Samantha Walsh
Samantha Walsh has lived with type 1 diabetes for over five years since 2017. After her T1D diagnosis, she was eager to give back to the diabetes community. She is the Community and Partner Manager for T1D Exchange and helps to manage the Online Community and recruit for the T1D Exchange Registry. Prior to T1D Exchange, Samantha fundraised at Joslin Diabetes Center. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts with a Bachelors degree in sociology and early childhood education.
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Have you ever used a urine test strip or glucometer to see if your soda is sugar-free? Cancel reply
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First I have my partner taste it – he hates diet sodas. And I usually take a sip, mix it with saliva, and place the “mouth sample” on the strip.
I have not checked for me personally, but I have for my boys on occasion. I do not drink soda, and I do not drink anything diet.
I have never heard of doing this.
I do not drink soda. I try to not ingest any sugar alternatives, or corn syrup.
Many years ago (in the 80’s), I ate dinner in a Louisiana restaurant and ordered a diet Coke. I received a non-diet Coke. I was carrying a glucose test tape (I don’t remember the brand) and dipped it in. I was able to convince the manager that he had misconnected the Coke syrup line.
There were other diabetics in the restaurant that were glad to learn the reason for the elevated glucose readings they would measure afterward.
It’s the fountain drinks that we self-serve. It is easy for the lines to be mis-connected
I used to be a soda jerk. Occasionally my wife says I certainly earned the title.
Verify or prove the idea? No… won’t waste meter strips, for silly amusement.
Sometimes, when I order a diet soda, it doesn’t taste like diet. For me, it’s better to test than to risk high bg. It’s never for amusement.
I can tell the difference by taste, but the strip makes it easier to deal with the restaurant manager.
I bought a package of strips from Amazon.
It’s not for amusement. It is for convincing the restaurant that a mistake had been made.
No, but a good idea!
I have my daughter test. She can tell the difference. I would know right away as my BS would rise quickly.
Interesting. What kind of Blood glucose measurement to you get with a blood test strip if it is regular, sugar, soda?
I heard about this two or three (or more?) ago and gave it a try, but I couldn’t get it to work.
The strip I used had “ports” on both sides and the meter didn’t like it when I dipped it in the soda. I didn’t know the meter would complain about getting data from both sides.
I tried a few different other configurations, just couldn’t get the meter to cooperate with the experiment! LOL
Yes I have. Used the Accu Check strips that had the color rang on the bottle to give your approximate blood sugar. Unfortunately many places wouldn’t actually serve kids sugar free soda, so to double check this it’s what my brother and I used.
I was diagnosed at age 28, back in 1983 when “just bolus for it” wasn’t remotely a thing. Didn’t even have glocumeters. I have a few very specific memories of that day, and one is suddenly realizing I was looking at a bleak future landscape of diet-this and diet-that, and my mind rebelled. I HATED the taste of artificial sweeteners and I wasn’t about to start trying to develop a taste for them at that point. Easier to Just Not. Which was the slogan I stamped on all things carbohydrate from that day on, while I was on the old R/NPH regimen. By the time analog insulins came into my life I’d had a solid twenty years of carb-avoidance and it was so deeply ingrained that I only slowly eased the Just Say NO barriers, even though my endo was all about how this stuff gave you permission to do that. Really it was only accurate CGMs that allowed me to let down my guard, somewhere around the 30-year mark, but sodas and sugary drinks are still on the Just Don’t list. As I’m writing this I’m realizing that I haven’t had a single soda since that day back in December 1983. Gave up cigarettes a few years before that and I feel pretty much the same about those. Just doesn’t hold any attraction for me whatsoever.
swore a mighty vow that if it came down to choosing diet sodas over regular ones, well, so long to
Yes, diagnosed in 1964 and learned to “just say no.” The idea that injected insulin allows diabetics to safely consume sweets is fallacious.
Tried glucose strips and no success
I can tell by the consistency on my tongue if the soda is “diet” or “regular.”
Urine sticks caught a few times when restaurants served me regular Cokes by mistake.