Replacing sugar in coffee with sweetener?

ThreeKeys_
ThreeKeys_ Posts: 93 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi folks.

So, I drink a lot of coffee. I used to have three sugars but now am down to one and I don't think I can take it any lower than that!

What do you think, should I replace the sugar with a sweetener?

Replies

  • shivles
    shivles Posts: 468 Member
    Some people including myself are of the opinion most sweeteners are worse than sugar, I also used to have 3 sugars in tea and coffee. I went cold turkey on my sugar, I didn't enjoy a brew for a couple of weeks but after that my taste reset and now I can't stand sugar in my drinks, makes me gag.
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
    you could just not drink the stuff. That would cover it.
  • toomuchbootyindapants
    toomuchbootyindapants Posts: 811 Member
    I take a teaspoon or two of Stevia. You can get it in liquid or powder form. It's all natural but zero calories. I tried to do the black coffee thing and it just never happened for me. blech.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
    I went from 2 to 0. It's easy, now I don't even miss the sugar...in fact that was the start of me not having sugar in anything.
  • DawnieB1977
    DawnieB1977 Posts: 4,248 Member
    Try and go without sugar or sweeteners. I used to have 2 large sugars in a coffee then in Jan 2007 I decided to stop sugar completely. It took a but of getting used to, but now if i have sugar in coffee I find tastes disgusting. Coffee tastes so much better unsweetened.
  • pennydreadful270
    pennydreadful270 Posts: 266 Member
    stevia is sweeter than sucrose so I find I need less. I use the half and half stevia/sucrose just because it's the easiest and cheapest kind for me to get hold of.
  • sylv1979
    sylv1979 Posts: 44 Member
    I have started drinking coffee with Stevia sweetener, it is natural and doesn't contain aspartame .
  • jennerlnz
    jennerlnz Posts: 12 Member
    I would rather the 15cals of a tsp of sugar than any artificial sweeteners. Stevia, maybe, but I'm not keen on the taste. But I have stopped sweetening my coffee. I still use a bit of milk, and I heat it up before adding the coffee - imo, heating it first brings out a bit of the natural sweetness.
  • JKS76
    JKS76 Posts: 54 Member
    I echo what others say about stevia. I was like you loving very sweet hit drinks. i used stevia as a stop gap to try and wean myself of sweetness and I've now cut it out completely. I miss sugar bt I'm still in early stages so hopefully this will pass soon.
  • jsidel126
    jsidel126 Posts: 694 Member
    I reduced my per cup sweetener to less than one sweetener packet (1/3 - 1/2) just to take the edge off the coffee bitterness. I sometimes make a pot of coffee and just put one packet in for the entire pot.

    If your coffee is very bitter, you could use less coffee therefore it would require less sweetener...
  • LittleMissDover
    LittleMissDover Posts: 820 Member
    Against the trend here I do have sweetener. It's the most tested food substance out there and I cannot find any evidence that it does any harm unless you're a rat that eats 3 tons of the stuff a day.

    I am not a rat but am happy to offer myself to science if my 6tsp a day or so causes me to grow another head.
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    What do you think, should I replace the sugar with a sweetener?

    If you like your coffee sweet, then yes.

    Unless of course you're a rat.
  • andyisandy
    andyisandy Posts: 433 Member
    Like a couple other people posted sweetener is fine.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    I cut down half a pack at a time, weeks and months between. I've gone without sugar since last June and don't miss it at all. I do add some chocolate powder to Starbucks lattes to cut some of the bitterness, but I used to do that when I was adding sugar too. Just keep dropping it little by little. It's a lot of sugar and worth stopping.
  • MissMormie
    MissMormie Posts: 359 Member
    Against the trend here I do have sweetener. It's the most tested food substance out there and I cannot find any evidence that it does any harm unless you're a rat that eats 3 tons of the stuff a day.

    I am not a rat but am happy to offer myself to science if my 6tsp a day or so causes me to grow another head.

    ^This

    There is so much testing being done on artificial sweeteners. The only 'evidence' against it I've found is anecdotal. I drink diet coke a lot, I use Stevia, I use Aspartame, and I'll gladly use whatever else non-sugar sweeteners they invent. The only effect I've noticed is a loss in weight from not drinking so many calories.

    That being said, I did stop using sugar or alternatives altogether in my tea, which did take some getting used to, but wouldn't drink it differently now. So just see what works for you. Don't feel bad because the artificial sweetener Mafia is on your case. :wink:
  • theycallyoumister
    theycallyoumister Posts: 222 Member
    I didn't think I'd do it, however, I do add a little bit of sweetener in some of my coffees and it's not that bad...it takes the edge of really strong coffee. :smile:
  • fitbum19
    fitbum19 Posts: 198 Member
    I love vanilla stevia (liquid), I use it in all my tea and coffee. zero calories and 100% natural
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,207 Member
    1 tsp of sugar is 16 calories, and sweeteners taste like chemicals to me, so no contest.
  • ArchangelMJ
    ArchangelMJ Posts: 308 Member
    I never used to drink coffee, but am finding that it helps control my appetite and concentration levels now so I may have a cup a day, sometimes I don't though. I like my coffee sweet and I add 1 tbs of sugar plus 3 tbs of creamer to my cup, which comes to 150 calories. I don't think it's that big a deal since I don't drink a ton of coffee. I like the idea of drinking it straight, but it's just WAY too bitter, I don't know how people do it.

