Sugar substitutes-Stevia Experiences?

riffraff2112

Tried it in coffee once. Yuck.
Worked better for me to just cut back on sugar amounts. I use splenda once in awhile. I can tolerate it.

MondayJune22nd2015

For me, both aspartame & stevia; cause headaches.

yarwell

stevencloser wrote: »

A single gram of sugar, or maltodextrin or anything isn't going to spike your blood sugar and insulin.

It's 20% of the blood sugar in solution so hardly insignificant

afatpersonwholikesfood

I like Splenda. Stevia tastes weird to me. I don't know if its bitter, exactly. It's just not good. I'm not weirded out by artificial sweeteners at all. I'll use the old-fashioned stuff like Equal or Sweet N' Low, too.

stevencloser

yarwell wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

A single gram of sugar, or maltodextrin or anything isn't going to spike your blood sugar and insulin.

It's 20% of the blood sugar in solution so hardly insignificant

http://www.diabetes-book.com/raising-blood-sugar/
1 gram glucose raises blood sugar by 5.

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/normal-blood-sugar-levels-chart-adults
Blood sugar is only lower than 100 if you've been fasting.

A single gram of sugar isn't going to spike your blood sugar.

afatpersonwholikesfood

.

JustMissTracy

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

JustMissTracy wrote: »

HappyCampr1 wrote: »

fitgirldrw81 wrote: »

So my questions are...Does anyone else use Stevia as a sweetener? Has anyone experienced any side effects of it? I feel like it is a good pick as a sugar substitute but I don't know enough about it to commit 100%. Any suggestions or personal experiences?

I get severe cramps in my legs and back from Stevia. I've had it twice and it happened both times. The first time it was listed as stevia extract on the label of water additive. Within a half-hour I could hardly walk. I googled and discovered it's a known side effect. Apparently, it's not many people that get it though. I tried to avoid it after that.

When I bought my first protein powder, I read the label and saw Reb-A. I asked the salesclerk if he knew what that was. He incorrectly told me it was a preservative. I drank it, only to cramp again, although not as badly because I'd only had a bit. I was actually googling the Reb-A while I was drinking it, so I stopped when I found out.

Since my side effect is so instantaneous, I'd assume if it were going to bother you, you'd already know. So, I wouldn't worry about it. I really wanted to be able to have it.

Could you save me the time of googling (supposed to be working here!) and advise what exactly Reb-A is?

Reb-A is Rebaudioside A which is the sweet part of the Stevia leaf. It's what they extract to make the stevia sweeteners. It's the same thing. It's just sometimes listed as stevia extract and sometimes it has the Reb-A name listed. I have to look for both versions now.

Thankyou so much for filling me in, I am a big ingredient watcher thanx to my allergies. If stevia hurts me, I'm going to guess the material they extract from the leaf will too. Merci again, your time is appreciated! xo

amyk0202

I don't like the taste of stevia. I use sucralose. I recently started seeing a new weight loss doctor and learned that the granulated sucralose I've been using isn't actually calorie free--it just has less than 5(?) per serving that they have to put on the labels. With the huge amount that I use in my tea, it did add up. I just ordered the liquid sucralose drops & have been using them instead. I don't care if it's natural or not. I only care how it tastes. I have a huge sweet tooth & my extremely sweet tea keeps that in check.

WeighToGoJudy

I don't like the taste of stevia either, I use truvia for certain things.

nvmomketo

stevencloser wrote: »

yarwell wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

A single gram of sugar, or maltodextrin or anything isn't going to spike your blood sugar and insulin.

It's 20% of the blood sugar in solution so hardly insignificant

http://www.diabetes-book.com/raising-blood-sugar/
1 gram glucose raises blood sugar by 5.

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/normal-blood-sugar-levels-chart-adults
Blood sugar is only lower than 100 if you've been fasting.

A single gram of sugar isn't going to spike your blood sugar.

For those with IR (T2D, prediabetes, NAFLD, alzheimer's, PCOS) that 1 g could impact their health. For the other half of the popuation, it may be no big deal.

I have prediabetes, and I find if I eat more than about 6g of carb in the evening, my BG is back to prediabetic levels the next day. Why add extra carbs if I can avoid it?

The main issue if that the 1g of carbs of sweetener is rarely eaten alone unless it is going into a black coffee. Usually it goes into baking or other prepared dishes with carbs. It all adds up. I doubt stevia is used too frequently on low carb foods like meat, eggs, seafood, and oils or fats like cheese.

stevencloser

nvmomketo wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

yarwell wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

A single gram of sugar, or maltodextrin or anything isn't going to spike your blood sugar and insulin.

It's 20% of the blood sugar in solution so hardly insignificant

http://www.diabetes-book.com/raising-blood-sugar/
1 gram glucose raises blood sugar by 5.

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/normal-blood-sugar-levels-chart-adults
Blood sugar is only lower than 100 if you've been fasting.

