Giving up sweeteners in drinks

gelsdon

Has anyone tried to give up sweeteners in coffee & tea? I have used them for years... and in an attempt to cut out things I really don't need... am trying to give them up.

Did it take you long? Did you manage to give them up? Does it ever taste good

RodaRose

I cannot drink coffee so I never developed a habit for it.
A few years ago I started drinking tea and I like it plain. I high end buy brands that make me happy.
Changing a habit involves a cost benefit analysis. Which is more important to you and how much do you want to be inconvenienced during the transition? Keep the sugar if it makes you happy.

Or try tapering down the amount of sugar over weeks or a month.

livingleanlivingclean

I can drink good black coffee without. Or if it's got milk I can go without....
I never used to be able to drink it without but weaned myself off

Baaaad coffee needs it though

00figg

yes! our bodies get used to what we put into them. so if you cut down the amount, you should find that eventually you will be able to do without. i used to love a little bit of coffee with my cream and sugar; now i don't even think i have sugar in the house... and my coffee and tea are just as satisfying

Laurend224

Yep. I used to drink my coffee light and sweet. Now I drink it black. I got rid of milk when I went vegan, non dairy milks don't do coffee any favors IMO, and once I calculated the amount of calories worth of sugar I was dumping into my morning coffee, I realized I would rather spend them on actual food.

Now putting sugar in my coffee is an occasional treat, not a daily habit.

lapriya

All my life i used to coffee with lots of sugar, that too 5-8 cups a day. it was recently that i calculated calories im wasting in my coffee. I wanted to use that calories to eat more real food. The day i started cutting off sugar, i was the most horrible around. Angry, tired, a bad headache.. it was way better on 2nd day, n from 3rd day i was in zone.
Does it taste better? Well not yet for me, still trying to get there.

katylil

I've managed to cut down from 3 to 1 but still can't do either English breakfast tea or coffee completely without it! Just tastes too bitter for me.

suruda

I gave them all up last January. It was fun, my morning coffee was ok (I kept Milk in it) and I quickly lost the taste for artificial sweeteners. If I had some insomething I could totally taste them (and not in a god way). BUT then...it was a warm summer and I couldn't resist the diet coke occasionally. Then I seemed to throw in the towel and go back to splenda in my coffee. I don't have too much though so I'm accepting it! Now my coffee is back to delicious!

wizzybeth

I have been drinking my coffee black for years. Now I can't stand regular coffee with cream and sugar. I have a latte on occasion for a treat but that's all.

Sarasmaintaining

I don't drink coffee but I do drink (mint) black tea. I started out with a tsp of regular sugar and I've cut back to 1/2tsp of a splenda/sugar mix (I buy it pre-mixed). Calorie wise it's so minimal that I'm not trying to cut it down any further.

LoupGarouTFTs

If you like having them, then there's no real point in cutting them out. I can drink my coffee without sweetening it if I have enough milk or cream in it, but now that I'm only using two tablespoons of milk or one of cream in a mug of coffee, I just like it better with sweetener. I don't buy high end coffee, but the results are the same whether I drink higher end coffee or not.

gelsdon

Thank you for your experiences... That helps me a lot... I think going 'cold turkey' was a bad idea... I want to try cutting it down... but some things (like coffee) is hard... where fruit teas might be easier... One step at a time maybe? :-). Again - thank you for the support.

TeaBea

I used a step down approach with iced tea many, many years ago. I started with 1/4 cup sugar in 1/2 gallon of iced tea. Then I went with 3 Tbl....etc.

One thing I found that helped. I steep plain tea bags & flavored tea bags together. Now my tea has a slightly fruity flavor, but no sweetener needed. The best thing about the flavored tea bags is, it gives the tea a more mellow flavor overall. Lipton Pyramid Bavarian Berry & Twinings Mixed Berry are both fruity black teas....2 individual flavored bags + 1 iced tea bag (not the cold brew...blech) makes 1/2 gallon.

Cirtus-ginger green tea.....steep ginger root with your green tea. Add orange and lemon slices. If you mash the slices a bit you get more citrus flavor.

ahamm002

Yes, giving up sweeteners is one of the best things I ever did. After I gave them up my tastes changed. I began to appreciate other flavors in coffee that I was previously drowning out with sugar and milk.

