Diet is another very important part of the management of diabetes. Some adult onset (non–insulin dependent or type 2) diabetics can be controlled with diet and exercise alone. The right diet can help control blood glucose levels, reduce blood cholesterol, maintain an ideal body weight, and delay the complications of diabetes. Like exercise, diet therapy is tailored for each person. A successful diet should ideally take into consideration the person's ethnic background, financial situation, and lifestyle. It also should be simple since it may be more difficult to stick to diet plans with complex food exchanges.
Diabetics are often advised to use alternative ("artificial") sweeteners. Sweeteners are either nutritive or non–nutritive. Nutritive sweeteners such as sorbitol and fructose provide calories but may not raise blood glucose levels as much as regular sugar. Non–nutritive sweeteners such as saccharin and aspartame do not contain calories. Both types of sweeteners are acceptable, but the caloric content of the nutritive sweeteners should be considered when calculating the daily intake of calories. In addition, large quantities of sorbitol can cause diarrhea, and fructose may contribute to some of the complications of diabetes.
Source : medicinenet.com