Hi Lanie
Did you know that the makers of splenda can no longer say that it's made with sugar? By the time they get done chlorinating the starting molecule (which is sucrose) it neither resembles nor enters into chemical reactions like sugar. No food product in it's natural state contains chlorine- which is toxic to humans (think bleach- it's the same atom). Splenda was accidentally discovered when a less than careful graduate student tasted ( instead of tested- language barrier there) the potential insecticide that his lab was synthesizing.
As a trained biochemist, I have concerns about a toxic molecule in a messed up (diabetic metabolism is not normal after all-) system. I wonder if those chlorine atoms really stay bound to the molecule (chlorine is very reactive-) throughout digestion. The reason why splenda is so sweet is because the chlorine molecules make it bind to the sweetness receptors on our tongues 600 times better than actual sugar. High heat also really worries me, because heat is a catalyst used by chemists to create and speed up reactions. I won't even touch anything that has been baked with splenda.
The maltrodextrin filler is essentially a non-absorbable carb (like the inulin fiber in the Stevia packets), but if you actually look at the ingredients on the little yellow packet, you see that DEXTROSE ( sugar- pure and simple) is the PRIMARY ingredient. So 1 cup of sugar is 8 oz and that's equal to 240 grams. 100 grams of splenda = 331 calories; 90 grams of carb, and 80 grams of sugar ( according to the government tables at Nutritiondata.com - also on the splenda website)- 1 cup = 795 calories; 216 carbs and 192 grams of sugar. Now that's far less than a cup of real sugar- but not innocent or calorie free by any means.
I don't think it poses any problem if the person is having a miniscule amount - but some people ingest splenda and other artificial sweetners like they used to ingest sugar - in all kinds of food and drinks. I'm particularly worried about children and the effect it might have on them. If hormones fed to cattle and the beef fed to children can cause puberty in 7 year olds (very indirect consumption), what effect can direct feeding of a toxic molecule do? What happens when the child's body stores all those toxic molecules- lab tests on humans and rodents do not show 100% excretion of the molecule- so it has to be bound up in the flesh of the ingester..
So much for my rant.
But to answer your question- I can drink a cup of coffee with cream and a teaspoon of sugar ( raw, white, or turbinado) with no discernible rise in my blood sugar. I can also sweeten it with SweetnLow or Equal- no effect. But coffee with cream and splenda, or with splenda syrup shoots me up.
I can have coffee with syrup at breakfast, but that is because I eat more than enough protein (in my yogurt) to cover any carb-like effect.
sandy