DEAR DR. BLONZ: I drink milk daily -- sometimes nonfat, sometimes 1 percent or 2 percent. I was recently told that I am heading toward Type 2 diabetes, and when checking the contents on the milk cartons, I noticed that there were 14 grams of sugar per cup in the 1 percent milk and 15 grams in the nonfat milk. Does this mean "sugar" as in "sweet sugar"? How does this relate to diabetes? -- L.W., via email

DEAR L.W.: All sugars are carbohydrates, but not all carbohydrates should be thought of as sugars. Your question relates to the common confusion that "sugar" always refers to "table sugar," the white granular sweetener that's also called sucrose.

From the labeling standpoint, "sugars" refers to the sum of all the single and double sugars present in a particular food. Glucose, fructose and galactose are common single sugars, and a double sugar is when you have two single sugars bound together. For example: Sucrose is a double sugar made up of glucose and fructose, while lactose -- found in milk products -- is a double sugar made up of glucose and galactose. Other common sweeteners include corn syrup (all glucose), high-fructose corn syrup (corn syrup with some glucose enzymatically changed to fructose) and honey (a 50-50 mixture of unbound glucose and fructose).

Glucose is the main form by which carbohydrates travel through our bodies, and when carbohydrates are eaten, they tend to be converted to glucose, usually by the liver (assuming they weren't in the form of glucose to begin with). The blood sugar level, or blood glucose level, is the measure of glucose in our bloodstream. When in good health, the human body has a series of controls designed to keep blood sugar in a defined range.

Insulin, produced by the pancreas, is the hormone that keeps our blood sugar level from getting too high. A rise in blood sugar, such as that typically found after a meal or a sugary snack, triggers the release of insulin. This is the signal for glucose to be removed from the blood and turned into fat. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce sufficient insulin to do the job.

Different sugars and sweeteners affect this process to varying degrees and at various speeds. Getting back to your question: Lactose should not be considered a "sugary" sugar because it has much less of an impact on the speed at which it raises blood sugar, compared with an equal amount of sucrose.

Excess sweeteners do not cause diabetes, but sugars, carbohydrates, insulin and diabetes are closely connected. Thus, those at high risk for developing diabetes are advised to limit their intake of single and double sugars. Having soda and/or high carbohydrate snacks are particularly troublesome for these individuals, especially when consumed on an empty stomach. Excess body weight is a major factor increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes because the body's sensitivity to insulin decreases as weight increases. The flip side is that those with extra weight who have been told they are at risk for Type 2 diabetes can see that risk decrease, or even disappear, with weight loss. For more information on diabetes, check the National Institutes of Health page: tinyurl.com/8kfow

Send questions to: "On Nutrition," Ed Blonz, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO, 64106. Send email inquiries to questions@blonz.com. Due to the volume of mail, personal replies cannot be provided.

DEAR DR. BLONZ: My daughter has been having heavy periods, and she also has iron-deficiency anemia. She told me she takes oral contraceptives, but these do not seem to be helping much. What iron supplement would you recommend? -- N.N., Portland, Ore.

DEAR N.N.: Heavy periods are not unusual, especially in teens who are not yet ovulating regularly and in women approaching menopause. Having said that, I am not a medical doctor, as you know, so keep in mind that other factors can be involved. If your daughter routinely experiences heavy periods, especially those that last longer than a week, it would be wise to have her check with her physician or gynecologist. Do this before you resort to iron supplements.

As for iron, the most efficient way to get it into the body is through food. The body does not efficiently absorb dietary iron, the one exception being the heme iron that is present in meats. Assuming she is not a vegetarian, a reasonable first step would be to include lean meats in your daughter's diet.

In terms of supplements, iron comes in two forms: ferrous and ferric. Of the two, the ferrous form is better absorbed, and it tends to be less irritating to the stomach.

The difficulty with iron supplements is that iron doesn't dissolve easily, and it must be in solution before it can be absorbed. Studies have shown iron supplements tend to work best when they are taken with a glass of orange juice on an empty stomach. This can be a problem for some, however, because iron supplements may irritate an empty stomach.

