Diabetes and low-calorie sweeteners

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• How can low-calorie sweeteners benefit people with diabetes?
• Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that results from the body's inability to make or use insulin. Insulin moves sugar in the blood into cells where it is converted into energy for life. People who have diabetes are now advised to eat a "normal" balanced diet that is rich in carbohydrates, including moderate amounts of sugar. But since an important part of diabetes management is to maintain blood sugar levels within healthy limits, low-calorie sweeteners help by providing sweet taste without increasing the blood sugar levels.
  
  When overweight or obese people who have diabetes lose even small amounts of weight, their blood sugar improves. By reducing their calorie intake, low-calorie sweeteners aid both weight management and diabetic control.
• Is it safe for people who have diabetes to use low-calorie sweeteners?
• There is wide consensus among health groups that low-calorie sweeteners are safe to use by people who have diabetes as they do not affect blood sugar or insulin levels.
• Do low-calorie sweeteners affect blood sugar or insulin levels?
• Numerous studies have consistently shown that low-calorie sweeteners do not affect blood sugar or insulin levels. Their effect on insulin secretion and blood sugar levels has been studied by Brigitte Härtel et al., European Society August Bier for Ecology and Medicine, University of Hannover, Germany. The study's aim was to find out whether sweeteners (in general) have an impact on cephalic responses and on insulin and blood sugar levels. The study showed that "solutions of sweeteners do not cause any cephalic insulin secretion, that they have no impact on glucose levels and finally provide no evidence of a hunger mechanism based on a stimulus from sweeteners".
• How do pleasure and palatability improve health, nutrition and diabetic control?
• Low-calorie sweeteners provide people who have diabetes with a wide variety of good tasting foods and beverages. And a more varied and more palatable diet makes it easier to comply with diet guidelines that improve health, nutrition and blood sugar control.
  
  People who have diabetes may feel isolated and alienated because in some ways their lifestyle is different from that of other people. Being able to have "normal" foods adds to their quality of life. This is especially helpful to children who want to be like their friends in every way.