A single gram of sugar isn't going to spike your blood sugar.

For those with IR (T2D, prediabetes, NAFLD, alzheimer's, PCOS) that 1 g could impact their health. For the other half of the popuation, it may be no big deal.

I have prediabetes, and I find if I eat more than about 6g of carb in the evening, my BG is back to prediabetic levels the next day. Why add extra carbs if I can avoid it?

The main issue if that the 1g of carbs of sweetener is rarely eaten alone unless it is going into a black coffee. Usually it goes into baking or other prepared dishes with carbs. It all adds up. I doubt stevia is used too frequently on low carb foods like meat, eggs, seafood, and oils or fats like cheese.

That increase by 5 is for someone with T2D already. And as I understand it, you're supposed to be within certain ranges at certain situations as listed in that second link, and an increase by 5 is not going to be a problem if your ranges are a ballpark of at least 40 points as shown there. I'm not diabetic, so tell me if those numbers in the link are wrong, but looking at them, a single increase by 5 just doesn't look like a problem.

Also a serving has about that 1g and a serving of stevia is, I dunno, 20 times sweeter than the equivalent of sugar? If you can substitute 20 g of carbs with 1g for the same sweetness, that's pretty sweet (see what I did there?) if you've got a problem with your insulin.

nvmomketo

stevencloser wrote: »

nvmomketo wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

yarwell wrote: »

stevencloser wrote: »

A single gram of sugar, or maltodextrin or anything isn't going to spike your blood sugar and insulin.

It's 20% of the blood sugar in solution so hardly insignificant

http://www.diabetes-book.com/raising-blood-sugar/
1 gram glucose raises blood sugar by 5.

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/guide/normal-blood-sugar-levels-chart-adults
Blood sugar is only lower than 100 if you've been fasting.

A single gram of sugar isn't going to spike your blood sugar.

For those with IR (T2D, prediabetes, NAFLD, alzheimer's, PCOS) that 1 g could impact their health. For the other half of the popuation, it may be no big deal.

I have prediabetes, and I find if I eat more than about 6g of carb in the evening, my BG is back to prediabetic levels the next day. Why add extra carbs if I can avoid it?

The main issue if that the 1g of carbs of sweetener is rarely eaten alone unless it is going into a black coffee. Usually it goes into baking or other prepared dishes with carbs. It all adds up. I doubt stevia is used too frequently on low carb foods like meat, eggs, seafood, and oils or fats like cheese.

That increase by 5 is for someone with T2D already. And as I understand it, you're supposed to be within certain ranges at certain situations as listed in that second link, and an increase by 5 is not going to be a problem if your ranges are a ballpark of at least 40 points as shown there. I'm not diabetic, so tell me if those numbers in the link are wrong, but looking at them, a single increase by 5 just doesn't look like a problem.

Also a serving has about that 1g and a serving of stevia is, I dunno, 20 times sweeter than the equivalent of sugar? If you can substitute 20 g of carbs with 1g for the same sweetness, that's pretty sweet (see what I did there?) if you've got a problem with your insulin.

I do completely agree that stevia is much better choice for those with IR, than sugar. Absolutely true.

A gram of carbs is a gram of carbs though. For someone like me, who appears to need a LCHF diet to control my IR, 20g of carbs in one sitting is way too much.

Those links aren't the best info in my opinion. It states the acceptably high range of BG, FBG and A1c. I think it is a better idea to go for normal rather that shoot for just prediabetic. JMO.

It's also not just the immediate spike of glucose that needs to be considered. Last night I ate about 1.5 cups of raw broccoli as a scoop for a lot of really good baked cheese sauce. The next day my FBG was 20 points higher than after my meal.

Those are very loose guidelines. Some will fit it perfectly, and others won't. It's an individual thing.

SLLRunner

fitgirldrw81 wrote: »

So my Kroger ran a deal a few weeks back for a free box of Pure Via (stevia packets). I picked them up thinking I would give them a try. I didn't have high expectations because any other artificial sweeteners I've tried left a nasty aftertaste and actually left me wanting more sweets. Surprisingly, this stuff isn't that bad. I just tried dumping 1 packet in with 8 ozs water and 2 Tbsp lemon juice just to change things up a bit. Not a bad lemonade if I do say so myself. I used to only drink sodas...no water, no milk, nothing else. Since starting back on MFP I have only been drinking water or green tea. This sweet lemonade drink is helping break up the monotony a bit.

So my questions are...Does anyone else use Stevia as a sweetener? Has anyone experienced any side effects of it? I feel like it is a good pick as a sugar substitute but I don't know enough about it to commit 100%. Any suggestions or personal experiences?

I do. I like stevia, it's delicuous and a great way to cut back on calories that you might consume with actual sugar. However, I use real sugar sometimes as well too.

SLLRunner

NothingsGoing2StopMe wrote: »

Might google Stevia dangers

Why?