? If so they should also be careful about their fat intake, so cake is bad on two fronts. It's also worth bearing in mind that when you change one ingredient you are also changing the balance of the recipe, so the result may not be exactly the same.
You could try something like Xylitol if you want to try and keep the recipe the same, but be careful about the laxative effect and be warned that it's toxic to dogs. From what I remember it can be used in a 1:1 substitution.
Overall, a healthy balanced diet is the best way to treat type 2 diabetes. You could maybe look at treats that incorporate vegetables? Beetroot and chocolate cake is really good
You could try something like Xylitol if you want to try and keep the recipe the same, but be careful about the laxative effect and be warned that it's toxic to dogs. From what I remember it can be used in a 1:1 substitution.
Overall, a healthy balanced diet is the best way to treat type 2 diabetes. You could maybe look at treats that incorporate vegetables? Beetroot and chocolate cake is really good
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@Becky is correct that cake poses multiple health problems for pre-diabetics and diabetics.
Coming from a family of diabetics, including a grandfather who died from diabetic complications, I can tell you the issue iis far more complex than sugar. It’s the glycemic load from carbohydrates that increase the blood glucose.
Carbohydrates have two forms:
So removing the sugar from a baked good does not necessarily make it safe/appropriate for a pre-diabetic/diabetic to eat. If the food contains a high availabile carbohydrate starch, the pre-disbetic/diabetic is going to suffer the same increase in blood glucose as they would from eating sugar.
Pre-diabetes can be reversed with proper diet and in some cases a combination of diet and medication. So feeding a prediabetic person foods like cake is only going to cause harm as such foods are the precursors to full-blown diabetes.
The wheat flour in cake has a high glycemic index. The higher the glycemic index (GI) of a food and its carbohydrate availability, the greater the impact it will have on blood glucose levels. The GI scale goes from 0 to 100. Anything above a 50 is considered high; 70 and above is very high.
Wheat flour has a high GI of 70 or greater depending on the type of flour. It also has a high carbohydrate availability, meaning the body can metabolize more of it.
By comparison, granulated sugar has a GI of 61. So even if you remove the sugar you’re still creating a food with a high GI.
But it’s not just the GI, it’s the carbohydrates that are available for the body to metabolize. Watermelon and a donut each have a GI of 76. But the wheat starch in the donut has a considerably higher available carbohydrate, so eating the donut will have significantly more impact on glucose levels than the watermelon.
I have two siblings with diabetes, both insulin dependent. I never bake sweets for them—ever. Baked goods are full of wheat flour. Wheat flour is 80% starch. The amount of available carbohydrates makes it a blood glucose bomb.
Aside from being a carbohydrate starch bomb, gifting cake simply undermines the difficult lifelong dietary changes they must adopt to remain healthy and manage their medical condition.
Being a celiac I cannot eat wheat. So I do understand what it’s like to live with dietary restrictions. Friends who convert their favorite recipes to gluten-free put me in a very awkward position. I am not diabetic, but I am genetically predisposed to diabetes; so my glucose levels can get pretty high.
I do not want to consume those high starch gluten free flours. Yet when someone presents me with something they baked “just for me”
there is an obligation to eat it. This holds true for most people with dietary restrictions. We understand the caring behind the gesture but it does force us to eat something that isn’t good for us or risk hurting the feelings of people we care about.
Rather than look for ways to feed your favorite cake recipes to your friend I would recommend you research the diabetic diet, the role of carbohydrates in diabetes, and the glycemic index. Offering a meal or dessert that is naturally balanced on the glycemic index is far more appreciated than a sugar free cake that looks and taste nothing like real cake, and worse, still poses the same health risk as the sugar itself.
So much of life revolves around food. And there are a lot of foods that diabetics can eat without risk. Unfortunately sugar free cake is not one of those foods.
Understanding Carbohydrates
http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/
Understanding the Glycemic Index and how carbohydrates raised the blood glucose levels
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/food-beverages/glycemic-index-glycemic-load#glycemic-load
Coming from a family of diabetics, including a grandfather who died from diabetic complications, I can tell you the issue iis far more complex than sugar. It’s the glycemic load from carbohydrates that increase the blood glucose.
