Hi, just joined - is Sugar or Artificial Sweetner?

harindar

Hi everyone, I have just joined the site and would like to swap diet and exercise tips. My friend at work told me to swap from sugar in my tea to sweetener but I don't like the after-taste and plus I think sweetener is just as bad as sugar so why not just use the orginal. Any advice? thanks.

loonpine2

I am not a fan of artificial anything, real is the deal. So with that said use less sugar, or limit your tea to one a day. Count it and don't go over your calories and you should be fine!

Kanakake

Try Stevia Extract in the raw. To me it is sweeter than sugar and I am not left with any after taste.

jamie1888

Right, natural is best. Just try to keep the added sugar to a minimum. I personally will use Splenda or Truvia in something if I'm worried about my calories/sugar for a particular meal or day. But, really trying to cut back on the artificial sweeteners. I just have such a sweet tooth and love everything sweet!

aurorathunder

I am a huge fan of Stevia (Truvia is one brand you can find easily) because it's natural and zero calorie. I also think it tastes sweeter than sugar, but doesn't leave an after taste.

happies23

I swap some of my sugar for splenda (which tastes better than equal or sweet n low). Splenda is made from sugar so, it tastes more like the real deal. I found when I put sugar in my tea I was using ridiculous amounts. After weening myself, I can go with one packet of splenda for three glasses.

Now, I am hearing that Truvia is even better. Haven't tried it though. I will probably give it a shot once I run out of splenda.

jodygard

I'm trying to curb my sugar too. a friend gave me some advice - unless it's naturally occurring sugars in a peice if fruit, try to keep it to under 5g. for example, my bread has 2g/slice so I could have 2 slices. my yougurt has 4g, tassimo chai latte has 4g. I haven't made a decision on whether I like sweetner or not but I also had someone tell me about the steevia sweetner - apparently no after taste & tastes just like sugar & it's natural (?!). I'm tracking my sugar on here as well as my calories & fat, protein & today I've had my limit because of a grapefruit & a banana! crazy!

harindar

Thank-you everyone, I will get investigate stevia - never heard of it, splenda I have heard of so will check it out. I only take sugar in my tea and I do tend to have one or two cups a day, I tend to knock back black coffee - no sugar, strange I know . The only way I have conqured my sweet tooth - bit of a chocoholic - is to stop eating chocolate, it's the only way I can stop myself from over-indulging.

jamie1888

Don't forget, if it's dark chocolate, an ounce or 2 is actually good for you! Don't deprive yourself!

Mindful_Trent

Just some things to consider - Table sugar (white sugar) is not at all "natural" - it's just as bad as HFCS and the like.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/119250-how-sugar-is-made

Stevia is a much better alternative to Splenda - you can buy stevia that's extracted using water from the Stevia plants - no chemicals involved. Splenda, on the other hand, is sugar whose molecules have been altered (can't find that in nature!)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/119799-how-splenda-is-made

I stick to Stevia, honey and maple syrup whenever possible (and occasionally agave nectar, though I'm not 100% sure about how unprocessed that one is) - Nature's sugars.

Not everyone feels the same way about this stuff, but I figure everyone should be educated on it so they can make their own educated decisions!

MsMonny

Hi :flowerforyou:

I just finished a book called Sweet Poison and after reading I nearly cried!! I was so shocked that I turned against all sugar in an instant and haven't looked back (and I was a sugarholic). That was only a fortnight ago and I am still weaving my way through the sugar maze (my yoghurt I though had no sugar apparently does (and it was natural with no flavour)! Changed that in an instant!!

With the sugar in tea, years agoI use to be 2 teaspoons, then after going on 'another' diet I cut back gram by gram (literally LOL) till I now have none and, even though that was when I was still a sugarholic and ate chocolate and more, it tastes disgusting to have any in my tea.

someone mentioned about only having products that are 5g or under in 100g. Yep, so true. Check out your products in you pantry and fridge and see if it mentions sugar, sucrose, fructose etc on the label. If it does, do some research.

its the Fructose in the sugar that does the damage, not the glucose - the fructose bypasses all mechanisms in the body that use the glucose (whether carbs, protien or fat) for energy and goes straight to fat. So, 10g of sugar is literally 5g of fat!! Also, keep the fruit to a minimum 1 - 2 a day. The fibre in the fruit helps it through the body, unlike sugar which has no fibre, but it still is made of fructose. An apple is approx. 8g of fructose, so not too bad compared to tomato sauce (ketchup) or a sugar laden breakfast cereal!

