Cutting out HFCS and artificial sweetners

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betheranne
betheranne Posts: 44
in Food and Nutrition
Who else is working on this? I've been reading Clean Eating Magazine, and Tosca Reno's Eat-Clean books. I'm working my family toward it. More basic foods, more natural food, more REAL food is a no-brainer to me.

Cutting out HFCS and artificial sweetners, such as sucralose, aspartame, etc., is something I've done with the food I buy for a long, long time.

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  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
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    HFCS=High fructose corn syrup.
    I've been working on eliminating high processed & artificials. So yes, I avoid the above.
    I love clean eating and it loves me.
  • amunet07
    amunet07 Posts: 1,245 Member
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    I read Skinny *****...good read. Now I am trying to not eat anything with Aspartame in it and bought Truvia to use instead of Splenda.

    The Aspartame part is hard as Yoplait, Crystal Light, Sugar Free Jello all have it. Now I will get the Greek Yogurts and just try to work out more...and wrote a letter to Kraft foods about not using Aspartame in their Crystal Light and Jello products.
  • beth2411
    beth2411 Posts: 54 Member
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    Hi, i stopped using sweetners or anything with aspartame in after reading articles on how bad for you this was. There are numerous side effects from using anything with aspartame in it.
  • amyfly
    amyfly Posts: 137
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    I've been trying to cut out HFCS and white sugar - not easy with a huge sweet tooth:) so if you have an recipes or hints/advice please post!! I've never been able to use artificial sweeteners because they give me a terrible headache, so it's nice to hear others are trying to avoid them too. Usually when i talk about cutting back on sugar everyone tells me to use equal or sweet and low (or whatever other art. sweetener) which is no help at all! Thanks in advance for any advice anyone has to offer:)
  • bikerbiz
    bikerbiz Posts: 179 Member
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    Were you all having any kind of symptoms in using artificials? I hate to throw out the activia non-fat, and I've had to increase dairy and veges with the diet I am on...but, I don't think that agrees with my digestive system.. :-(
  • DancingDreamer
    DancingDreamer Posts: 520
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    i think a lot of us on here are trying to do this. the great thing is that there are a lot of products that are comping out now with no HFCS and its slapped in bright obvious letters across the label! :)
  • size3again
    size3again Posts: 17 Member
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    Crystal Light!!! Really??? Will I guess I knew this but that's how I drink my water with a smile... Now what??? I have to drink water, but without crystal light it will be hard: (
  • DancingDreamer
    DancingDreamer Posts: 520
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    I've been trying to cut out HFCS and white sugar - not easy with a huge sweet tooth:) so if you have an recipes or hints/advice please post!! I've never been able to use artificial sweeteners because they give me a terrible headache, so it's nice to hear others are trying to avoid them too. Usually when i talk about cutting back on sugar everyone tells me to use equal or sweet and low (or whatever other art. sweetener) which is no help at all! Thanks in advance for any advice anyone has to offer:)

    stevia. i'm surprised no one has mentioned it to you before. no calories and completely natural. you can even buy it in a big bag instead of just packets so you can sub it for sugar in baked good recipes and sauces and such. (btw stevia in the raw is the same thing as truvia and its cheaper, for those of you on a budget like me. :D)
  • redefiningmyself
    redefiningmyself Posts: 476 Member
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    I've almost completely cut out all that stuff as well. I feel sooo much better too. A LOT more energy, almost no headaches, and I'm liking how food tastes naturally. Now when i do have something with sweeteners in it - its tastes awful - too sickly sweet. So I'm especially happy with that change as it will help me maintain my new eating habits.

    Best wishes for everyone on your weight loss journey!
  • betheranne
    betheranne Posts: 44
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    Honestly? I'm not really convinced that Activia has any special pro-biotics in it that make it better than other yogurts. I started eating only Stonyfield Farm yogurt for awhile, and now only eat Cultural Revolution yogurt from a local organic dairy. I'm not sure how far and wide their distribution is.

    My other complaint is that it's in stuff that sugar doesn't need to be in. Hummus? Come on.

    I still use regular sugar. The kids and I bake our own stuff, but it's occasionally. Once my canister is empty, I am switching to sugar in the raw.

    Many of the recipes for desserts in Clean Eating Magazine rely upon honey, agave nectar, or sucanat. To me, what I'm trying to do is remember, I shouldn't be eating pudding, ice cream, brownies, etc. (even the diet versions) every day. It's not easy. I also have a big, giant sweet tooth, but I sure do feel better.
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    I won't eat anything with HFCS in it, or artificial sweeteners like Aspertame or Nutrasweet. I will occasionally eat stuff with real sugar in it, but as a borderline diabetic, I mostly avoid that too.

    Oikos, or Chobani Greek yogurts are delicious!!

    There are some granulated lemon flavorings for drinks now, no sugar or sweeteners or anything artificial (you could add Stevia if you wanted). One of my favorite desserts is sliced peaches with Rice Whip on it (non-dairy organic topping - http://www.veganstore.com/soyatoo-rice-whip-topping/Page_1/982.html)

    You do have to hunt for some products or make your own, but it can be done.
  • kennedar
    kennedar Posts: 306 Member
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    I find "fake" sugar like sucralose and aspartime make me crave real sugar like crazy. As soon as I am done them I get a massive junk food craving which I almost always give in to because it is the only thing I can think about. I accidently bought some canned fruit yesterday that was advertised "no added sugar" without reading the ingrediant list. It had a ton of sucralose in it and I wound up binging on Cheesies and fruit loops later in the day. So not worth it! The half empty pack went in the garbage and the other one is in the donation pile.
  • ltlemermaid
    ltlemermaid Posts: 637 Member
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    Crystal Light!!! Really??? Will I guess I knew this but that's how I drink my water with a smile... Now what??? I have to drink water, but without crystal light it will be hard: (

    You can try fresh lemon slices with your water--I just sqeeze the juice and drop the slice into my water and its naturally flavored without the chemicals :)
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    Crystal Light!!! Really??? Will I guess I knew this but that's how I drink my water with a smile... Now what??? I have to drink water, but without crystal light it will be hard: (

    Crystal Light also makes some of its flavors with real sugar. It is very low in sugar, only 15 calories. Still waaaaaaaaaay better than diet drinks, sugary sports drinks, etc.

    You could try putting a splash of lemon or lime into your water...or go for it and drink pure water. :)
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    And I also actually prefer the taste of plain reduced fat Greek yogurt to other yogurts. I add sliced berries to it and it's wonderful! Very high in protein, low in sugar and fat...and with fresh berries added to it, there's some antioxidants too. I love the stuff.
  • irridia
    irridia Posts: 527 Member
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    I advise dropping truvia and purvia as they both contain erethrytol and go to stevia without those ingridients. Sun Crystals (has some sugar and is 5 cal/packet), Only Sweet, Stevia in the Raw, and I've been told Sweet Leaf, are all brands that do not have any sugar alchahols included.

    I have on more than one occasion bought something either not marked as "diet", "light", "reduced calorie" or anything else indicating there are artificail sweetners only to take a bite and discover that it had something "icky" in it.

    I cut out hfc a long time ago as well as artifical sweetners. on occasion i'll buy a product that has hfc in it anyway but that is very rare.
  • lilac67
    lilac67 Posts: 311
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    Have you seen the new Corn Sugar commercials--it's a new name the HFCS people want to use now to spin a better image for it, they even have a website www.cornsugar.com the FDA hasn't decided if the can put it on labels yet, but be watching for it!

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