Splenda for Some Diabetics, Despite the Lactose

Last year I mentioned that Splenda Mini Tabs contain lactose as a filler. Those are different from the regular Splenda packets, which use dextrose and maltodextrin as fillers.

Well, every dark cloud has a silver lining or some such cliché.

Judy Barnes Baker on Commonvoice.com gave one reason why Splenda Mini Tabs may be especially useful to certain diabetics.

Dr. Richard Bernstein, author of Diabetes Solution and The Diabetes Diet prescribes a very low-carb diet to get his diabetic patients off medications or to reduce their dosage to the lowest possible level. He calls it “the law of small numbers” because the smaller the dose you need, the smaller the mistake you can make and the less severe the consequences. ... Sucralose is not a problem, but even the small amount of sugar used as a bulking agent in Splenda can be too much for those who are diabetic.

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The other option is Splenda Mini Tabs. Their carb count is given as a generic “less than one gram,” which is the same as that given for a teaspoon of the granular. I contacted McNeil Nutritionals to find out what they really contain: Each tab contains 0.2 calories and 0.04 carbs, so just a trace. The bulking agent is a tiny bit of lactose. You can crush the tablets between two spoons and use them in recipes. One mini tab equals the sweetness of one teaspoon of sugar. I think even the low-carb Taliban would approve.

The extremely tiny pills contain only an extremely tiny amount of lactose. You'd have to be on the far, far fringes of the curve of lactose intolerance sensitivity to have any reaction at all to such a tiny amount of lactose.

I get an aftertaste from the sweeteners Bernstein does allow, so I greatly prefer Splenda as a substitute. I'd certainly go ahead and include it on such a diet if I had the option, even with that tiny bit of lactose.