# Vimto



## Mrs Mad Ronin

Today i had a scare, my first real one since being diagnosed (that i could test to make sure it was diabetes related). 

I got myself some no added sugar Vimto, it said 0 or 0.1g on the list. However i didn't check the ingredients. I took it on face value.

Well 3 hrs after having it i decided to teat my blood. 16.3 with the Ketones warning  I nearly flipping passed out from being so scared. More about the ketones than the figure. Admittedly my sugars have been high but max has usually been 13. I have to add i felt fine apart from feeling the urge to pee alot.

So for the next 2 hrs i did nothing except drink a Tetleys green tea with lemon. No food, no exercise nothing. I was to panicked. I tested again, 5.3. 

So i learnt 2 things.

1) Vimto, very very bad for you as i checked the ingredients after that and the sweeteners etc is madness &

2) Green tea is very good for you, especially in that situation.

Scared was an understatement. So yeah, my first major incident.


----------



## robert@fm

This is the problem with "no added sugar" drinks; it doesn't necessarily mean no sugar, especially if it's a fruit drink, it just means that they haven't _added_ any sugar over and above what the ingredients already contribute.  So a fruit-based drink can be quite sugary and still be "no added sugar".


----------



## Mrs Mad Ronin

Yes i'm certainly learning that. I have to admit, i am still finding it hard at times to remember to look for things or just being strict with myself


----------



## DeusXM

No added sugar Vimto has minimal carbohydrate. Whatever caused your bg to go up, it wasn't the Vimto. If you didn't test before you drank it, your reading doesn't mean anything.

Vimto doesn't have anything different to it than squash or diet Coke or whatever.


----------



## Mrs Mad Ronin

Well i did a test 15 mins or so before it and it was 8.3 which at the moment is good for me. I had nothing else to eat or drink and no exercise. 

Vimto is quite sweet compared to normal squash, so maybe for me it didn't agree. I can drink squash and it doesn't have that impact. I can drink diet or coke zero and it does nothing. Yet vimto did increase it. Maybe for others it's fine but for some reason not me.


----------



## Fluffy Jo

That's scary Michelle ! I have to say though that I avoid anything that just says no added sugar and only buy drinks that are sugar free...which turns out isn't a lot!


----------



## AndBreathe

Mrs Mad Ronin said:


> Today i had a scare, my first real one since being diagnosed (that i could test to make sure it was diabetes related).
> 
> I got myself some no added sugar Vimto, it said 0 or 0.1g on the list. However i didn't check the ingredients. I took it on face value.
> 
> Well 3 hrs after having it i decided to teat my blood. 16.3 with the Ketones warning  I nearly flipping passed out from being so scared. More about the ketones than the figure. Admittedly my sugars have been high but max has usually been 13. I have to add i felt fine apart from feeling the urge to pee alot.
> 
> So for the next 2 hrs i did nothing except drink a Tetleys green tea with lemon. No food, no exercise nothing. I was to panicked. I tested again, 5.3.
> 
> So i learnt 2 things.
> 
> 1) Vimto, very very bad for you as i checked the ingredients after that and the sweeteners etc is madness &
> 
> 2) Green tea is very good for you, especially in that situation.
> 
> Scared was an understatement. So yeah, my first major incident.


When you originally tested, and got the horrendous number, did you test again immediately to check it was a true reading?  A dirty/contaminated finger can cause a rogue, alarming reading.

Don't ask me how I know this!


----------



## Mrs Mad Ronin

yes i did AndBreathe. In the hopes it was wrong lol


----------



## AndBreathe

How alarming!

What was your most recent reading before that?  I appreciate you are unlikely to have tested immediately before just an apparently benign drink.


----------



## Northerner

My suggestion would be to try it again. If the high was unrelated to the vimto, then you can continue to enjoy it. Test before drinking then again 15-30 mins afterwards.

Sweeteners may raise levels but usually over a longer time period and it will depend on the type of sweetener. Many are of a type that, although they taste sweet, are chemically different so don't get absorbed as readily through the gut - this accounts for the gastric problems that can ensue after consumption.

I regularly drink Robinsons NAS squash with no impact on my levels


----------



## AlisonM

Northerner said:


> .../I regularly drink Robinsons NAS squash with no impact on my levels



Me too. I don't drink a lot of fizzies and have never thought to test when I did. I do like the Robinson's NAS though (especially the peach) and they don't seem to affect my numbers.