    Some people are genetically more sensitive to bitter tastes than others though, (if you've ever tried those paper test strips, you'll know what I mean.) I can't stand bitter tastes, so I really don't think I'd acclimate to the flavor. I could maybe see tolerating it, but never liking it. Some people also say they lose a taste for sugar. I can't see that happening either. Even though I drink mostly water and have for a while, if I drank a soda I'd still enjoy the taste.
  • _Liz_M_
    _Liz_M_ Posts: 39
    i use a little sugar rather than the chemical substitute. Could be saving calories but better to keep it as near natural as possible.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    I went from 2 to 0. It's easy, now I don't even miss the sugar...in fact that was the start of me not having sugar in anything.

    Yep, same here. It's actually really easy and enjoyable. Now I appreciate the actual taste of coffee much more then I did before when I put milk and sugar in it.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    Some people are genetically more sensitive to bitter tastes than others though, (if you've ever tried those paper test strips, you'll know what I mean.) I can't stand bitter tastes, so I really don't think I'd acclimate to the flavor. I could maybe see tolerating it, but never liking it. Some people also say they lose a taste for sugar. I can't see that happening either. Even though I drink mostly water and have for a while, if I drank a soda I'd still enjoy the taste.

    Taste isn't something you have no control over. Your taste preferences are largely dependent on your environment. If you started eating or drinking bitter things, you'd slowly start to be able to stand them, and then you might slowly start to appreciate other flavors in drinks like coffee that were previously masked by the sugar.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    No. Great job reducing the sugar already. Keep working on it.

    Edit: have you had coffee from a French press? So good I don't use sugar in it even though I always do in any other coffee.
  • SarahDavs
    SarahDavs Posts: 161 Member
    I used to think I could never replace sugar with anything in my coffee, but now a packet of stevia instead tastes just right to me. It might take a few days to get used to the difference but once you do, it's zero calories and you won't miss the sugar. ;-)
  • ArchangelMJ
    ArchangelMJ Posts: 308 Member
    Some people are genetically more sensitive to bitter tastes than others though, (if you've ever tried those paper test strips, you'll know what I mean.) I can't stand bitter tastes, so I really don't think I'd acclimate to the flavor. I could maybe see tolerating it, but never liking it. Some people also say they lose a taste for sugar. I can't see that happening either. Even though I drink mostly water and have for a while, if I drank a soda I'd still enjoy the taste.

    Taste isn't something you have no control over. Your taste preferences are largely dependent on your environment. If you started eating or drinking bitter things, you'd slowly start to be able to stand them, and then you might slowly start to appreciate other flavors in drinks like coffee that were previously masked by the sugar.

    Hm, I dunno. I even flavor my chicken breast with a teaspoon of brown sugar in addition to the salt and herbs I use. I just like the presence of sugar, lol. When sugar contrasts with salt especially, it's like heaven. That's also a trend in Asian cooking, and we all know how thin they are, so it can't be too bad, ha ha. I could never go without using sugar at all. I'd frankly rather just use the sugar and take in the calories. When you're only doing small amounts at a time, it doesn't seem to add up to that much. I've tried the fake sugar, but it seems like I have to use a lot more to get the same effect, which kinda diminishes the point.

    I've actually always been a picky eater too and I definitely didn't like all the stuff my family ate at all. I grew up hating traditional American hamburgers, and plenty of things gross me out, especially condiments. So I don't know how big the role of environment actually plays.

    And drinking black coffee is kinda like licking crushed pill dust, blech! XD
  • likeabanner
    likeabanner Posts: 88 Member
    I use Truvia... it's like Stevia, but I noticed that the Truvia, for ME, is more palatable than other brands/comparisons. It also does the trick instead of tons of packets of sugar, like I used to. When I go out and get a coffee, I use Splenda.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
    Hm, I dunno. I even flavor my chicken breast with a teaspoon of brown sugar in addition to the salt and herbs I use. I just like the presence of sugar, lol. When sugar contrasts with salt especially, it's like heaven. That's also a trend in Asian cooking, and we all know how thin they are, so it can't be too bad, ha ha. I could never go without using sugar at all. I'd frankly rather just use the sugar and take in the calories.

    Well if you always eat and drink sweet items, that's what you're going to crave! And sugar definitely taste good! But it is possible to get used to eating non-sweetened foods. My concern would be what happens when your motivation wanes for one reason or another? If you're used to eating sugary foods, it's really easy to start going over on calories when you're not counting them. I know that I can easily pig out on sugary foods whether I'm hungry or not. Whereas, if you're used to non-sweet foods, it's a lot easier to just ad lib your diet when necessary.

    Don't get me wrong, I eat sweet foods too. I generally have an ice-cream sandwich or something similar every single night. But I've found it's a lot easier to maintain my caloric goals when I'm not constantly craving sugar. I honestly think the main cause of obesity (aside from lack of activity) is simply that most food in this day and age tastes way too good, and prompts people to eat even though they're not that hungry.

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