“Hey, let’s stop for coffee” I proclaimed during a brief, but not unusual, road trip.

“Yah, let’s.  And I’ll get one of my favorite teas,” my friend replied. 

“Do you want me to drive through or would you like to go inside, then sit on the patio and people watch?” I asked. 

“Let’s people watch,” she said.  “We”ll sit outside and make up people stories as folks come and go.”

Simple fun between two adults.  Nothing unusual these days.  Coffee and tea service has positively roared in this young century.  Popularized with fast-food convenience, grande lattes and iced frappes, to name only two choices, are easy to come by. 

My favorite is a grande latte, sugar-free hazelnut with soy.  Mm, mm, mm.  However, such a treat was changed, had to be, due to consequential high blood sugars.  I was astoundingly quizzical until… Taking for granted that the “sugar-free” flavoring was harmless, I did not realize that another favored and popular ingredient – soy milk – was not.

This came to my abrupt attention when watching my grande latte being made.  I happened to notice that the carton of soymilk being used had read: “Vanilla.”  OMG!  Already knowing that flavored soymilk has sugar as an ingredient, I asked the latte creator if there was sugar in the soy.  “Hmm, let me look,” she said.  “Yep, 13 grams of sugar.”  Much to my chagrin, I told her that I could not drink that.  “I am diabetic;  now I know why it tasted too good to be true.”  Not only did my blood sugar soar after such minute enjoyment, but I quickly became slow-paced, on the road to lethargism.  These are my body signs proving what sugar does to me – makes me sick and tired.

After too many years of sparse enjoyment, now I understand.  Since then, I have not stopped visiting coffee houses, but I surely changed my drink of choice: “Cafe Latte, Sugar-free Hazelnut (or Vanilla) with Sugar-free Soy, if available.  Otherwise, non-fat milk.”

Once again, change brings chaos and chaos brings change!  Buyers beware, ESPECIALLY if you are diabetic or diet restricted!

Enjoy!  A. K. Buckroth, www.mydiabeticsoul.com.