Carbohydrates have two forms:
- sugars
- starches.
So removing the sugar from a baked good does not necessarily make it safe/appropriate for a pre-diabetic/diabetic to eat. If the food contains a high availabile carbohydrate starch, the pre-disbetic/diabetic is going to suffer the same increase in blood glucose as they would from eating sugar.
Pre-diabetes can be reversed with proper diet and in some cases a combination of diet and medication. So feeding a prediabetic person foods like cake is only going to cause harm as such foods are the precursors to full-blown diabetes.
The wheat flour in cake has a high glycemic index. The higher the glycemic index (GI) of a food and its carbohydrate availability, the greater the impact it will have on blood glucose levels. The GI scale goes from 0 to 100. Anything above a 50 is considered high; 70 and above is very high.
Wheat flour has a high GI of 70 or greater depending on the type of flour. It also has a high carbohydrate availability, meaning the body can metabolize more of it.
By comparison, granulated sugar has a GI of 61. So even if you remove the sugar you’re still creating a food with a high GI.
But it’s not just the GI, it’s the carbohydrates that are available for the body to metabolize. Watermelon and a donut each have a GI of 76. But the wheat starch in the donut has a considerably higher available carbohydrate, so eating the donut will have significantly more impact on glucose levels than the watermelon.
I have two siblings with diabetes, both insulin dependent. I never bake sweets for them—ever. Baked goods are full of wheat flour. Wheat flour is 80% starch. The amount of available carbohydrates makes it a blood glucose bomb.
Aside from being a carbohydrate starch bomb, gifting cake simply undermines the difficult lifelong dietary changes they must adopt to remain healthy and manage their medical condition.
Being a celiac I cannot eat wheat. So I do understand what it’s like to live with dietary restrictions. Friends who convert their favorite recipes to gluten-free put me in a very awkward position. I am not diabetic, but I am genetically predisposed to diabetes; so my glucose levels can get pretty high.
I do not want to consume those high starch gluten free flours. Yet when someone presents me with something they baked “just for me”
there is an obligation to eat it. This holds true for most people with dietary restrictions. We understand the caring behind the gesture but it does force us to eat something that isn’t good for us or risk hurting the feelings of people we care about.
Rather than look for ways to feed your favorite cake recipes to your friend I would recommend you research the diabetic diet, the role of carbohydrates in diabetes, and the glycemic index. Offering a meal or dessert that is naturally balanced on the glycemic index is far more appreciated than a sugar free cake that looks and taste nothing like real cake, and worse, still poses the same health risk as the sugar itself.
So much of life revolves around food. And there are a lot of foods that diabetics can eat without risk. Unfortunately sugar free cake is not one of those foods.
Understanding Carbohydrates
http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/food/what-can-i-eat/understanding-carbohydrates/
Understanding the Glycemic Index and how carbohydrates raised the blood glucose levels
https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/food-beverages/glycemic-index-glycemic-load#glycemic-load
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Very good points @Norcalbaker59
Wow! Thanks so much for the education...I admit I don't know much about diabetes. My family suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia. When you focus on one disease; you tend to forget about others. Again; I appreciate your reply.
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@Slimjen06, I hope all is well with your family.
PS if ever you want to share that carrot cake recipe, I’m all ears. I’ve tried a few recipes last year, then tried to develop my own, but they all underwhelmed.
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@petrukofficial
I got a notification in my email that you responded to my comment here. For some reason it’s not showing up here. So I’ll just write my response.
1. Yes of course there are many sugar substitutes. But the issue is NOT the sugar. The issue is the carbohydrates for diabetics. Feeding a diabetic white flour can be worse than feeding them sugar because of the way the body processes carbohydrates. Standard protocol for the management of diabetes is actually to monitor the carbohydrates, not the sugar.
2. Demerara sugar is cane sugar that has not been fully refined. Diabetics can NOT eat it anymore then they can eat refined sugar.
