Artificially Sweetened Drinks
Artificially sweetened fizzy, still, or cordial
drinks should be kept to a minimum, and
drunk at meal times. This is because very
sweet drinks encourage the liking of sweet
tastes, stimulate appetite and contains acids
that will damage teeth.
Useful Contact Numbers
New National Guidelines On Added Sugar
Intake - July 2015
Paediatric Diabetes Specialist
Nurses
Office: 01254 732 558
This recommends that added sugars in food
account for no more than 5% of total daily
energy.
This is a maximum of:
19g or 5 sugar cubes for 4-6 year olds per
day
24g or 6 sugar cubes for 7-10 year olds per
day
30g or 7 sugar cubes for 11 years olds +
adults per day
Carol Wade
Mobile: 07866 441 041
How Much
Sugar Is In
Your Drinks?
Peter Doyle
Mobile: 07740 803 786
Vicky Phillips
Mobile: 07973 315 298
Clair Kneale
Mobile: 07713 089 470
To put into context; a 500ml bottle of full
sugar pop is nearly treble the recommended
sugar intake for a 4 - 6 year old per day, and
double for over 7 year olds to adults.
Mary Nightingale
Mobile: 07943 580 088
Exercise Drinks
Karen Smith
Mobile: 07943 579 965
If you are using drinks to keep your blood
glucose up during activity, these will need to
contain carbohydrate.
Please see our
‘Exercise and Activity Leaflet’.
Paediatric Diabetes Dietitians
Julie Wood
Alison Ashworth
Office: 01254 732 463
Authors: Dietetics
Issue Date: July 2015
Document ID:
Version: 1
Review Date: July 2018
East Lancashire
Children and
Young Peoples
Diabetes Team
The human body is made up of approximately
60% water. Bearing this in mind, it is easy to
understand why we must drink enough every
day, (6 to 8 glasses), to keep us hydrated and
to replace lost fluids.
Drinks - Comparison of Sugar
Content in a Serving
SUGAR in
Portion
No. of
CUBES
Water
0
0
There is a huge selection of drinks available
to us and it can be confusing when trying to
decide which ones are healthier than others.
Sugar Free
Flavoured Water
0
0
Instant Tea/Coffee
(Not Milky)
0
0
Many drinks contain large amounts of added
sugar, which is very quickly absorbed into the
blood and therefore causes rapid spikes in
the blood glucose levels.
Fruit Shoot Hydro
No Added Sugar
No Added Sugar
Cordial
Any Diet / Zero
Fizzy Drink
Options Hot
Chocolate
0-2
0
1-2
0
0
0
4.7
1
6.5
2
Coffee Shop Milky
Coffee
8
2
Fresh Fruit Juice
16
4
17
4
34
8.5
24
6
49
12
53
13
Ribena
53
13
McDonalds
Milkshake
57
14
Slush Puppy
70
17
These drinks are unhealthy for everybody as
they can cause weight gain without providing
any nutrients and are also a main cause of
tooth decay.
For people with diabetes they must be
avoided at all times because of the effect
they have on the blood.
Pure water is a very healthy choice, it
rehydrates you quickly, doesn’t contain any
calories and has no effect on the blood sugar.
DRINK - Typical
Serving
Ribena Light
Milkshake with No
Added Sugar
Syrup
No Added Sugar
Smoothies
Full Sugar
Flavoured Water
Coffee Shop Hot
Chocolate
Full Sugar Fizzy /
Energy Drinks
(500ml bottle)
How to Rate Your Drinks
Sugars can be natural, (from fruit or milk ), or
added. Added sugars are unsuitable for you
as they are digested quickly by the body and
so rises in blood glucose cannot be
controlled by insulin.
To rate your drink you need to work out
whether the sugar in your drink is natural or
added. Drinks between meals, with added
sugar, should be avoided if there is more that
2g sugar in the portion you are having.
Drinks with natural sugars are digested more
slowly, but they still require insulin and
should be had with meals only.
Although our tables show a selection of
drinks, there are still many that we have not
included. You can rate these drinks yourself
by looking at the nutrient label on the bottle
or can. Find out how much sugar is in the
portion and then work out if it is suitable or
not by using the following grid:
Sugar in
Portion
Rated
2g or less
Can have any time
(Excludes Diet Fizzy Drinks)
2g + natural
sugars
Only with meals
(Will Need Insulin)
2g + added
sugars
To be avoided completely