I wrote a post here on 'addicted to sugar' if you wish to read.

As for artificial sweeteners, there hasn't been enough time to see what they do to our bodies in the long term (they haven't been around long enough), so I try to keep these to a bare minimum and only when I have a coke zero (200ml can x 3 times a week). I know alot of people CAN'T go without, so reading up on which is the best one (safest one) is a good idea. Stevia is natural and is alot sweeter than sugar, so you use less, but I personally wouldn't overdo it.

BTW - honey and maple syrup is natural BUT it still has the fructose in it that makes it lethal. Honestly!! It is conveniently packaged in nice bottles and put on the shelves for us to gobble at any time......back in the day people had to fight the bees (and the bears LOL) for the honey, so the amount that they ate was absolutely minimum because it was sooo sparse.

BTW2 - I don't want to come across as a know-it-all, because I am not. I have seen quite a few people get slammed on here for putting their knowledge and opinion across. If you don't believe what I say, then please say so nicely and don't intimidate me or put me down. Thanks.

Hope this helps!

Mindful_Trent

Hi :flowerforyou:

its the Fructose in the sugar that does the damage, not the glucose - the fructose bypasses all mechanisms in the body that use the glucose (whether carbs, protien or fat) for energy and goes straight to fat. So, 10g of sugar is literally 5g of fat!! Also, keep the fruit to a minimum 1 - 2 a day. The fibre in the fruit helps it through the body, unlike sugar which has no fibre, but it still is made of fructose. An apple is approx. 8g of fructose, so not too bad compared to tomato sauce (ketchup) or a sugar laden breakfast cereal!

I would be highly critical of anything that says sugar immediately becomes fat. It's my understanding that the body CAN utilitize sugar for energy. Almost anyone can write a book about something and make it sound 100% fact, but that doesn't mean that it is. The book is likely based on science, but it's easy to take a scientific fact and spin it to exaggerate something or apply it generally in situations where it does not apply. Regarding Fructose, I've read that it can be converted into Glucose (the fuel for all your cells) as long as you aren't loading up on other carbs at the same time - it's particularly useful to eat fruit after a workout, when the muscles have been depleted of glucose and need to be replenished. Yes, fructose can be converted into fatty acids, but it doesn't automatically ALWAYS do so. Also, even if your body does convert fructose into fat, our bodies work by storing fat - you're not eating all day, so our body stores excess calories to use during the time between meals. Just because something is stored as fat doesn't mean your body won't/can't later use that as fuel, especially when you're in a calorie deficit.

I'm all on board with eating a low sugar diet - I'm trying to cut the combination of natural and added sugars to 10% of my total calories, which is pretty low compared to many people, but there's no reason to fear that the fructose in your apple is going to make you fat.

aurorathunder

Just some things to consider - Table sugar (white sugar) is not at all "natural" - it's just as bad as HFCS and the like.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/119250-how-sugar-is-made

Stevia is a much better alternative to Splenda - you can buy stevia that's extracted using water from the Stevia plants - no chemicals involved. Splenda, on the other hand, is sugar whose molecules have been altered (can't find that in nature!)
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/119799-how-splenda-is-made

I stick to Stevia, honey and maple syrup whenever possible (and occasionally agave nectar, though I'm not 100% sure about how unprocessed that one is) - Nature's sugars.

Not everyone feels the same way about this stuff, but I figure everyone should be educated on it so they can make their own educated decisions!

This is pretty much the same way I feel on the subject. I know people like to say that regular sugar is okay because it's natural, but it's very refined/processed. Splenda is even further processed. That is the main reason I opt for Stevia. I do use honey and maple syrup occasionally in cooking or baking, so that I can avoid using refined sugar. I have read a lot of conflicting reports on agave nectar as well.

smilestb99

I do not have white foods in my house- sugar, flour, rice, etc. Just say "no!"

On my grapefruit in the mornings I use Stevia. For a lot of other things I use agave nectar, which is another natural sweetener and is really good on Ezekiel English muffins with some cinnamon (instant cinnamon roll!) Agave has the consistency of honey and you can substitute it in a lot of recipes that have sugar, however I just use it as mentioned above or sometimes on rice chex with some berries. (Plus agave is the plant tequila is made from...what's not to like?:laugh: )

Here's some info:
http://allaboutagave.com/