Zero Calorie Sweetener vs. Natural Sugar

Chrisplayer136 · February 2013

I myself, along with many others, drink their morning coffee with a zero calorie sweetener, Sweet-N-Low, Splenda, etc. All I hear is how bad they are for you. Zero calorie sweeteners confuse the body and make you gain weight around the midsection. "They give you CANCER! "

I have been thinking to just going with regular sugar. It's only 15 calories a tablespoon, so it's not terribly bad as long as it's used in moderation. I obliviously wouldn't want to waste my calories on non-food items. I want to eat my calories, not drink them. Pretty much all I drink is water and my morning cup of Joe.

I don't know, what are you guys doing?

JenSD6 · February 2013

I use Splenda or flavoured stevia drops, but I try to cut out extra sugar wherever I can. And the studies that tell you how bad the stuff is usually involve extreme doses. Everything is bad for you in extreme doses. I'm not going to worry about one packet of Splenda in my coffee.

AlohaKeAkua · February 2013

I use Truvia or Stevia. I did some reading in a fitness book and that artificial stuff is actually quite scary!! Truvia and Stevia are natural sugars, but not refined like the regular white stuff. It's kind of like white flour. Companies take that good grain/wheat and bleach it to preserve it and give it a longer shelf life. It's the same with white sugar (minus the bleaching, I believe) Stevia and Truvia won't spike your blood sugar, won't give you any calories and taste like white sugar! It's the best switch I never made!!

kklemarow · February 2013

Go with an organic sugar (not the refined, white stuff). 15 calories isn't going to break your diet, plus it tastes SO much better than artificial sweeteners.

LarryD2012 · February 2013

Sugar is 15 calories per teaspoon. I also misread it the first time I saw it.

cayadear · February 2013

I use stevia.

KendraElmendorf · February 2013

I always use the real thing. I figure if I'm using it in moderation i'm okay. I'd rather eat real sugar than chemically made or altered 'fake' kinds. Just my thoughts though.

I also found out that one of the things I bought uses some sort of artificial sweetener but I will finish what I bought of it and just not buy it again. I'm not that big of a stickler.

Run4UrHealth · February 2013

Everything is bad for you and causes cancer (or so they say so eventrually).....I guess moderation is key!

CamillaBeaumont · February 2013

I use sugar, since I only have 1 or 2 cups per day the 15 cals per is not a big deal.

fanceegirl75 · February 2013

I use Truvia or Stevia. I did some reading in a fitness book and that artificial stuff is actually quite scary!! Truvia and Stevia are natural sugars, but not refined like the regular white stuff. It's kind of like white flour. Companies take that good grain/wheat and bleach it to preserve it and give it a longer shelf life. It's the same with white sugar (minus the bleaching, I believe) Stevia and Truvia won't spike your blood sugar, won't give you any calories and taste like white sugar! It's the best switch I never made!!

^^^Great info. I use these myself and what she said is very true. All natural sweeteners and they are 0 calorie!

DrBroPHD · February 2013

Zero calorie sweeteners confuse the body and make you gain weight around the midsection.

I thought confusing my body helped me loose weight

Chrisplayer136 · February 2013

I found this, a lot of good information here.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/artificial-sweeteners/MY00073

szonjakun · February 2013

If I'm about to sweeten something I use sugar. I can't stand the taste of sweeteners (tried a lot) and one teaspoon of a sugar won't hurt.

trishgrace · February 2013

I used to use Sweet n low, but once I got off of it (yes it was kind of like an addiction) It gives me a headache if I use too much. I can only have at most 1 diet coke in a day (I used to drink 8 or more :noway: ) But now for tea and coffee I will use a packet or 2 of either Stevia in the raw (or truvia) or possibly splenda. I feel much better.

LavenderBouquet · February 2013

I would personally rather just have the natural sugar then something that may (or may not) have unknown side effects. If you're only having it in your coffee in the morning, it's such a small amount why not go for the real thing. I like the way real sugar tastes A LOT better.

SideSteel · February 2013

I don't have any concerns about low to moderate consumption of artificial sweeteners.

hidensee · February 2013

Have you tried honey or maple sugar? both all natural with similar stats to real sugar. Honey has some added immune benefits.