3. The poster clearly stated this was an issue regarding diabetes, not weight loss. Some of the alternatives that you’re offering here are not necessarily approved for consumption by diabetics.
4. Just because something taste like sugar does it mean it behaves like sugar. Artificial sweetener is very difficult to use as a sugar substitute in baking. Sugar plays a scientific role in the chemistry of baking, and artificial sweetener unfortunately do not hace the same characteristics and properties of sugar.
5. Dr. Oz is NOT regarded as a reputable medical doctor. Dr. Oz was summoned to appear at congressional hearings because Congress was so concerned about the amount of inaccurate information and outright bogus products Dr. Oz pedals on his show and website.
Coming from a family of nurses and doctors, and myself having studied human biology, human chemistry, and anatomy with a thought of entering Into medical career myself, I looked at Dr. Oz website before he was summons by Congress. There is some accurate information on his website. But it contains an extraordinary amount of information that has no bases in science. So it was not surprising that Dr. Oz stated to Congress that many of the products he promotes “... don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact...”.
6. It’s important for diabetics to adhere to the dietary protocol and standards set by their doctors. My former husband‘s best friend lapsed into a diabetic coma. Most patients will recover from a diabetic coma, unfortunately he did not. So there are severe health consequences when diabetes is not properly managed. And when it is properly manage the prognosis can be quite good. Both my brothers are insulin-dependent. But one has managed his diabetes extremely well. The doctor believes the improvements are directly related to proper management of his diet. The improvements are such if he continues to improve he may not need medication in the future. But he will always have to maintain his diabetic diet.
I got a notification in my email that you responded to my comment here. For some reason it’s not showing up here. So I’ll just write my response.
1. Yes of course there are many sugar substitutes. But the issue is NOT the sugar. The issue is the carbohydrates for diabetics. Feeding a diabetic white flour can be worse than feeding them sugar because of the way the body processes carbohydrates. Standard protocol for the management of diabetes is actually to monitor the carbohydrates, not the sugar.
2. Demerara sugar is cane sugar that has not been fully refined. Diabetics can NOT eat it anymore then they can eat refined sugar.
3. The poster clearly stated this was an issue regarding diabetes, not weight loss. Some of the alternatives that you’re offering here are not necessarily approved for consumption by diabetics.
4. Just because something taste like sugar does it mean it behaves like sugar. Artificial sweetener is very difficult to use as a sugar substitute in baking. Sugar plays a scientific role in the chemistry of baking, and artificial sweetener unfortunately do not hace the same characteristics and properties of sugar.
5. Dr. Oz is NOT regarded as a reputable medical doctor. Dr. Oz was summoned to appear at congressional hearings because Congress was so concerned about the amount of inaccurate information and outright bogus products Dr. Oz pedals on his show and website.
Coming from a family of nurses and doctors, and myself having studied human biology, human chemistry, and anatomy with a thought of entering Into medical career myself, I looked at Dr. Oz website before he was summons by Congress. There is some accurate information on his website. But it contains an extraordinary amount of information that has no bases in science. So it was not surprising that Dr. Oz stated to Congress that many of the products he promotes “... don’t have the scientific muster to present as fact...”.
6. It’s important for diabetics to adhere to the dietary protocol and standards set by their doctors. My former husband‘s best friend lapsed into a diabetic coma. Most patients will recover from a diabetic coma, unfortunately he did not. So there are severe health consequences when diabetes is not properly managed. And when it is properly manage the prognosis can be quite good. Both my brothers are insulin-dependent. But one has managed his diabetes extremely well. The doctor believes the improvements are directly related to proper management of his diet. The improvements are such if he continues to improve he may not need medication in the future. But he will always have to maintain his diabetic diet.
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@Norcalbaker59 the post was from a spammer and it went into a moderation queue which is why it didn't appear here. I've banned the member now, but I'll leave your post if that's ok because there's good info there
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@Norcalbaker59 the post was from a spammer and it went into a moderation queue which is why it didn't appear here. I've banned the member now, but I'll leave your post if that's ok because there's good info there
Oh okay. Sure leave up my response