What is the best sweetener for keto
tlblanksfit
Posts: 1,573 Member
I am trying to figure out why so many keto recipes have different sweeteners. I see recipes that use swerve, stevia, erythritol, and others. Some recipes use two different sweeteners.
Right now I have more than 5 different sweeteners and I want to be able to just purchase one sweetener for all of my sweetening needs. Any suggestions on which sweetener is the most versatile. Right now I have Truvia, stevia, THM gentle sweet, just like sugar, pyure, THM sweet blend, and I just ordered some Erythritol and Swerve from Amazon.
My husband is not doing Keto and he is getting tired of all the different purchases. I need one or two that I can use faithfully.
Thanks in Advance,
- Tracey
Right now I have more than 5 different sweeteners and I want to be able to just purchase one sweetener for all of my sweetening needs. Any suggestions on which sweetener is the most versatile. Right now I have Truvia, stevia, THM gentle sweet, just like sugar, pyure, THM sweet blend, and I just ordered some Erythritol and Swerve from Amazon.
My husband is not doing Keto and he is getting tired of all the different purchases. I need one or two that I can use faithfully.
Thanks in Advance,
- Tracey
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I've found that they all affect my blood sugar more than I'd like. I tend to use stevia if I MUST have a sweetener.0
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Individual responses can vary. Splenda or Stevia work for me. I can't stand Stevia in some things though (e.g. fat bombs) but I can tolerate liquid stevia in drinks.0
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I use agave nectar...0
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Your best bet is to try to avoid artificial & natural sweeteners, when I can't, I use liquid Stevia.
Hoping one day to manage enjoying tea & coffee adding only whipping cream and Kerry Gold- ☕️☕️☕️1 -
The reason for the many artificial sweeteners is the same reasons as the many non-wheat flours: recipe makers are trying to recreate the effects of other ingredients. But you can't do it.
So we end up in this state ... trying to trick our taste buds and avoid negative consequences of other foods, meanwhile the replacements have their own set of consequences. Tastes vary, physiologies vary, and it's all a gamble.
I suspect that for truly long term success in the keto game, one would do best to not use artificial sweeteners in recipes.
Although not a keto source, check the Whole30's concept of "Sex with your pants on" -- http://whole30.com/2011/10/sex-with-your-pants-on/5 -
Great link! So true!0
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I gave up all sugars and artificial sweeteners and upped my fats. Zero Cravings for anything sweet.2
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Great link, I didn't realize Whole30 was dairy free. That I am not giving up
. But I did break down this week and made some almond flour muffins w berries and erythritol for my husband and house guests, and dang I couldn't avoid. They were so good but absolutely not filling at all - just like their higher carb versions. We could have ate the whole pan within seconds. Poof! Gone. Just like real junk food. They may be low carb but they were also a lot of empty calories with low nutrition, so it will be a while before I do any baking again.
But I do use truvia and erythritol in my Greek yogurt, green smoothies and my coffee when I add Dutch cacao powder and cream. I keep it very limited as I have had issues with it spiking my blood sugar if I use more then a few servings in a day.
Sweets and junk food are addictions we can't just replicate and then call it a balanced diet, but the bread and pastry hacks have to be the most dangerous since they are easy to over consume and are not filling at all. Regardless of how many blogs out there promote these tempting recipes, lol2 -
I learned 10 years ago that too much of any of them is bad.
Too much Splenda caused me to have "fibromyalgia" diagnosis - which I didnt have. I was overdosing on it, and within 2 months of cutting it out (after a year and a half of worsening symptoms) all was back to normal.
Aspartame - causes inflammation and joint pain in my knees. I was drinking 8-12 cans of Dt Code Red Mtn Dew a day - for years. And had "bad knees" for years. It got so bad I could barely walk at one point. Finally quit drinking it for other reasons and suddenly knees were better. So I experimented and absolutely was the Dt Mtn Dew. What is even weirder is that the Code Red is MUCH worse for me than the regular. Both make my knees hurt, but the red ones are debilitating. Never looked into why - I just avoid now!
