Sweeteners?

johnscat1981

Ok I am convinced that artificial sweeteners are not the best choose for me. So how do I read labels? I am trying to stick to basic foods but some of those have more ingredients than you would expect.

I guess the easier question would be what are the names of natural sugars that my body cans identify as natural and process properly?

crrc78

Sugar. Cane Sugar. Stevia. Truvia (a brand name of stevia). Agave.

Mabohlale

I'm not an expert ... but my brother works in a health food/natural food store and they sell agave nectar, stevia, honey, and molasses for sweeteners.

Polly758

Honey and maple syrup, or maple sugar.

You may also want to have a list of the artificial sweeteners you're trying to avoid, and compare labels to that.

bigpinch

O.P. Can you tell me by what process is your body able to identify between "natural" or "un-natural" sugar?

Shock_Wave

O.P. Can you tell me by what process is your body able to identify between "natural" or "un-natural" sugar?

I am not Op but my answer is No... but I CAN think for my body and I know that one has carbs and is natural and the other does not and is un-natural or man made. Some times you have to think for your self and if op wants advice on other things then you should help her out.

johnscat1981

"bigpinch" are you really interested?

http://www.naturalnews.com/033110_diet_soda_weight_gain.html

Shock_Wave

"bigpinch" are you really interested?

http://www.naturalnews.com/033110_diet_soda_weight_gain.html

We are not mice and do not know what all they actually gave these mice extra or at even what doses they claim to have tested them at for the glucose bit. Second of all for the diet soda=expanding waist line bit I also tried to find the actual research and I could not find it but I kept running into this:
"And while the researchers can't yet conclusively say diet sodas cause those expanding waistlines"

Watch out for certain web site scare MONGERS..

bigpinch

O.P. Can you tell me by what process is your body able to identify between "natural" or "un-natural" sugar?

I am not Op but my answer is No... but I CAN think for my body and I know that one has carbs and is natural and the other does not and is un-natural or man made. Some times you have to think for your self and if op wants advice on other things then you should help her out.

Shock , you're right. If I wasn't going to be helpful then I shouldn't have posted anything. But my intentions were only to get her to think about the statement she made that the human body has some mechanismn to identify and distribute natural and man made sugars differently. I was then hoping without having to link in a bunch of information/sudies on the subject into the thread. That she could look into my question on her own and see what I was getting at. I can see that I missed my mark and that I probably should've just left this one alone

johnscat1981

Thank you “Shock_Wave” I was not as interested in the mice study as the diet coke study. I need to cut out the diet coke and ask long and I am going in that direction I did not want to replace one artificial sweetener for another.

I am sticking to the basics water, tea, and coffee. I have not drunk coffee before so I thought it would be interesting to try some of the flavored creamers. After reading the labels I was just changing one chemical filled drink for another and the flavored waters “forget about it”.

After all that all I want to know is what if real?

bigpinch

"bigpinch" are you really interested?

http://www.naturalnews.com/033110_diet_soda_weight_gain.html

Thank You Johnscat. I did read the article and I respectively have to disagree with it for the reasons shockwave mentioned and a few others. So to keep from beating a dead horse I will just leave it alone. Again thank you for the link

carriempls

Thank you “Shock_Wave” I was not as interested in the mice study as the diet coke study. I need to cut out the diet coke and ask long and I am going in that direction I did not want to replace one artificial sweetener for another.

I am sticking to the basics water, tea, and coffee. I have not drunk coffee before so I thought it would be interesting to try some of the flavored creamers. After reading the labels I was just changing one chemical filled drink for another and the flavored waters “forget about it”.

After all that all I want to know is what if real?

You'll find lots of opinions in lots of places so you might want to do extra research to decide on your own outside of here.

If you're looking for no or extremely low calorie sweeteners, stevia is the only one I know of that is of plant origin and not chemical compounds. Some folks won't do stevia either, though.

When it comes to sweeteners that have calories, agave, maple syrup and honey are closest to being in the most unprocessed form, raw or turbinado sugar next, then white sugar and finally corn syrup. There's lot of stuff you might want to research on corn syrup too, I personally avoid it.

My own philosophy is everything in moderation. I see no calorie sweeteners as a tool to get me to my health goal. I use 1 packet of stevia every morning in my tea and occasionally in cooking and I drink the occasional crystal light or diet soda. Once upon a time I drank loads of sugared sodas and drinks so I'm doing considerably better in the grand scheme of things.

