My daily coffee/tea (sugar vs splenda war)

oneday987

Hi

I usually don't have any kind of sweeteners in coffee, tea, etc.

I'm on the low carb, high fat (lchf) lifestyle .. when I need to use a sweetener I use erythritol. If you are interested in finding out more about it, here is a link:

http://authoritynutrition.com/erythritol/

good luck!

dangerousdumpling

I have one cup of coffee with 1 tablespoon of half and half and 1/2 tsp of sugar. 2 tablespoons of half and half and 1 teaspoon of sugar if I'm feeling saucy. Every once in a while I'll go crazy and make some extra strong coffee, stir 1 tablespoon of sugar into it to dissolve, pour it over ice, and add 4 tablespoons of fat free half and half. Yum!

The problem is if I make my coffee too good I want more of it. More good coffee=more calories.

naariel

In my opinion, the taste/need for a very-sweetened coffee or tea isn't a taste/need for coffee or tea, but for sugar. That can have two big causes and solutions, combined or not :

- "Sweet tooth" (with or without actual sugar craving), and then I would rec using less and less sugar/sweeteners to develop and discover your tastes, as well as break the sugar craving if there is one. If you overuse sugar/splenda for everything, that would clearly falls in this category.

Since you changed that habit, if the problem stays with some food/beverage in particular...

- It could be, simply, a distate for the actual food that is sweetened. And then I would simply and straighforwardly ask: why bother eating/drinking it if you need to alienate its taste to be able to consume it? That is a general observation, doesn't have to concern only coffee, and also concerns the general western overuse of salt to mask the taste of veggies etc.
I know a lot of people who drink coffee or tea but don't actually enjoy the taste of coffee or tea and end up actually drinking "not quite coffee/tea" (like, sweetened milk with a bit of coffee if you squint). I never liked black coffee. Tried a few times because I (felt I) needed the caffeine, but the only times I enjoyed my beverage was when it was, to be honest, not an actual coffee, but slighty-coffee-flavoured milk/cream.
There are so many options for tea (with caffeine) and infusions (that could mean lack of caffeine for a time, but really you don't need caffeine to be able to up your energy levels) that I really don't understand the need to stick to mainstream coffee if that means sweetening it like crazy. Respect your palate and find what you really like, I'm sure such beverages exist.

Finally, a bit of rationalisation: maybe it's indeed the sweet/creamy part you want in the morning, instead of the coffee. So yes, you could just stop and find a beverage you like "for how it really tastes". Otherwise, if it's just a morning treat and 30 kcal worth of sugar added, I would just say "go for it". You can surely find other (more significant) changes to make. It would be more of a problem with 4-5 cups a day, but one ? Enjoy. (Also, there are some great recipes for alternative sweeteners, like cinnamon, vanilla etc. Spices is definetly a help for dieting, whether to limit sugar or salt, or to "spice things up" and make healthy cooking/eating not boring and tasteless.)

AmykinsCatfood

Stevia or Truvia.

transmute

Have you tried Stevia? It's a low calorie sweetener but it's 100% natural, made from a plant and is soooo sweet just like a normal sweetener and 100% okay for your body

I have. I hate the after taste -_-

Did you try different brands? I've been told that some brands have that vile aftertaste you mention, and others don't-- but that will probably depend on your personal sensitivity to that kind of taste. I was recommended NuNaturals alcohol-free stevia drops as not having the aftertaste, but I've not tried it myself.

Thegirlhasmoxy

I like my coffee with sugar and cream but you can also add cinnamon (ideally when it's brewing) to sweeten it. I find that I need less sweetener this way.

aleggett321

I have to have my cup of Darjeeling tea with two tsp of sugar and a goodly splash of 2% milk in the morning. It's how I start my day and has been for decades.

adblanche

You are absolutely right that agave, honey, etc. are all types of sugar. But there are different types of sugar. The reason that agave is sweeter (approximately 1.5 times) is because it contains a higher proportion of fructose (about 90 percent) in relation to glucose.

For a comparison, high fructose corn syrup is roughly 55 percent fructose.

brevislux

I drink my coffee or tea without sugar. It took me a while to get used to it really, but when you're used to not eating very sweet or very salty food anymore, it wouldn't taste good to you anymore. It's best to try and avoid sweeteners if you can...

I first used stevia when I decided I wanted to stop drinking with sugar, and slowly I just stopped using the stevia too.

rahlpn

Stevia or Monk fruit. I get the store brand Stevia and use 1tsp per 9oz with one or two TBS flavored creamer and it's sweet.

mulchingoverwinter

HONEY all the way baby!

lisalsd1

Splenda is nasty imo. All artificial sweeteners are nasty to me. I use Stevia in my coffee, but if you don't like that...then that one is out. I use honey in my tea. There is no way you would ever be able to taste honey in coffee...unless you put in a LOT! I saw a guy at Starbucks put in at LEAST 10 packets of honey into his coffee! He should have just gone with a little bit of sugar at that point.

My advice: just cut back on sugar. Put in half the amount you are putting in now. You can "retrain" you tastebuds. That's what I did to break my "sugar addiction."

annekka

i drink my tea plain most of the time. But if I had to, I'd do some honey.

Coffee, I have to put some sugar into. Preferably a turbinado or demerara sugar.

livingleanlivingclean

I weaned myself off any sweeteners just be reducing slowly how much I had...I used to be a milky, sweetened coffee drinker, now I can drink it black, or blended with coconut oil. The quality of the coffee definitely helps.

BenjaminMFP88

The only reason people hate on splenda is because they know nothing about Aspartame. Unless you're eating several grams a day, you're fine indulging. I prefer truvia as I find 1 packet, has no calories, and is sweeter then either splenda or actual sugar. It does cost more, but I like the taste.

stt43

Artificial sweeteners are worth cancer if they mean I can get a six pack.
Also, you should never put sugar in your tea, it ruins it.

J72FIT

IMO, when you use fat free and sugar free you confuse the brain. The signal for sweet and savory is turned on but the body never gets what is wants... the fat and the glucose. In my experience, i find I eat less overall when I just use full fat cream and regular sugar. The brain gets the signal that fat and sugar are the way, and then the body gets the nutrients it was expecting.

I don't have any scientific papers to back this up... just my opinion.

Since I only have one coffee mixed that way per day it is of no caloric consequence. The rest go my coffee throughout the day is consumed black.

NikkiDerrig386

Thank you guys for the advice. Personally I am not a sweets person. It is just how I like my coffee and tea. When I was younger I used a sickening amount of sugar in my coffee and tea. Since I am older now I know its bad to use that much. I will try other things. I liked Equal and Splenda but wont use that now and hated sweet n low, trivia, setvia, etc. SO we shall see :drinker:

wrk2hrd

My daily coffee is black.

Really should not be drinking it any other way. I only wish I had started drinking it black much sooner.

sweetpea03b

I try to stay as far away from artificial ingredients/sweeteners/etc as possible. It's worth the calories to me. I have 2 cups of coffee/day. I use non dairy creamer and sugar... at 40cals/cup. How low is your calorie intake you can't spare 80cals/day??