Now I love quality black coffee! I can't stand coffee with too much sugar because it masks the complex flavors of a quality dark brew.

ahamm002

gelsdon wrote: »

Thank you for your experiences... That helps me a lot... I think going 'cold turkey' was a bad idea... I want to try cutting it down... but some things (like coffee) is hard... where fruit teas might be easier... One step at a time maybe? :-). Again - thank you for the support.

I did it by slowly cutting back. First start slowly decreasing the amount of sweetener. Once you're using no sweetener, slowly decrease the amount of creamer/milk.

mjaygtoo

My nutritionist suggested skim milk and cinnamon so going to try that.

In another thread, someone suggested almond or coconut milk...

eseeton

I used to never be able to drink coffee black until I discovered real coffee. The kind that is roasted fresh and ground right before it is prepared. Burr grinders and pour-overs - it is the only way to have a truly sweet cup of coffee without any sweeteners. Everything else tastes like bitter dirt now and I am unsure how I ever drank it. I have already kicked my keurig and CBTL machine to the curb (I used to DEPEND HEAVILY on those things).

My suggestion - try real coffee! Or tea, I love my tea.

mjaygtoo

@epawelek That is interesting. I've never had sweet black coffee, except some of the Starbucks stuff (link below) which is lightly sweetened so probably not the best choice (they also have caramel and unsweetened).

http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/bottled-drinks/starbucks-iced-coffee-light-sweetened

Which brands do you grind?

Justygirl77

gelsdon wrote: »

Has anyone tried to give up sweeteners in coffee & tea? I have used them for years... and in an attempt to cut out things I really don't need... am trying to give them up.

Did it take you long? Did you manage to give them up? Does it ever taste good

Your tastebuds eventually adapt to whatever you eat, so if you reduce the sweet taste you expose them to, less sweet things taste sweeter by comparison lol if you follow that. Your tastebuds replace themselves within two weeks...you have to train the newbies!

getstrongkaylen

I think it was something that I just got used too. I know exclusively drink black coffee (once in the morning), unsweetened tea, and water... got be careful though as tea and coffee can dehydrate you. there was time i was only drinking water but decided that i wanted a different taste - hence the tea and coffee. i got used to it, and now i can't drink either of those things sweetened... just kinda forced myself to drink it! now, the sweetest stuff i drink is smoothies - but when i do that, its my entire meal. good luck!

oh, and of course, i still drink alcohol (in moderation!)

jean___x

i used both regular sugar and artifical at the same time for years. 2 years ago i read the book "the selfish brain" which changed my mind completely and i give up sweeteners immediately. meanwhile lets say since half a year i use sweetener, drink diet drinks, coffee, tea... i dont use any white sugar at home anymore only sweetener and stuff like honey from time to time...

eseeton

@mjaygtoo It is not a sweet cup of black coffee, but more so a cup of black coffee that is not bitter. It just tastes like coffee, and actually has a natural sweetness to it. There are no specific brands, you have to find a coffee shops in your area that roasts fresh coffee and does it well. I am in San Antonio, TX, and my favorite roaster/coffee shop is Brown Coffee Co. What city are you in? There might be a good coffee shop in the area that also roasts and sells pour-over coffees so you could try out what I mean because it is kind of expensive to invest in a set-up at home to make them.

BananaPancakes6294_

I used to have 4 tablespoons of sugar in my coffee and 3 in my tea. This was about two years ago. Now I don't have any sugar in either and have not done for a year - & still enjoy it just as much! You get used to having sugar/sweetener but the more you reduce your intake of it or the longer you go without having it, the less you miss it if at all

gaelowyn_pt_duex

I had to give up fake sweeteners cold turkey a few years back. they were reacting very poorly with a new medication, causing EXTREME dry mouth and throat. VERY EXTREME. I gave up all fake sweeteners - diet sodas, crystal light, anything with splenda(sucralose) Nutrasweet, asparatame, xylose, etc. When I did that, I found that i was craving far less sugary sweet stuff. I didn't "work" to change my overall eating patterns, I wasn't tracking anything. In fact, I added in a 12 oz can of regular full sugar soda every other day or so, and I still lost 10lbs in about 4-5 weeks after giving up the fake stuff. Because of the awful reaction- it wasn't so hard to do. I was lucky I guess, I don't recall any issues giving it up.. in fact I had fewer headaches than when drinking that stuff. I now can enjoy much less of something sweet than before as well. Except for chocolate.. i can drown in it and it wouldn't be enough. Good luck! I think you'll find yourself feeling better once you can rid that fake stuff from your diet.