Coffee sweetener

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Replies

  • briteyes
    briteyes Posts: 435 Member
    bringing this back up again... i did a search and found this thread...

    I have to say, I'm really really missing my morning coffee! I've been having it, but I love it only one way - sweetened with cane sugar. I've tried stevia & Xylitol, and neither one of them cut it and it's just ruining my morning coffee!!! I've tried no sweetener at all, but the aftertaste reminds me of the taste of bile :(

    So I'm torn - do I cut out the carbs/sugar and go with Equal or Splenda - those flavors are manageable, or do I allow myself one guilty pleasure and put the sugar back in my coffee? I know what I want to do, and I probably will go ahead and do it, and just manage the rest of my diet accordingly... (hey, I'm human and I NEED my morning coffee!) but would love to find out if there's anything else I can try before throwing in the towel.

    and please, don't scold me for being a slave to my coffee... it's still a choice, and it's a choice i gladly accept. If it became a major issue I'd let it go completely, as no coffee is better than a bile taste in my mouth.
  • gaelicstorm26
    gaelicstorm26 Posts: 589 Member
    Nnaska wrote: »
    Before calling people fear-mongerers do your own research. I have. I choose not to put chemicals in my body if I can help it. Let people decide for themselves. There are haters and lovers of every product out there.

    But everything is made of chemicals...
  • briteyes
    briteyes Posts: 435 Member
    Tinabob777 wrote: »
    I hate stevia with the fire of 1000 suns!

    ME TOO!!!!!!! There is no acquiring a taste for that nasty stuff! I can't tell you how many times it has ruined a dessert or coffee! Blech!
  • Kalici
    Kalici Posts: 685 Member
    briteyes wrote: »
    bringing this back up again... i did a search and found this thread...

    I have to say, I'm really really missing my morning coffee! I've been having it, but I love it only one way - sweetened with cane sugar.

    Cane sugar only has 15 calories per teaspoon full. Are you actually pouring enough in there that it makes a massive difference to your calorie allotment for the day? If you're using enough that it is making a big difference you could try using a mixture of half sugar and half equal or something similar.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Nnaska wrote: »
    Before calling people fear-mongerers do your own research. I have. I choose not to put chemicals in my body if I can help it. Let people decide for themselves. There are haters and lovers of every product out there.

    You can't live without putting chemicals into your body though . . .
  • briteyes
    briteyes Posts: 435 Member
    Kalici wrote: »
    briteyes wrote: »
    bringing this back up again... i did a search and found this thread...

    I have to say, I'm really really missing my morning coffee! I've been having it, but I love it only one way - sweetened with cane sugar.

    Cane sugar only has 15 calories per teaspoon full. Are you actually pouring enough in there that it makes a massive difference to your calorie allotment for the day? If you're using enough that it is making a big difference you could try using a mixture of half sugar and half equal or something similar.

    I usually have 2 tsps. total, which in the grand scheme of things is low in calorie when that is the only "sugar" i have for the day; however I am a low carb/high fat dieter (20-30 quality carbs from veggies/fruit), so I actually count carbs, not cals... so it would come out to 8 carbs - again, not a HUGE deal, i've currently cut out sugar from my coffee and it's pure torture, so I'm just trying to decide if I should just add it back in and deal w/ those extra 8 carbs some way
  • Kalici
    Kalici Posts: 685 Member
    briteyes wrote: »
    Kalici wrote: »
    briteyes wrote: »
    bringing this back up again... i did a search and found this thread...

    I have to say, I'm really really missing my morning coffee! I've been having it, but I love it only one way - sweetened with cane sugar.

    Cane sugar only has 15 calories per teaspoon full. Are you actually pouring enough in there that it makes a massive difference to your calorie allotment for the day? If you're using enough that it is making a big difference you could try using a mixture of half sugar and half equal or something similar.

    I usually have 2 tsps. total, which in the grand scheme of things is low in calorie when that is the only "sugar" i have for the day; however I am a low carb/high fat dieter (20-30 quality carbs from veggies/fruit), so I actually count carbs, not cals... so it would come out to 8 carbs - again, not a HUGE deal, i've currently cut out sugar from my coffee and it's pure torture, so I'm just trying to decide if I should just add it back in and deal w/ those extra 8 carbs some way

    If going without makes you that miserable I think it would probably be better for you if you added it back in and took the carbs out elsewhere. If it were me I don't think I'd want to let something that small (that makes me that happy) be the thing that breaks my will to continue with my diet.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
    briteyes wrote: »
    Tinabob777 wrote: »
    I hate stevia with the fire of 1000 suns!