BeeElMarvin · February 2013

I don't have any concerns about low to moderate consumption of artificial sweeteners.

REPORTED!

Yukenna · February 2013

Love myself some raw honey every once in a while, but I try and stay away from anything processed ATM. That includes white sugar and artificial sweeteners. Stevia drops suffice sometimes.

DrBroPHD · February 2013

Love myself some raw honey every once in a while, but I try and stay away from anything processed ATM. That includes white sugar and artificial sweeteners. Stevia drops suffice sometimes.

You should be careful with ATM you can get sick

cookieluvsya · February 2013

With coffee I always use sugar in the raw.. I like it.. With everything else I try to use to Madhava Agave Nectar.. Its pretty yummy I eat it with my oatmeal in the morning.. or honey.. When I was pregnant they told me NOT to use artificial sweetners because of how bad they are.. so I just stayed away from all that. Not 100% sure about the sugars I use now but seems to work for me :-) more organic.. hope this helps :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

72MonteCarla · February 2013

Definitely stay away from artifical sweeteners. I use pure stevia extract, and very little of it. Stevia is a natural food, not an artifical sweetener. But it's a good idea to try to wean yourself from adding any extra sweetness to foods, as it can trigger a desire (or train your pallet to anticipate) for sweets that you might inadvertently fill with some really bad-for-you foods. Here's some good info on Stevia: http://www.livestrong.com/article/268751-stevia-the-glycemic-index/ Good luck!

Gallowmere1984 · February 2013

Zero calorie sweeteners confuse the body and make you gain weight around the midsection.

I thought confusing my body helped me loose weight

That's muscle confusion, not fat confusion. We all know that fat confusion makes the fat get lost and end up in weird places, like your ears and toes.

FredDoyle · February 2013

Zero calorie sweeteners confuse the body and make you gain weight around the midsection.

I thought confusing my body helped me loose weight

You're thinking of muscles.

contingencyplan · February 2013

Real natural organic honey beats all.

Mighty_Rabite · February 2013

I often get tea from the store or the gas station- I sweeten as often as I can using just Truvia/Stevia, but Arizona Diet Green Tea is sweetened already with Splenda and a touch of honey.

I have had no adverse effects personally from any sweeteners and definitely don't feel like wasting excess calories on more caloric sugars. If I had to choose though I would use the Demerara cane sugar personally.

Cancer risks.. not afraid. I had an aunt die of her second bout with cancer and she never put any harmful substances into her body. My mom, meanwhile, has been smoking for close to 50 years without a glitch in the system. I feel like other than HUGE outside sources (like nuclear radiation in good doses or way too much tanning) you're pretty much either going to get it or not get it.

It's best to eat/intake all natural foods when we can, but it probably isn't worth stressing big time over, either.

timeforme_2013 · February 2013

sweeteners are poison!! and I never use them,...try agave nectar, or honey, or even raw sugar

debformyclass · February 2013

I was a big believer in Stevia and was using for the last year or so. Then I learned in my nutrition for nurses class that stevia was considered an artificial sweetener; it was even in my textbook! I was shocked and questionned the teacher about it. She stated that it was a natural product, but it has something to do with the way it is processed. She also shared a story how she was getting bad hot flashes that she attributed to "the change", until she stopped using stevia. Reluctantly, I decided to experiment and went back to sugar (in the raw) for a few days to see if it would effect my horrific hot flashes. I can't believe the results. They went away! I still get a little warm at night, but I used to drip sweat just trying to clean my house. Now I am back to real sugar which I am not happy about, but to mitigate its effects, I buy the natural sugar that has not been dyed white.

eliseofthejungle · February 2013

I've been trying to limit using artificial sweeteners and switch to sugar. I like to say that it's because I'm trying to be more natural and even white sugar is probably better for me than anything artificial (no real scientific research done by me to substantiate this, btw, it just seems true) but it's mostly for budget reasons. I have yet to find anything that tastes as good in coffee as Splenda, though. It makes me sad because I used to really really enjoy my morning coffee and now it's just ok.