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The term “sugar” refers to sucrose, a substance present in purified and crystallized white sugar (extracted from beets) and cane sugar, in the raw form as well. Therefore, unless specified by the doctor, these two types of sugar may not substitute each other.
Even honey, though in a smaller degree, contains sucrose (mostly transformed into fructose and levulose by a bee enzyme) and therefore cannot be used as an alternative to sugar unless your doctor allows it.
The following foods usually contain sugar:
— Honey and jams, condensed and powdered milk.
— Sweets, bakery products, ice creams: all bakery products, whether industrial or homemade, candies, fondants, gelatins, chewing gum, sugar coated almonds, chocolate, marrons glacee (candied chestnuts), snack pastries, meringues, nougat, marzipan, creams puddings, nutella (chocolate-hazelnut spread), fruit in syrup etc., and all ice creams, including those with fruit, sorbets and semifreddi. Remember: yogurt with fruit and sometimes even “plain” yogurt are sweetened.
— Sweet or sweetened drinks: fruit juices and fruit drinks (such as orange soda, lemon soda, etc.), beverages (sodas, drinks such as coca-cola, chinotto, tonic water...), aperitifs in general (alcoholic and non), bitter digestive liqueurs, sweet liqueurs (amaretto, mandarinetto, orange liqueurs, vov...), saline mineral supplements for athletes. There may also be caramel (used as a natural coloring) in many brands of whiskey and marsala.
— Some soluble breakfast drinks and herbal teas in freeze-dried powder form: ovaltine, nesquick, hot chocolate (unless prepared at home without sugar), freeze-dried chamomile...
— Some baked products: practically all melba toast, sandwich bread, and many forms of focaccia. All cookies, wafers and similar products.
— Breakfast flaked and cereals: unless expressly stated in the contents listing.
— Many sauces and bouillon cubes: soy sauce, industrially prepared sauces, meat extracts, tomato pastes (always check the ingredients listing).
— Canned foods: especially peas, carrots, and peeled tomatoes, baby foods, powdered baby cereals.
— Some medicines: such as syrups and many tablets. Sugar is also contained in almost all lozenges. Your doctor will advise you as to which preparations are best.
Alternatives
If a sugar intolerance has been identified by a DRIA test , fructose (Fructan) or, if your doctor agrees, some synthetic sweeteners may be utilized. This substitution refers only to sweetening: our clinical experience shows that a large scale substitution of sugar (sucrose) with fructose for the preparation of cakes and ice creams often leads to hypersensitivity to fructose within a few days. In this case, it is probably a signal of the body’s sensitivity to simple, quickly absorbed sugars more than a real reaction to sucrose as such. The rotational diet is aimed towards giving preference to complex carbohydrates and to eliminating simple ones (like fructose, sucrose and alcohol) and all quickly absorbed substances that provoke an insulin producing mechanism. Sometimes the reaction identified in the DRIA test is an indicator of a problem in this area.
Sweets may be partially substituted with homemade sweets and ice creams that are prepared without sugar (the use of apples or some other fruit helps, but doesn’t give the same satisfaction). If the doctor allows it, sugar-free candies, chewing gum and pieces of licorice can be consumed. Jam (spread on crepes or on toast) may be substituted with sugarless fruit compote, unless there is a hypersensitivity to fructose. As far as canned foods are concerned, there are products that are prepared without added sugar (check the ingredients listing). A safe alternative to canned products are frozen ones that don’t contain sugar.
Many alternative recipes can be found, together with instructions for rotational diets, in the books by Dr Attilio Speciani “Le allergie: cause, diagnosi, terapie” [Allergies: Causes, diagnosis, therapies] (with Marina Speciani Necchi), “Resistere all’inquinamento” [Surviving pollution] and “Superare le intolleranze alimentari” [Overcoming food intolerances] (with Francesca Speciani), all published by Tecniche Nuove, Milan.
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© This food profile is copyright of SMA Srl Servizi Medici Associati, Via Ariosto 28, 20145 Milan,
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. Health director: Dr Attilio Speciani, M.D., Clinical allergist and immunologist. This material may not be used or reproduced without the publisher’s permission.
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