    ME TOO!!!!!!! There is no acquiring a taste for that nasty stuff! I can't tell you how many times it has ruined a dessert or coffee! Blech!

    When I first bought stevia, I used too much...it's extremely easy to use too much because you only need a tiny little bit. It gave my coffee a bitter unpleasant aftertaste. However, since I had already bought the container, I kept experimenting with it. I soon realized that if I just use less, it sweetens as well as sugar and I can't taste any difference.

    So it is quite possible you just don't like it (a lot of people say that, so I don't discount it...we all have different taste preferences), but it could possibly just be a case of using too much like I did. I think one of the problems is there is pure stevia powder, which is extremely sweet and you only need a pin head sized amount of to sweeten a beverage. And then there is stevia cut with other things, which means you need to use more. So you have to really know exactly what you are dealing with.

    You may very well just not like stevia under any circumstances, but hopefully this could help somebody else who is thinking about trying it.
  • starwhisperer6
    starwhisperer6 Posts: 402 Member
    Most of the information out about sweeteners that I have seen is from lab studies done with mice. If I ate my weight daily in sweetener I am sure it would have a terrible effect. Then again if I ate my weight daily in broccoli I have no doubt that too would have an adverse effect.
  • cbelc2
    cbelc2 Posts: 762 Member
    I actually prefer coffee black and unsweetened these days. I don't know about artificial sweeteners. I don't use them because they are regulated by the FDA and safe limits are set. That gives me pause. I saw something on disruption of healthy belly microbiome. On weekends I add steaming skim milk to my coffee as a treat.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
    how many coffees a day are you having? a teaspoon of real sugar in two or three cups of coffee a day you can get away with no problem.

    Not sure what sweetener Splenda uses, but I prefer the saccharin based ones to aspartame.
  • sashayoung72
    sashayoung72 Posts: 441 Member
    I think it's a moderation thing. It's bad for you if you eat an entire sack of the stuff. Some people like to get all freaked out and wind up freaking you out. research it and if you have had no side effects, don't sweat it. you are probably breathing in more harmful carcinogens from the air and if you thought about all the bad stuff you'd go hide in a cave.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
    twins2x2 wrote: »
    I'm a coffee junkie. I follow a low carb and no sugar diet so I use Splenda in my coffee. It takes better than other stuff but recently had a few people go crazy on me about how terrible it is. I can't drink coffee without sweetness and I don't like using stevia. Would straight sugar be best?

    I limit stevia because I discovered that if I use too much of it, it gives me sugar cravings. I have it on occasion...usually when I am out and that is the only sugar free option available. In small doses I don't have a problem with it. But sometimes I drink 3 or 4 cups of coffee a day, and if I had 3 or 4 stevia packets a day it would definitely set off cravings for me.

    This is a problem for some people, but not everybody. If it doesn't cause problems for you, go ahead and use it. It is better than sugar.
  • Nuke_64
    Nuke_64 Posts: 406 Member
    edited September 2015
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  • robbienjill
    robbienjill Posts: 456 Member
    Have u tried coconut sugar? It's great. All natural and has a Carmel taste!
  • hellonew2015
    hellonew2015 Posts: 327 Member
    Nnaska wrote: »
    karla24687 wrote: »
    Stevia is plant-based (except for Truvia which is modified), Splenda is artificial. I stick with Stevia if I can help it. It might cost more but at least it's more natural. Do some research, see how you feel!
    http://www.naturalnews.com/047639_stevia_splenda_artificial_sweeteners.html

    True. Splenda is chemicals. Stevia is natural. I use Sweet Leaf brand. I really like it. No bitter aftertaste.

    Use Kal pure Stevia in your coffee, I use this always and love it, I also add it to plain yogurt to avoid having too much sugary foods
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    Stevia is only choice. Play with dosage to get rid of bitterness or use the stevia glycine form which is not bitter.
  • lulucitron
    lulucitron Posts: 366 Member
    I use coconut sugar or brown sugar in my coffee as I like the molasses taste. I just burn off the sugar...no biggie.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
    totally agree, nothing like the molasses taste with coffee. and seriously, the calories from a few cups of coffee a day are few, there are other areas where you can make much more effective calorie cuts.