Once i get to my goal I may cut them out altogether, but one habit at a time for me.

johnscat1981

@ "bigpinch"

I had bought into the idea that a calorie is just a calorie. However I am rethinking some of my choices such as water vs diet coke. I have to admit that I have drunk diet coke for years a still have abdominal fat it isn’t so diet is it?

As you see from my previous post to “Shock_Wave” I just don’t want to replace on aspartame like product for another. There are so many of them I would like to concentrate on the better choices.

russellma

I don't use artificial sweeteners, either. My all-time favorite is brown sugar, although it's not the most nutrient dense.

I found these definitions from the Mayo Clinic, which might help you to know what's processed and what's not:

Brown sugar. Granulated white sugar with added molasses for flavor and color, commonly used in baking.

Cane juice and cane syrup. Sugar from processed sugar cane. Further processing produces brown or white solid cane sugar.

Confectioners' sugar. Granulated white sugar that has been ground into a fine powder, sometimes with a small amount of cornstarch. Commonly used in icings and whipped toppings.

Corn sweeteners and corn syrup. Corn sugars and corn syrups made from corn and processed cornstarch.

Dextrose. Another name for glucose.

Fructose. Sugar that occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables and honey.

Fruit juice concentrate. A form of sugar made when water is removed from whole juice to make it more concentrated.

Glucose. A simple sugar that provides your body's main source of energy. Also called blood sugar because it circulates in your blood.

Granulated white sugar. This is table sugar, or pure crystallized sucrose, made by processing raw sugar from sugar cane or sugar beets. It's commonly used in baking or to sweeten tea or coffee.

High fructose corn syrup. The most common sweetener in processed foods and beverages, this is a combination of fructose and glucose made by processing corn syrup.

Honey. A mix of glucose, fructose and sucrose created from nectar made by bees.

Invert sugar. Used as a food additive to preserve freshness and prevent shrinkage, this is a mix of fructose and glucose made by processing sucrose.

Lactose. Sugar that occurs naturally in milk.

Maltose. Starch and malt broken down into simple sugars and used commonly in beer, bread and baby food.

Malt syrup. A grain syrup made from evaporated corn mash and sprouted barley.

Molasses. The thick, dark syrup that's left after sugar beets or sugar cane is processed for table sugar.

Sucrose. The chemical name for granulated white sugar (table sugar).

Syrup. Sugar comes in many forms of syrup, a thick, sweet liquid that can be made from the processing of sugar or from sugar cane, grains such as corn or rice, maple sap, and other sources.

White sugar. Same as granulated white sugar (table sugar).

johnscat1981

Thank you Ladies.

seaKind

I found these definitions from the Mayo Clinic, which might help you to know what's processed and what's not:

thanks- good list

ctooch99

O.P. Can you tell me by what process is your body able to identify between "natural" or "un-natural" sugar?

Is it the same process by which your body can tell the difference between sugar and anti-freeze prior to sudden organ failure???

Reneefit135

Sugar is not artificial but its been processed to the point its not good for many. I can't eat white sugar at all. My body will tolerate evaporated cane juice (but it won't take evaporated cane sugar), brown rice syrup, agave, honey, fructose. These are the things i can eat if i typical white sugar or even "brown sugar" i get very sick. All of these other things are still "sugar" but just affect the body differently and everyone is different. Hope that helps

nikkitodhunter

I guess the easier question would be what are the names of natural sugars that my body cans identify as natural and process properly?

I am so sick of seeing people have to have this explained to them on here. YOUR BODY DOES NOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN SUGAR FROM A CANDY BAR AND SUGAR FROM AN APPLE. A glucose molecule is a glucose molecule wherever it's from - and that goes for fructose etc too, so don't let people tell you fruit sugar doesn't count in your daily total.

Try and stay away from un-necessary sugar - candy bars, etc. If you want, replace sugar in your tea/coffee with stevia or some such thing. But don't kid yourself that there's good and bad sugars, it just some things are worth the sugar to get the otehr nutrients. BUt eating a ton of fruit every day is just an unhealthy sugar-wise as eating the same amount of sugar in candy. You just get a bit of extra fibre and vitamins.