Erithryitol - I went through a sugar-free gum/mint chewing phase trying to lose weight. For about 6 months. I also googled "IBS" symptoms about a dozen times during that miserable bloat/gas phase before I realized what the problem was. Quit immediately and all better.
Stevia - great for diabetics because it not only tends to not spike blood sugar, but can actually cause it to lower some. Terrible for hypoglycemics! I was so thrilled that after years of trying to switch to stevia but being unable to handle the taste, that I found Truvia and suddenly I liked the taste! Started drinking it all day in my instant iced tea. It took daily episodes of nearly blacking out and a few scary solo hikes before I made the connection and started testing my blood sugar. My "normal" is 60s to 70s. Within 15-60 minutes of drinking half bottle of tea with stevia it tanks to low 40s. My doc confirmed blood test (they called me in a panic after I drove home because they got the results after I left and it was 40). Quit stevia and all better. Now I can use but always have to pair it with a carb or protein or something that causes mild blood sugar spikes.
So what did I learn? I have serious issues with moderation
I am sure in smaller quantities (i.e. not 40 packets of splenda every day) these wouldnt have so much impact. So I have at least 8 different sweeteners at home, and I try to keep them all used equally. I tend to use swerve for baking, splenda for occasional drinks, erithrytol or stevia for oatmeal etc. If one starts running out before the others, I know I am in trouble!
I am also trying to just generally cut down on the amount and retrain my "Sweet tooth". I mistakenly thought of all these are "Free foods" and used generously. Now I try to put the least amount I can and still enjoy the taste.
Good luck 2 -
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Personally I try to keep artificial sweeteners to a minimum. I do like sweet leaf stevia flavored drops in my water but I don't put much in. I will have the odd Atkins bar, but I also try to limit it. Two reasons: 1 - it is artificial. I don't like that word and 2 - it can cause cravings. 2
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tlblanks2015 wrote: »I am trying to figure out why so many keto recipes have different sweeteners. I see recipes that use swerve, stevia, erythritol, and others. Some recipes use two different sweeteners.
Right now I have more than 5 different sweeteners and I want to be able to just purchase one sweetener for all of my sweetening needs. Any suggestions on which sweetener is the most versatile. Right now I have Truvia, stevia, THM gentle sweet, just like sugar, pyure, THM sweet blend, and I just ordered some Erythritol and Swerve from Amazon.
My husband is not doing Keto and he is getting tired of all the different purchases. I need one or two that I can use faithfully.
Thanks in Advance,
- Tracey
Most recipes have more than one sweetener, because many have aftertastes when used in quantity, and the use different parts of your taste buds, so using two together amplifies the sweet taste without using more sweetener.
I avoid fillers and most sweeteners in general. I'm pretty much down to using the liquid SweetLeaf branded Stevia now, because a single drop can be enough...
All the rest that you mentioned, aside from the THM blends - which I haven't tried, trigger insulin/sweet cravings reactions from me.IAspartame - causes inflammation and joint pain in my knees. I was drinking 8-12 cans of Dt Code Red Mtn Dew a day - for years. And had "bad knees" for years. It got so bad I could barely walk at one point. Finally quit drinking it for other reasons and suddenly knees were better. So I experimented and absolutely was the Dt Mtn Dew. What is even weirder is that the Code Red is MUCH worse for me than the regular. Both make my knees hurt, but the red ones are debilitating. Never looked into why - I just avoid now!)
For me, Red Dye #40 is EVIL INCARNATE for my digestive system/joint pain/body in general. If I had to guess, I would say that this is why, @aylajane, that the Code Red hurt you so much more...0 -
Great info, thanks all - and especially the info about Whole30, never heard of this before!0
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I may be going against accepted wisdom but here's my take on the sweeteners issue.
