The low-sugar watermelon is creating a big buzz in the news right now. The watermelon, developed by plant breeders at the US Department of Agriculture, contains less than half the sugar of regular melons. It may fit the bill perfectly for diabetics who crave a generous helping of that luscious summer treat. Brilliantly, beneficial concentrations of vitamin A, potassium and the antioxidant lycopene stay the same in the low-cal version. Don't rush to the local supermarket looking for it though: the seeds have only just become available to melon growers, so mature fruits has not yet hit the market.

The beauty of the low-cal melon is that it's all-natural. Okay, okay. It took some genetic engineering to get there. Still, noshing on a big stack of this watermelon has to be better for you than processed snacks and drinks, with their chemical cocktail ingredients list. Reports in today's news on the possible dangers of diet soda consumption, for example, might get people thinking harder about healthier ways to satisfy their sugar cravings. On the other hand, if you're not afraid of the artificial sweeteners, a sprinkling on the low-sugar melon will enhance the sweetness, sugar-free. Thank you, Mother Nature...and the USDA.

Whey Low is made of natural sugars like sucrose, fructose and lactose - not artificial ingredients. So it's unlikely your grandmother or your little brother will taste the difference. Even better is the fact that it should have substantially less impact on your blood sugar, for it barely reaches 25 on the glycemic index, whereas table sugar is a whopping 100.

This unique blend of all natural sugars is the ideal sugar replacement to control after-meal blood sugars, a definite concern for type 1, as well as type 2 diabetics. Use of Whey Low reduces insulin requirement, which eases stress on the beta cells (in type 2) and exogenous insulin requirements (in type 1). Whey Low also helps strengthen the immune system. The unabsorbed sugars of Whey Low, combined with starch, stimulate growth of healthful gut bacteria known as the prebiotic effect. This healthful gut bacteria has been shown in recent literature to stimulate the immune system.

Whey Low was developed by Lee R. Zehner. When his wife was diagnosed with diabetes in 1999 he wanted to come up with something that would allow her to continue her love for baking, without sacrificing control of her blood sugars. Whether you're whipping up frosting, baking cookies or searching for a new diabetes friendly coffee sweetener - Whey Low gives you an opportunity to indulge in your delights with significantly less impact on your sugars. Thanks to That's Fit for leading me on to this remarkable culinary crutch!

Stevia is a member of the daisy family, and Coca Cola teamed with Cargill to bring it onboard as a new sweetener in their family of products.

According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, Coca-Cola has filed 24 patent applications for the product, which has been tentatively named Rebiana. It plans to use the sweetener in some of its beverages. Stevia is only approved in the United States as a dietary supplement, not as a food additive. The extract is claimed to be the world's only all-natural sweetener with zero calories, zero carbohydrates and a zero glycemic index.

Extracts are said to have up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar. As a sweetener, Stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar. Lower-calorie sodas are made with artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame and sucralose. A recent report revealed that the US sweetener market is poised to increase 4% annually, to reach over $1 billion in 2010. A company that could offer a natural alternative to artificial sweeteners may have found a new sweet spot in this growing market.

The Diet Channel promotes the headline: eat right, exercise smart, feel great! An authoritative resource for diet and fitness information, The Diet Channel offers several different summaries of the most popular diets, as well as informative articles on nutrition and health.

An article of diabetic interest pertains to those of us who are curious (or downright fixated) on artificial sweeteners. This article warns that it is not always safe to assume that just because a product is made with a sugar substitute, such as Splenda, it is healthier, or lower in calorie content. A thorough list of sweeteners and their key ingredients end the article, along with research findings on the safety of these products.

The Diet Channel offers information on every flavor of diet you can imagine, articles to motivate you to stick with it, and loads of information to keep you coming back. If I didn't know any better - I'd say it looks to be the wikipedia of dieting. And if you've ever found yourself consuming hour after hour digging through wikipedia topics...you'll know exactly what I'm talking about!

Decreased brown fat markedly increass the risk to diet-induced obesity, diabetes, and elevated fats in the blood.

Brown fat tissue is present in newborn babies. People with a lot of brown fat have a "furnace" metabolism. They burn body fuels rapidly, and the more they consume, the more they burn, all the while maintaining a stable weight. A furnace metabolism thrives on carbohydrates. The more fuel they throw into the system, the more they burn, just like coals on a fire.

There are ways to change the percentage of brown fat in the body. Although most people normally do not advocate caffeine as a healthful food, research suggests that caffeine stimulates brown fat by increasing the metabolic rate. Caffeine, however, does other things that are not as positive. It can cause heart palpitations (especially in high amounts), and steals some of the vitamins in the body, such as C and B. Increasing multi-vitamins is helpful with any caffeine supplement.

Another way to increase brown fat is to exercise - specifically, to engage in aerobic exercise that uses oxygen. To be effective this exercise must raise the pulse rate from a resting level of about 70 up to 120 or so. A half-hour of vigorous walking four times a week can be very rewarding from a metabolic standpoint.

One last tip: too much sodium in the diet can deactivate the brown fat and promote water retention with consequent weight gain. So slow and steady exercises, pass on the salt, and make mine a Grande sugar-free vanilla latte. Thank you!

What increases bone density, promotes digestive health, helps keep kids healthy, and benefits the management of diabetes? Here's a hint, it sounds like the lifeblood treatment for type 1 diabetes - insulin - but the name of this goodie is inulin. Inulin in foods provides both bulk and sweetness without causing a rise in glucose levels.

Inulin is a natural dietary fiber found in over 35,000 common foods like artichokes, asparagus, onions, garlic, raisins and bananas. As an undigested fiber, it has no effect on blood glucose levels. It has a zero Glycemic Index. You could easily find it in your grocer's refrigerated section in Stonyfield Farm yogurts. Their version of inulin comes from chicory roots. Amazing all the places this ingredient naturally derives!

It is used increasingly in foods, because it has excellent nutritional and functional characteristics. Inulin can be used to replace sugar, fat, and flour. For the masses concerned with nutrition-labels, it contains one-third to one-fourth the food energy of sugar or other carbohydrates and one-sixth to one-ninth the food energy of fat. I'm curious to see what it tastes like, aren't you? From ignorant experience (uninformed of the artificial sweeteners used) I enjoy Stonyfield yogurts. I'll have to try another brand name with inulin on for size. Breaking news!! I just checked the ingredients in my newest dopamine-boosting fix: Trader Joe's low-glycemic dark chocolate. Golly gee-- sure enough inulin is on the list. I'm so in love with this dark chocolate because it really has such an insignificant affect on my blood sugar. Ultimate kudos to Ramsey, the creator of Miracle Muffins, for this sweet trinket of knowledge on artificial sweeteners!!

Horizon Science has developed an all natural sugar with less effect on raising blood sugar. The discovery was made over a three-year period at a sugar mill in Australia.

The glycemic index is based on how much blood glucose rises after consuming a particular food over a 2-hour period. This is compared to a "reference" food. White sugar has a GI rating of 65, whereas the GI rating of this sugar is 51, nearly 25 percent lower. In essence, this means that the lower GI sugar will raise your blood sugar 25 percent less than white sugar. The low GI sugar has higher amounts of polyphenols, which have been shown to reduce body fat and increase lean muscle mass. A number of studies suggest that a low GI and slowly digestible carbohydrates can contribute to the prevention of obesity and diabetes.

The new ingredient can be used in cooking and baking like ordinary sugar, whereas artificial sweeteners can become carcinogenic when heated. Don't preheat the oven just yet -- you'll have to wait a little while for the sweet victory of lower GI sugar. The product will not be on the market until 2008.