It occurs to me that some people should really retire long before they do

[quakerboy]

I had an interesting discussion with a nutritionist today. This discussion regarded the nutritional value of the branded "atkins shakes".

Her contention was that the sugars were far to high for someone with diabetes. I pointed out that it was not made with sugar, it was made with sucralose. We had the container there, and she pointed out that it had 1 gram sugar. and further stated that sucralose was sugar, and bad for diabetics. I pointed out that sucralose was splenda. She riposted that it had sucralose in it, and that she was sure it would say splenda on the ingredient list if it had that in it, and that sucralose was sugar, like dextrose and fructose.

At this point I could have walked away and tried to forget this exchange, but I pointed out that the diabetic in question normally chose to either have these shakes, with 1 g sugar, 15 cholesterol, and 9 grams of fat, or 2 breakfast burritos from Burger King. She stated the burritos would be better for him.

And this woman is responsible for the meal plans and nutrition of about 50 vulnerable elders.

Do you ever really strongly consider whether your job is worth causing a stink over potentially dangerous incompetence?

[LeftyFingerPop]

1. Crazy.

I'll take the "whole" 1 gram of sugar.

[quakerboy]

6. Yeah

If she had wanted to have a discussion about the unknown factors of a not that well tested product made of making sugar into some wierd chlorinated freak molecule that was originally supposed to be an insecticide, that would be a different story. But as the conversation went down, don't piss on my car and tell me its raining.

[bigwillq]

2. That's true of many in Congress, too (nt)

[rebel with a cause]

3. Spenda is sort of sugar...At least it is made from processing sugar

or something.:shrug:

With that said let me add that I have diabetes 2 and do better when I have a little bit of sugar every day. And by sugar I mean sweets. I have had other people say the same thing. My blood sugar level goes down when I consume a little sugary treats, it goes up when I do not or if I eat too much of some fruits and/or carbs. I would not recommend anyone else with diabetes to eat deserts. Everyone's system works differently.

By the way, I didn't like sweets before diabetes, now crave them. Still have to monitor what I eat and how much. As far as breakfast burritos is concerned, I have no idea what they have in them so I wouldn't attempt to say which I thought was better????? Not that I know more than the usual person would know.

[quakerboy]

5. But the addition of the Chlorine atoms

seems to make it un palatable on a biological level.

Plus, per sweetness, the sucralose is much sweeter than sugar, so even if it were able to be fully metabolized, a similarly sweet product would still need to have considerably less weight of product/carbohydrate calories. In its common splenda packet form, it is mixed with a product that adds bulk and calories(which is a whole seperate pet pieve of mine) but when added directly to commercial products, it is supposed to be used without the bulking agent(per wikipedia).

It just so happens my wife was recently diagnosed diabetic, and we have gone a bit overboard in researching all the "fake" sugars.

As to the burrito's, I didnt know details, but I felt certain that a Burker king breakfast burrito could in no-way be considered health food, so I went home and checked it, as all these details are on the bk website these days. 2 grams net carbs, to the Atkins shake's one. And, as I was very certain, much much worse on the cholesterol and fat levels, which are also a concern for the 3rd party diabetic person.

[rebel with a cause]

10. Yeah, my daughter did the research overload also

when I was first diagnosed. That was back in 2006 and I have forgotten most of what she found out. :rofl:

Mostly I get my 'fake' sweetener from the soda I drank. I know, I should be drinking only water but I am weak. I sometimes bake with splenda but my daughter will not eat anything with it in it, so I just try to limit the amount of sugar used and go with the flow. I watch my blood sugar closely and am always surprised with what makes it peak.

Stress and anxiety make my sugar go up as well as any illness/increase in pain. As your wife gets use to her diabetes she will find what foods and experiences cause the peaks and lows in her blood sugar levels. Good luck to her and you.

By the way, I would agree with you that the burritos would be all that healthy, especially not as a daily part of a diet.

[valerief]

4. She must be a teabagger. nt

[quakerboy]

7. Really dont know

Never had any real interaction with her previously. I didn't even know that was her job until this discussion. I think maybe she has just been at it and under fire for too long. The eldercare industry does not seem to attract the best and brightest. I have noticed many time those going into the field are those one step from needing the care themselves. And many of the rest are those too immature to deal with the reality of it all.

[valerief]

8. Yeah, but even a moron should know the difference between splenda and sugar.

I wonder if she thinks 'comatose' is a kind of sugar because it ends in ose.

[femmocrat]

9. I don't think it has anything to do with her age! (You implied she should retire.)

Our school "nutritionist" is a young woman with no clue about nutrition. She considers fat, grease, sugar and salt as daily requirements for children's diet. Our school lunch (and breakfast) program is a national disgrace.

[quakerboy]

11. Not age as such

I do not think it is age, so much as time spent. I just got the strong impression that her intake of new information stopped about 15 years back. There were aspects of the conversation that clearly indicated she had done some science based learning , but then points where her thinking could not accomidate new knowledge. I have no doubt in my mind that if it had said sacharine rather than sucralose, it would have been a drastically different response. I have noticed that at a certain point people who have been doing things for a long time, especially in thankless overworked positions, tend to kinda lock up a bit.