Dessert For Diabetics
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Many people think if they have diabetes that they cannot eat dessert. However you can include small amounts of sweets into a well-balanced diet.
If you think about it, desserts have a lot of carbohydrate jammed into very small portions. Sweets and desserts are what we call simple carbohydrates: things like fructose in fruit and lactose in dairy. Complex carbohydrates are things like potatoes and whole-grain breads. So if you substitute whole-grain starch you can eat more of it. You would have to eat much less sweets and desserts.
Another way of looking at it is the total amount of carbohydrate you eat throughout the day actually affects your blood sugar more than the type of carbohydrate. So, the key to you eating desserts if you're a diabetic is to limit portion size.
Some ways to do this are to order a child's portion of dessert or choose desserts with rich flavor so you can eat smaller portions.
Reported By Dr. Brian McDonough, KYW Newsradio Medical Editor