----------



## Pumper_Sue

Here's the nutritional info for vimto http://caloriecount.about.com/calories-vimto-no-added-sugar-i123482 as no carbs it can not have raised your blood sugars


----------



## Mrs Mad Ronin

Thank you all for your replies 

Well not sure why but Vimto has to got to do something to me for some reason  

I decided to put it to the test again. Tested 4 times yesterday, readings where ok for me. High after meals but them i was testing some foods and the returned to normal. Even had Coke zero and Robinsons summer fruits squash, all fine.

So this morning i got up and tested 8.3. I drank a glass of vimto. Nothing else as it takes me an hour sometimes 2 before i can eat or do anything, for other reasons. 

15 mins later 16.0. Left it an hr, come down to 9. Had breakfast and tested 2 hrs later 11 but you expect that. Now back down to 8.3. As i say 8.3 is a normal range for me at present. 

So if i go by that the only thing i can put it down to is Vimto. But i am open to other possibilities 

Yeah, so i am not sure what else it can be. I know it has left me quite baffled as i agree looking at the evidence Vimto is fine. I'm not stupid, i have brains somewhere lol


----------



## AndBreathe

Do you have any of the Vimto left, and does it have a batch number, or any other information on it?  

Based on the bewildering nature of your findings, in your shoes, I might be inclined to email the manufacturer, including any information you might be able to give them to identify the batch your Vimto came from, and ask if they have had any reports from diabetics of unexpected reactions.

Whilst typing this, I'm wondering, if you have any of the demon drink left, if you could test it, rather than you?  You could use a Diastix, if you have any, or use your meter.

You never know, there may have been a QC issue.


----------



## Mrs Mad Ronin

I do have plenty left to be honest with you. It was one of those big ones that were on offer. Maybe that's why it was on offer  but yeah that's not a bad idea to email them just to see if they have had a dodgy batch or something. As i say it is odd and i know it shouldn't be doing that. Not given all the information. 

Thanks for the tip, i will do everything you have mentioned


----------



## KookyCat

Could it be an allergy to something in there?  Just wondered if a mild allergic reaction might elevate the old glucose levels?  I have a very serious allergy to shellfish and I was warned that an allergic reaction could cause very high BG, followed by very low BG (which I'm hoping I don't have to deal with whilst jabbing myself with an epi pen )


----------



## Mrs Mad Ronin

That's quite possible, i hadn't thought of that hun


----------



## Colinbert

DeusXM said:


> No added sugar Vimto has minimal carbohydrate. Whatever caused your bg to go up, it wasn't the Vimto. If you didn't test before you drank it, your reading doesn't mean anything.
> 
> Vimto doesn't have anything different to it than squash or diet Coke or whatever.


Hi

My father in law is diabetic and we had been buying him no added sugar Vimto.
Today out of interest I tested his blood sugar as he is not well controlled. It was 15.5. I have tried to tell him that the things he eats and how he cooks is affecting his sugars but he insisted it was the Vimto. To show him I tested the Vimto. Undiluted it was 4.7, diluted 14.4. I did it a further 5 times in different vessels with tap water and bottled. All the same. As soon as I add water to Vimto the sugar level goes through the roof.
I am a registered nurse and have been for over 25 years. I use blood glucose monitors  daily and I have never seen results like these.


----------



## grovesy

Colinbert said:


> Hi
> 
> My father in law is diabetic and we had been buying him no added sugar Vimto.
> Today out of interest I tested his blood sugar as he is not well controlled. It was 15.5. I have tried to tell him that the things he eats and how he cooks is affecting his sugars but he insisted it was the Vimto. To show him I tested the Vimto. Undiluted it was 4.7, diluted 14.4. I did it a further 5 times in different vessels with tap water and bottled. All the same. As soon as I add water to Vimto the sugar level goes through the roof.
> I am a registered nurse and have been for over 25 years. I use blood glucose monitors  daily and I have never seen results like these.


You have replied to a post that is old and @DexusXM, no longer seems to post, along with others in the thread.


----------



## trophywench

What are you testing with though?  Obviously you can't use blood testing strips.  That's like expecting to be able to see if you wear your specs in your ears!  Who sells Vimto testing strips?


