I can’t tolerate any alternative sweeteners (even stevia); monk fruit is the only one, but it’s never in something on its own - always combined with stevia or erythritol, etc. Whenever I feel like I need a carbonated drink, I’ve gone with (unsweetened) sparkling water. However, I’ve been having several health issues going on of late and would just love to be able to sip on some ginger ale (the really good stuff - anyone tried Reed’s?) sometimes when I feel sick. I have no idea how to even begin to tackle dosing for basically drinking sugar. I avoid pure sugar things, for the most part. Should I even bother trying? Does anyone else drink regular sodas outside of as low treatments?
I don’t know the answer, but I think if you’ve not been feeling well, and it’s what you want, you experiment. Can you start with 1/3 of a can or something?
I’m going to stop myself right there because the next thing out of my mouth has to do with extended boluses. And I’m not the one to be recommending those at this time. But even prebolusing and starting with small amounts might be a start??
I’m very, very sorry to hear of your health problems as of late. I hope it’s more issues that are a nuisance than anything of any concern. And I hope things get better very soon.
If you can’t tolerate the full-sugar kind, you could also buy a Soda Stream (I love mine!) and make your own sugar-free ginger ale syrup. I’m not sure it would taste exactly like store-bought ginger ale (which I’ve never had), but it may be close.
It’s like any really fast carb. Take the full bolus up-front as a pre-bolus, or even try Eric’s famous “double bolus” technique, where you take double the bolus you expect to need, in full awareness that (a) it will help blunt the spike, but (b) it will cause a fast drop after the spike, and you’ll need to catch that with additional fast carbs when it happens. (So for instance, take the full bolus for the soda but only drink half; after the spike turns back down and is falling well drink the other half of the soda.)
Excellent suggestion! An old boyfriend used to make homemade ginger ale for me. It was sooooo delicious!!
He was one of those incredibly talented people who didn’t need recipes. He added sugar to the syrup when he made it. I just dosed in advance and had a small portion. I just guessed at the carbs. You can always drink more if you dose too much
I only had the treat a few times, but it was so much better than store bought ginger ale.
I do that sometimes to refill carbs. Two weeks ago I drank 3 cans of Sprite in one day. And it was on purpose.
I take a good bit of insulin ahead of time so that I am dropping and low enough, and then wait until I can have it.
So technically, I guess it’s cheating. I am creating a controlled low so that I can drink the soda. So in answer to your question, it’s kinda yes and no. I make myself low first, then drink it. But it works well once you get the dosing figured out.
This is probably a wacky suggestion, but do you care for ginger beer? Totally not beer, no alcohol, but I buy it as a mixer for my fave thing in the world - Moscow mules. However, my husband will drink the stuff plain. I usually buy the crummy diet stuff, but, Fever Tree makes a “naturally light” kind that I don’t think has artificial sweeteners or stevia and only has I think 10g carb per little bottle, which is definitely better than whatever’s in a regular soda. I don’t know that I’ve drank that kind by itself so not sure how good it would be or how it would compare to good ginger ale, but it’s a thought? Maybe a really weird thought?
We used to drink ginger beer as kids when visiting relatives in Canada. We thought we were so cool, drinking “beer”! Thanks for bringing back a pleasant memory.
As for full on sodas, well, I accidentally drank one after a long and exhausting road trip and used my Afrezza stash to get back in range!!
I would test for ketones. When my son is sick he usually has ketones, and so we are trying to add in the extra insulin to knock those down. That usually would require something like ginger ale to get his blood sugar high enough to add the extra insulin. Come on ketones!
I was planning to try just drinking 1/4-1/3 of a bottle at a time. Key word there being “try.”
I’m not sure how that would taste, since monk fruit has that almost minty/cooling flavor (which is probably why it’s not used as a substitute on its own!).
Thank you for that suggestion! I think Reed’s, the kind I drink, is considered a ginger beer, so I’d probably like that light brand you mentioned!
I probably should check just because I haven’t in a while, but I doubt I have ketones - this has been going on for months, related to old and new health issues giving me grief.
I plan to try making my own syrups at some point. Like you, I’ve become sensitive to a lot of sweeteners (especially aspartame) and try to avoid them. I can, however, tolerate stevia without issues.
I tried monk fruit extract once straight (a friend wanted me to try it since she knew I ate low-carb/sugar-free) and didn’t notice the minty flavour. It was a liquid pure monk fruit extract.
If I try a ginger ale flavour I could let you know how it goes. But I’ve never had store-bought ginger ale, so I’d have to buy some Zevia or something to compare it with. (I don’t like the taste of ginger, hence why I’ve never tried it.)
Sorry, it was before 8am when I read your post and I was not completely awake when I replied. I kinda glossed over the part about you being sick. I was just talking about drinking sugar sodas.
Hope you are feeling better, and ignore my post about how to do it, it was probably not very helpful for what you are dealing with. When you are sick it’s a whole different mess to deal with.
No, you answered my question! I’m not sick with any illness; just chronic diseases that are in full-on flare mode right now, causing nausea off and on.
Here is a trick most of you in the US won’t know. The big brands of soda you know are most likely locally produced and do not use refined sugar but cane sugar in their local production. That of course applies to all local brands of sodas as well. If you have not experimented with organic unrefined cane sugar you will be in for a surprise. There are sugars that take about 8 hours to be broken down by your body and hit your bloodstream therefore becoming very manageable.
That means that a coke in Thailand will have a very different effect on your blood-sugar than a coke from the US or Europe. If you happen to live in the south or SoCal you might have seen Mexican Coke, nicely promoted in the old bottles, sometimes even in nice wooden crates. Guess what, they are produced with cane sugar not refined sugars. The health benefits outweigh that nostalgia look by a mile.
What it basically boils down to is refined foods vs unrefined whole foods, not necessarily organic that is another whole different ballgame which again leads to a very different view on bolus and extended bolus (“boli” plural?). If you are experiencing middle of the night creeping up blood-sugar results, 5-8 hours after last eating, you might be eating too healthy.
But even prebolusing and starting with small amounts might be a start??
