"She loves dessert - why shouldn't she be able to have it?" said Patrick Feury, also chef/owner of Nectar, in Berwyn.
This month, designated American Diabetes Month by the American Diabetes Association, is an especially good time to think about how much sugar we eat every day. For people with diabetes, as well as the rest of us who are trying to watch our weight, overdosing on sugar is a big problem.
For non-diabetics, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends no more than 10 teaspoons of added sugar a day - the equivalent of a single Starbucks grande Caramel Mocha. Most of us munch without being mindful that a 2-ounce Snickers has nearly 6 teaspoons of sugar, a Cinnabon a whopping 11 teaspoons and the same for a single can of Coke. These are empty calories that can really pile on the pounds.
For people with diabetes, sugar, or foods that turn quickly into sugar, can be downright dangerous. Because a diabetic's body either doesn't produce or properly use insulin, the hormone needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy, ingesting sugar can cause the blood sugar to spike. This throws off the body's chemistry and triggers all kinds of health problems.
"The reality is, give a person with diabetes the choice of an apple or a slice of apple pie for dessert, chances are they'll take the apple pie," said registered dietitian Marlene Koch.
Koch, also a nutrition educator, started researching sugar substitutes when her stepdaughter was diagnosed with diabetes. The result is "Marlene Koch's 375 Sensational Splenda Recipes" (Evans, $30), a cookbook that gives diabetics the chance to eat dessert with the rest of the family.
Although she isn't paid to endorse Splenda, in doing her research Koch found that it shared the most properties with sugar as an ingredient in cooking and baking.