----------



## Colinbert

Why can't you use blood glucose monitor? It measures sugar in a liquid, blood. So why won't it measure sugar in any other liquid. It doesn't know what liquid you're measuring with it.


----------



## Robin

Colinbert said:


> Why can't you use blood glucose monitor? It measures sugar in a liquid, blood. So why won't it measure sugar in any other liquid. It doesn't know what liquid you're measuring with it.


Because the blood that you test on a test strip is sometimes more concentrated at times, say when you’re dehydrated, it’s a bit more complicated than just measuring the amount of glucose in the sample. I’m not sure how it works, but I remember being told that it actually compares the glucose level with with the level of something else in the blood, which remains constant whether or not the blood is more concentrated.


----------



## Colinbert

If it measures the amount of glucose in a liquid then it shouldn't make any difference what the liquid is that is being measured. Just as a thermometer will measure the temperature of whatever you apply it to so the glucose meter will measure the glucose of a liquid that is applied to it. The monitor measures the glucose in a test fluid so why not Vimto? After all it's just a liquid with a glucose content. The monitor is designed to measure the glucose within interstitial fluid. It just measures glucose and will not know what liquid that glucose is in. So it will measure it. It may be DESIGNED for blood but it will measure any glucose that is applied to it. All that was needed was to observe the change of the content as it was diluted. I have no idea why it would change like that unless a chemical reaction occurs but the sugar levels went up when the Vimto was diluted. If this is able to be proved by more scientific means it could be very damaging for the company that produces it as it could well be making diabetics quite ill.


----------



## trophywench

Well there are strips that you can test the amount of glucose in urine with but they can't be used in a BG monitor and you can't piss on blood testing strips - the pee ones maybe can be used in Vimto or to check if they've given you Diet Coke and not normal Coke, but dunno what they are called or whether anyone can get their hands on them.  I've never used urine strips - always had to boil my diluted wee up in a test tube and judge how high the glucose was by what colour the liquid in the test tube turned, on the colour chart provided. Until the BG is 11and upwards, it doesn't spill into the urine anyway - ie not accurate enough in this day and age.


----------



## Docb

Hi @Colinbert, I would be amazed if the number you got on the meter from the Vimto  was in any way an accurate measure of the glucose concentration in the drink. 

The reason is that there will be some electronic gubbins inside the unit which will take the electrical signal from the test strip and use clever algorithms turn that into a glucose reading.  The clever stuff will be specific for blood and the reading you get will only be sensible for glucose in blood.   

I am sure that the same principle could be used for Vimto or any other drink but the all the clever stuff would have to be recalibrated to give a comparable reading. Bet somebody in a lab somewhere has got the calibration data but it will not be in the public domain.  Would not surprise me that you apparently got a higher glucose level reading in dilute vimto compared with concentrate.  They are different liquids and the calibrations for them could well be very different.

By the way, just looked up "no added sugar vimto" and a glucose content of 0.4g/serving is quoted.  Unless he is drinking gallons of the stuff that level is unlikely to do much for blood glucose.


----------



## silentsquirrel

We are told when doing a blood test not to squeeze the finger hard, as this could dilute the blood drop with interstitial fluid, and make the test inaccurate.  The strips are designed for blood, NOT interstitial fluid or a mixture.


----------



## Maca44

trophywench said:


> Well there are strips that you can test the amount of glucose in urine with but they can't be used in a BG monitor and you can't piss on blood testing strips - the pee ones maybe can be used in Vimto or to check if they've given you Diet Coke and not normal Coke, but dunno what they are called or whether anyone can get their hands on them.  I've never used urine strips - always had to boil my diluted wee up in a test tube and judge how high the glucose was by what colour the liquid in the test tube turned, on the colour chart provided. Until the BG is 11and upwards, it doesn't spill into the urine anyway - ie not accurate enough in this day and age.


Maybe the NHS might stop giving out the meters and save abit a cash by getting us to boil wee again, this would give them some cash back after the expense of covid.


----------



## trophywench

My response to your suggestion, is to suggest I pin you by your  genitals to a dartboard, and invite as many diabetics as I can find round to my place for a darts match.  Or, I can come to you and bring my own dartboard, some 6 inch nails and a ruddy great ommer, but leave my glasses at home .......


----------

