Looking for some real answers from a variety of sources

I think sweetener usage is a personal choice and is ultimately determined by what your end goal is. If your end goal is to eat unprocessed food then your choice of sweetener will be different than one whose goal is to lose weight.

You said you can have fruit sugar right? And you're not worried about weight loss? My advice is to look into Agave Nectar, it's 90% fructose (fruit sugar) and only 10% glucose. Also date sugar may also be an option for you.

Personally I use splenda when I need to sweeten something. I drink my coffee and tea without cream or sugar so I use very little sweetener.

We use Splenda in my household, as my husband is a Type 2 Diabetic. No aspartame is allowed as I get terrible headaches (plus, it tastes like crap in my opinion). I've tried Stevia and I didn't like the bitter aftertaste, but I hear the liquid Stevia is better than the powder. I haven't tried Truvia - it isn't as readily available here in Canada as Splenda or Stevia is.

I really don't know if agave syrup will be better for you than honey as it's also on the 'no-no' list of sweet things my husband's diabetic nutritionist gave.

So we stick with Splenda as it's the most palatable for us. You'll just have to figure out what's best for you as every person is different here.

My only opinion is I don't eat/drink anything with Aspartame, it (in my opinion) has an awful after taste and it makes me nauseous.

I have high triglycerides as well (along with high cholesterol) and is one of the reasons I completely changed my diet. Did you doctor really tell you absolutely no sugar? I would personally get a 2nd opinion on that. I'm definitely supposed to watch my overall carb intake as well as my saturated fats, but my doctor didn't tell me I had to completely cut anything out of my diet. Could it possibly be that you misunderstood or possibly just going a bit overboard?

I'm not trying to be snarky here...I actually went way overboard when I got that news from my doctor. Everything was suddenly no fat/low fat and I avoided anything sugary and seriously reduced my carb intake...I was scared I'd die if I even looked at a steak or something. What I ultimately found after a couple of weeks was that I felt like absolute crap...I didn't have any energy and was getting headaches and dizziness and my nerves were completely on edge. I went back to my doctor and brought along copies of my diary so he could take a look...he basically shook his head and told me I was on the right track but my headaches and dizziness could very well be attributable to not having enough fat in my diet and my lack of energy stemmed from getting very few carbs. We looked at my macros and adjusted those and he simply went over a few things that I should avoid in my day to day, but I didn't need to cut out entirely. He basically told me that the best possible thing I could do is eat at a deficit and lose some weight and start exercising along with having a reasonable macro balance.

This is what I've been doing and my numbers are on the decline and my blood pressure issues are coming under control as well. My macros are 40 carb/30 protein/30 healthy fats and it's working really well for me. I'm eating at a Lb per week deficit and I'm not miserable. I have my energy back and the headaches and dizziness are gone as well. I would suggest having another conversation with you doctor and/or getting a 2nd opinion. I would also suggest taking a look at your macros overall...not just sugars...but your overall carbs as you may need to just reduce these in general. Before I started all of this, my diet was about 80% carbs

I use splenda but only on unsweetened cereal. I heard years ago that aspertame was bad for you because it put little holes in your brain, but I have not researched it. I know it is in most diet soda, so I avoid diet soda with aspertame in it.

I use splenda but only on unsweetened cereal. I heard years ago that aspertame was bad for you because it put little holes in your brain, but I have not researched it. I know it is in most diet soda, so I avoid diet soda with aspertame in it.

Aspartame is composed of phenylalanine and aspartic acid. These are amino acids that are found in normal food items (look up the content of the above amino acids in chicken breast and bananas for example). Methanol is a digestive byproduct of aspartame and methanol is converted to formaldehyde in the liver. Formaldehyde is either used or converted into formic acid.

People with PKU cannot properly metabolize phenylalanine and should therefore avoid it.

Beyond that, I really wouldn't worry about aspartame consumption if it doesn't make you feel bad and you're not consuming stupid amounts of it.