I've tried them all. The best, as far as coming close to sugar taste, is Lakanto (crazy expensive though). But they all taste weird to me. Plus, they're very processed substances. Sure, AS don't get your BG as high as natural sugars but they do increase insulin and that may be just as bad. All in all, I'm not sold on anything artificial being better (or less bad) than the equivalent amount of cane sugar, honey or fruit.
For me, if it tastes sweet it triggers undesired consequences, especially cravings for more and more sweet stuff and just more of everything. So mostly I don't have sweets. I certainly do not sweeten any drink, and I don't bake low carb whatevers, too much work and way too many carbs anyway.
IF I want to indulge, which I do about once a week, I prefer to use a small amount of cane sugar in something like crustless cheesecake or dark chocolate mousse and make it as fat as possible. I now use very small amounts of sugar and keep lowering it. It works for me.
::flowerforyou::
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As above posters have mentioned, using sweeteners comes with different risks and its pretty personal whether or not you go there or not. That said, there is some really good info about sweeteners here: http://www.djfoodie.com/Blog/2014/03/03/The-Sweet-Spot--Everything-I-know-about-Sweeteners1
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I have solved my sweetener dilemma by not baking sweets any longer. lol. At first I tried some muffins with pyure and thought they were way too sweet. I made a cheesecake for Thanksgiving and used pyure in the crust and again it was WAY too sweet even using the tiniest amount. So for the filling I just used Sweet Leaf stevia and it was good. Someday I might make it again and just not even sweeten the crust.
Otherwise the only "desserts" I have are plain greek yogurt w/ a drop or two of sweet leaf stevia and some berries or a chocolate mousse with heavy cream, cocoa powder, cream cheese, and the liquid stevia. Basically Sweet Leaf stevia in VERY small amounts is the only sweetener I remotely like. Most the time for a treat I have one square of 90% dark chocolate. I drink all tea and coffee unsweetened. I can't even stand the stevia in that.
I think the longer you are on this diet the less you want baked goods or sweet stuff. At least that's my experience.3 -
I usually go for Swerve. My family seems to like it and I can get my kid to eat keto cake and such without her noticing.0
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Personally, I feel, the use of artificial sweeteners is a personal choice. I use them, albeit sparingly, but I do use them. I felt overwhelmed at first, especially getting bombarded with "sweeteners are the devil" replies on the sites I read. So, I did my own research and found that both Stevia and Splenda (yes, I saw the article about brain cancer in rats) worked well for my needs and they didn't affect MY body (I can't speak for other people). Now I look for recipes that call for either of those. I found packets of Stevia and Splenda at Starbucks and tried them before I bought them. I prefer the Splenda in my tea but Stevia in baking. I also found, for me, that after awhile I was able to drink iced coffee without the Splenda but that my tea absolutely needs it. Experiment, find out what works best for you, especially since you already have a variety of sweeteners. My suggestion is once you find one you like then look for recipes that call for the one you like! Good luck!1
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I learned 10 years ago that too much of any of them is bad.
So what did I learn? I have serious issues with moderation I am sure in smaller quantities (i.e. not 40 packets of splenda every day) these wouldnt have so much impact. So I have at least 8 different sweeteners at home, and I try to keep them all used equally. I tend to use swerve for baking, splenda for occasional drinks, erithrytol or stevia for oatmeal etc. If one starts running out before the others, I know I am in trouble!
I am also trying to just generally cut down on the amount and retrain my "Sweet tooth". I mistakenly thought of all these are "Free foods" and used generously. Now I try to put the least amount I can and still enjoy the taste.
@aylajane - My sympathies!
Sweet Tooth + Prone to Excess = Time for New Watchwords (I suggest, "If it tastes good, spit it out!")
Of course, who's to say you won't ultimately start liking your new aperitif of bitter melon juice and cod liver oil.....1 -
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