Whenever your daughter takes her iron pills, try to include acidic foods such as citrus juices or tomato sauce. Even a vitamin C (ascorbic acid) pill will help. The presence of the acid helps to get the iron into solution and maximize the amount your body will absorb.

As all this being said, I want you to be very aware that excess iron intake can be dangerous. Do not start your daughter on iron without first consulting her physician, and make sure that you keep all supplements out of the reach of children.

DEAR DR. BLONZ: What is the difference between a vegetable and a fruit? Also, I'm interested in becoming a certified dietary manager; what are the requirements for this, and how would I go about getting certified? -- S.F., Richmond, Calif.

DEAR S.F.: A vegetable is an edible part of a plant with a soft stem, including leaves (lettuce), roots (carrot), bulbs (garlic), stalks (celery), seeds (peas), tubers (potato) and flowers (cauliflower). A fruit is the mature ovary in a flowering plant -- that fleshy part of the plant that contains the seeds. This means that tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and squashes are technically fruits, even though they are commonly thought of as vegetables.

As for your interest in becoming a certified dietary manager, there are a number of resident and correspondence schools for this field. Once you have the credentials, there are career requirements and a nationally recognized credentialing exam involved with gaining and maintaining certification. For more information, contact the Association of Nutrition and Foodservice Professionals (anfponline.org).

Send questions to: "On Nutrition," Ed Blonz, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO, 64106. Send email inquiries to questions@blonz.com. Due to the volume of mail, personal replies cannot be provided.

DEAR DR. BLONZ: Is folate the same as folic acid? I read about the importance of folate, but when I look at the label of my multivitamin, it says "folic acid." -- S.I., San Diego

DEAR S.I.: They are both the same. Throughout its history, the vitamin we call folic acid or folate has gone by many names, including Wills Factor, anti-anemia factor, SLR factor, PGA, factor U and factor R, not to mention vitamins M, Bc, U, B9, B10 and B11. The explanation is that many different laboratories were doing research on the same substance at the same time, and many were working on related compounds that had the same vitamin activity.

Folate, it turns out, is a generic term referring to a family of related compounds, the simplest of which is folic acid. We usually don't find folic acid in nature; instead, we find one of the folates, which you can think of as being forms of folic acid with different lengths of a particular side chain attached.

Folate is usually associated with food, therefore, while folic acid is usually associated with supplements. Folic acid appears to be a key compound in human nutrition. The increasing frequency of articles on the benefits of folate reflect the fact that an inadequate intake of this nutrient is now being associated with a number of different ailments, including heart disease and certain birth defects. What's of interest here is that you don't need megadoses to avoid problems. One can get all the folate they need from a healthy diet. Good sources include green leafy vegetables, organ meats, legumes, orange juice, beets, avocado and broccoli.

DEAR DR. BLONZ: I had been in search of the perfect fancy butter dish, and I just found one at an estate sale. I learned that it is made of leaded crystal (24 percent lead), and when showing off my dish to a friend, she told me about your column on leaded crystal. Are you saying that I should pitch this new treasure -- or at least not put any butter on it and then into my digestive system? I only want to use it as a serving dish, but not if it's going to poison my body. -- M.B., Danville, Calif.

DEAR M.B.: Lead is a toxic substance, and the risk with this type of crystal is that the lead is not tightly bound. When in contact with liquids (water or alcohol), small amounts of the lead can slowly dissolve or leach into the liquid. Dried grains would not be an issue -- not that many would choose to store rice or whole wheat in leaded glass. Butter is primarily fat, but it does contain a small amount of water (as does margarine). There would be negligible risk to using your leaded crystal as a serving dish, so go ahead, enjoy, and congratulations on your find.

Send questions to: "On Nutrition," Ed Blonz, c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO, 64106. Send email inquiries to questions@blonz.com. Due to the volume of mail, personal replies cannot be provided.