EDIT: Also I must add as a side note, that the response I've received from some and the snarky attitude displayed along with judgements on me and quickness to have an attack approach when I've kindly asked for some genuine unbiased information and thoughts ...

Just ignore the haters and focus on the posts you find useful. Chalk it up to nothing personal and they need a snack. It's hard to tell online and in writing what their true intention is... sometimes things come out harshly. Please don't be dissuaded from asking for help... just pick 'n choose the responses you spend any time on. :-)

I have high triglycerides as well (along with high cholesterol) and is one of the reasons I completely changed my diet. Did you doctor really tell you absolutely no sugar? I would personally get a 2nd opinion on that. I'm definitely supposed to watch my overall carb intake as well as my saturated fats, but my doctor didn't tell me I had to completely cut anything out of my diet. Could it possibly be that you misunderstood or possibly just going a bit overboard?

I'm not trying to be snarky here...I actually went way overboard when I got that news from my doctor. Everything was suddenly no fat/low fat and I avoided anything sugary and seriously reduced my carb intake...I was scared I'd die if I even looked at a steak or something. What I ultimately found after a couple of weeks was that I felt like absolute crap...I didn't have any energy and was getting headaches and dizziness and my nerves were completely on edge. I went back to my doctor and brought along copies of my diary so he could take a look...he basically shook his head and told me I was on the right track but my headaches and dizziness could very well be attributable to not having enough fat in my diet and my lack of energy stemmed from getting very few carbs. We looked at my macros and adjusted those and he simply went over a few things that I should avoid in my day to day, but I didn't need to cut out entirely. He basically told me that the best possible thing I could do is eat at a deficit and lose some weight and start exercising along with having a reasonable macro balance.

This is what I've been doing and my numbers are on the decline and my blood pressure issues are coming under control as well. My macros are 40 carb/30 protein/30 healthy fats and it's working really well for me. I'm eating at a Lb per week deficit and I'm not miserable. I have my energy back and the headaches and dizziness are gone as well. I would suggest having another conversation with you doctor and/or getting a 2nd opinion. I would also suggest taking a look at your macros overall...not just sugars...but your overall carbs as you may need to just reduce these in general. Before I started all of this, my diet was about 80% carbs

I feel like maybe I'm not making myself clear, I'm not supposed to not have any sugar at all period like a diabetic exactly, but it should be very limited, like what I mentioned about the cereal, like if it has 10 grams or less that's fine. And just straight white sugar was not recommended, they did mention splenda to me, again this was about 10 years ago, I was still right out of high school, I could be mis-remembering some of the details, I won't say that's out of the question.

But I am trying to make it clear though that I don't care for the way regular sugar tastes in coffee, it is gross to me now as I've only used artificial sweeteners over 10 years. I would like to see conclusive research findings from a reputable site that splenda or aspartame are really bad for you to consume and so far no one has yet to provide this even though they've practically pointed fingers at the main alternative sugar brands and branded them as spawn of satan so to speak.

I just want something to put on my cereal and in my coffee that won't add calories and preferably keeps me away from the regular sugar because imo there is more bad things about regular sugar than there is about any of the alternatives. Though I'm sure I'll get ripped a new one for that statement as well. I am also looking for something easy to find (I live in a small town, something at walmart or county market would work) and inexpensive. I don't usually care for liquid sweeteners in coffee that I've tried. But I haven't tried them all, most are a little more expensive than I'd prefer.

Multiple reasons why I've stuck with aspartame or splenda. I don't care about eating all natural, You can go out and eat a poisonous berry and it's natural...but not necessarily good for you.

And as far as aspartame (what my family usually uses) check this out: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/aspartame.asp

People have given you many options on what to use for sweeteners. I don't think it's you not being clear, but it seems you may not be reading the responses.

i use splenda on my oatmeal and for baking...also buy drinks sweetened with it. My sister is a cancer survivor and her doctor told her it was ok to use splenda. They gave her a 5 year if you make it 5 years you'll be doing good......that was 11 years ago.

all things in moderation is what I do.