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Artificial Sweeteners

17K views 64 replies 19 participants last post by  Cricket 
#1 ·
I was wondering if anyone else is having high blood sugar reading, and think it might be caused by artificial sweetners and other like ingredients? I am allergic to anything with aspatame, I bloat up, huge and fall asleep and can't awake for hours. I was using Splenda a few years ago, and started having the boating with it. So this time around I was using Stavia in the Raw, only a packet every 3-4 day a little each day. My sugar reading were not budging. So I stopped and the next day's see a huge drop.i also seem to have bad luck with sugar alcohols like in the Atkins products. I think my body thinks it's still sugar, and reacts crazy to it.
 
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#46 ·
I have occasional diet soda (sodastream + the diet cola syrup, and I use about half their recommended dose). I dont actually like it much, so wont have more. I also tried the diet lemonade, god that was disgusting!! I emptied it down the sink. YUCK! I like "real" sugar but no longer have foods that might need it. I dont have cereals, and I havent taken sugar in my coffee or tea since 1978! If recipes for stew or whatever require it, I just ignore and dont use a substitute... why on earth would you need sugar in stew, or bread. EW. I have a jar of splenda in the cupboard which I may as well throw away, it will never be used.
 
#48 · (Edited by Moderator)
I hate all of those artificial sweeteners. Splenda is fine taste-wise but as a wholly man-made molecule I don't really trust it. Stevia gives me what I need. I wouldn't like coffee without it and fresh-squeezed lemonade would basically be impossible. There is, however, a genetic issue. People with certain genes experience a bitter aftertaste with stevia. For the rest of us, it's just sweet.

------------------------------------------
BTW, that last sentence about Splenda in my last message wasn't mine. I'm not quite sure how that happened.
.....It was part of the quote from xring. Has now been removed from your post.
--VeeJay
 
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#49 ·
More and more bad is coming out about Sucrolose (Splenda). I think BH has already trashed the box we had.
 
#50 ·
i also seem to have bad luck with sugar alcohols like in the Atkins products. I think my body thinks it's still sugar, and reacts crazy to it.
I noticed higher BG readings after consuming xylitol, but not so after having erythritol. Have you tried pure erythritol ?

The other option is Monk fruit. It has an aftertaste, but to me it's not as unpleasant as Stevia's aftertaste. Actually I quite like Monk fruit. Preferences are different, so your mileage may vary.

Try pure Monk fruit extract (powder or liquid), not blends with something else; usually, cheaper products of monk fruit are blends with erythritol in which this sugar alcohol predominates.

Pure form is a bit pricey, but it doesn't to anything to my BG readings, I haven't experienced any unpleasant consequences like bloating, sleepiness or similar.
 
#52 ·
I willfully ignored my mother's pleas for me to give up diet pop, and artificial sweeters.

that changed when I tried fasting for the first time, in the absense of food I was able to notice that artificial sweeteners stimulate my appetite and cravings.

Now, instead of 2 or 3 bottles of diet pop per day, I try to limit myself to about 3-6 per week.

And, I'm weening myself off of sweeteners in my coffee. In fact, I'd like to learn how to drink my coffee black, but for now I'm using creamer/coconut oil/butter with no sweeteners.
 
#53 ·
IIn fact, I'd like to learn how to drink my coffee black, but for now I'm using creamer/coconut oil/butter with no sweeteners.
Cold turkey. I learned to drink my coffee black in college, when I tired of asking people way down the table to pass the milk and sugar. But make sure it's good coffee (it wasn't in college, but, back then, coffee wasn't good anywhere :smile2:). And mind the acid content of the coffee, which is somewhat neutralized by milk/cream/coconut oil.
 
#55 ·
I made my transformation from sugar to artificial sweeteners back about 20 years ago and after experiencing health issues that I'm convinced were cause by artificial sweeteners I stopped using them.
Ironically I used to have a sweet tooth. Hard to believe because I'm the exact opposite now - sweet things are only eaten to raise my BGs if they are running low.
But when I was a diabetic (20 something) I would have sugar in my Tea and Coffee - eat donuts (love Apple Fritters) and was on no diet restrictions - I didn't even test myself.

It's a miracle I survived those times ...
 
#59 · (Edited)
i'm finally pretty happy with the amount of sweeteners I drink.

After a week of drinking coffee black, I decided to return to 1 pkg of sweetener per coffee...that is a 50% reduction for me.

And, I've been about 4 weeks without diet pepsi. I've switch to water ( due to a counter top ice cube maker - recently purchased - I love it!)

I've also started to make homemade iced tea with 1 pk sweetener per liter. I think that is probably a significant improvement over diet pepsi.
 
#61 ·
sorry, 3 posts in row for me tonight LOL

Yesterday, I tried xylitol instead of aspartame.

I really like the flavor of xylitol when poured directly on my tongue. It tasted much like table sugar.

Unfortunately, I don't like how it tastes in my coffee. There is nothing wrong with the flavor, I just find that 1 or 2 pks of xylitol in my coffee doesn't even come close to creating the same sensation of sweetness that I get from 1 pk of aspartame, heck even 1/2 a pk of aspartame.

caveat: xylitol is deadly for dogs, unlike with humans, it cause an insulin spike with a dog that will cause a hypoglycemic event for them. i heard a .4g dose ( from a 4g serving) is enough to be dangerous for a small dog.


Should you try xylitol?
I think my experience is somewhat subjective so I won't discourage anyone from trying it.
 
#62 ·
erythritol is the nunber one ingredient is some granulated stevia products ( Dextrose in others)

I don't know much about it except it is generally being accepted as a pretty great sweetener.

in an article by the two keto guys in Australia, I read that a erythritol in a leading brand of granulated stevia is actually manufactured from GMO corn starches?sugars? somthing like that.

Anyway, I'm not sure what to think of that. I am highly suspicious of GMO corn. The verdict on erythritol is most definitely NOT in for me. I will be trying to learn more about this.
 
#63 ·
If you like plain erythritol, the last bag of NOW brand I bought said non GMO. I'll have to check into my erythritol/stevia mix. I don't use it much except for recipes calling for sugar.
 
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