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Stevia and Keto? (and what's the deal with dairy?)

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CaiLogan
CaiLogan Posts: 11
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Hey there,

Starting out on Keto and trying to get this right: Currently, I put stevia on things (the liquid extract) to curb carb cravings. Does I am learning that it's important not to spike insulin levels while trying to get into ketosis. Is stevia a danger to this?

Also, I've been eating some high-fat/low-carb dairy, but I've been reading that some dairy (specifically dairy high in protein) raises insulin levels even when it has a high-fat/low-carb content.

So. should I lay off most dairy (accept for high-fat/low-protein dairy?)

Thanks!

Replies

  • Miamiuu
    Miamiuu Posts: 262 Member
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    I used all kinds of artificial sweeteners and ate cheeses and I still lost weight. Id do whatever you feel comfortable doing. Stick with your current regiment and then if you arent losing any weight consider changing it.
  • Caeyla
    Caeyla Posts: 42 Member
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    I use sweeteners and eat cheese daily. I have seen a few people say they lose faster without them, or claim that they have stalled because of them, but I don't think that's the norm. Honestly, if you're still in the beginning, give it a little time to evaluate how it's going before eliminating anything else. I think most people do fine with them.
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
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    Depends on what dairy you are eating. Non fat or law fat dairy is a bad choice because they have added sugars. Full fat cheeses, whipping cream and full fat plain Greek yogurt should be ok. However, every one is different, you need to try it out and see how your body responds.
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
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    I've been wondering about the dairy question lately as well. I use HWC, cream cheese, sour cream & cheddar. I've been playing with the same couple of pounds for a bit now and I'm wondering if I should cut the dairy for awhile. But then what do I put in my coffee?? or make yummy treats?? First world problems eh?
  • snarlingcoyote
    snarlingcoyote Posts: 399 Member
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    A lot of dairy products have carbs in them. Heavy cream, greek yogurt, and many cheeses (although not all) have carbs. If you're able to consume those carbs and stay in ketosis, go for it. If you're not, then watch your intake.

    I made an Atkins pizza the other day and the recipe called for heavy cream. . .I poured it in as per the recipe. A little while after eating, I knew I wasn't in ketosis anymore. (I have a pain disorder. I feel perfectly normal = I'm in ketosis. Sudden discomfort = I just went out of ketosis.) I went through the ingredients and yep, the heavy cream had a bunch of carbs. (I'll try that recipe again, but thin the eggs out with water.)

    As for cheeses and losing weight. . .If I'm trying to lose weight, I get rid of cheese. I think it's more of a grazing issue than a metabolic issue, but it works for me!

    As for stevia. . .several of the brands of stevia (and Splenda for that matter) that are sold have fillers in them, and those fillers have carbs. It's only the powdered forms, I think. I bite the bullet and accept the carbs.
  • camtosh
    camtosh Posts: 898 Member
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    But then what do I put in my coffee?? or make yummy treats?? First world problems eh?
    I tried Almond Breeze in coffee this week. A different flavour, but OK once you get used to it.
  • snarlingcoyote
    snarlingcoyote Posts: 399 Member
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    I went and did a litle digging. The liquid forms of stevia, splenda, saccharin etc. do NOT have carbs! Thanks to you I just bought a bottle of liquid splenda. :)
  • Leonidas_meets_Spartacus
    Leonidas_meets_Spartacus Posts: 6,198 Member
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    I've been wondering about the dairy question lately as well. I use HWC, cream cheese, sour cream & cheddar. I've been playing with the same couple of pounds for a bit now and I'm wondering if I should cut the dairy for awhile. But then what do I put in my coffee?? or make yummy treats?? First world problems eh?

    HWC is probably the closest you get to all fat foods like coconut oil. 1/2 cup of heavy cream has around 3-4 carbs with 40g of fat. Much higher fat and lower carbs/protein than any cheese or meat. There is no need to restrict it unless you have intolerance or don't do well with dairy. Less than 0.5g of carb compared to 5gm of fat in a tablespoon of HWC is not going to make a big difference.
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
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    I've been wondering about the dairy question lately as well. I use HWC, cream cheese, sour cream & cheddar. I've been playing with the same couple of pounds for a bit now and I'm wondering if I should cut the dairy for awhile. But then what do I put in my coffee?? or make yummy treats?? First world problems eh?

    HWC is probably the closest you get to all fat foods like coconut oil. 1/2 cup of heavy cream has around 3-4 carbs with 40g of fat. Much higher fat and lower carbs/protein than any cheese or meat. There is no need to restrict it unless you have intolerance or don't do well with dairy. Less than 0.5g of carb compared to 5gm of fat in a tablespoon of HWC is not going to make a big difference.

    Actually I did a little research last night & reviewed my diary for the last few weeks and honestly I don't eat a huge amount of dairy and like you said the HWC has so little carbs its hardly worth worrying about. Besides this girl NEEDS her BPC in the morning. lol
  • ginnyspencer1
    ginnyspencer1 Posts: 16 Member
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    :-) I like to add 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk (out of the can in the Asian food section) to my BPC or smoothies. It's delicious!!!
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
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    :-) I like to add 1/4 cup full fat coconut milk (out of the can in the Asian food section) to my BPC or smoothies. It's delicious!!!

    That sounds delish!!! Are there carbs in that?
  • I_love_frogs
    I_love_frogs Posts: 340 Member
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    Yum...I don't drink coffee but this makes me almost want to!
  • sarrajune
    sarrajune Posts: 17 Member
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    I was told by an Ideal Protein business owner that Stevia and Monk Fruit are the best to avoid blood sugar spikes, and Splenda is OK but not fool-proof. I didn't know about added fillers and we were talking about powdered stuff only though, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm sure you'll lose weight either way, just maybe with cravings or slightly slower. To me it's not worth it - I am making myself adapt to Truvia/Stevia/Nothing if I have to, and it gives me peace of mind.
  • snarlingcoyote
    snarlingcoyote Posts: 399 Member
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    My BFF's mom has had type II diabetes for many, many years and for a while worked as a volunteer educator for folks who were newly diagnosed with type II back in the late 80's and early 90's. She noticed that artificial sweetners would spike blood sugars on some people and not others. She was a grant writer at a major teaching hospital and had several researchers poo-poo her on this one, but she ignored them and advised people to see if their blood sugar spiked or not after they used artificial sweetners - and to try different ones, as she'd also noticed a variance in that as well.

    Well, now, low and behold, there's scientific evidence that she was right!

    I think she was on to something - sweetners may or may not affect your blood sugars. And different types may or may not do the same.

    I did some graduate work many, many years ago (abandoned to follow mammon, lol) in behavioral studies, and it makes perfect sense to me that for some people, blood sugars will spike with artificial sweetners and for others it won't. Given certain stimuli, over and over again people's bodies learn to respond and prepare for the stimuli - that's at the very center of ALL behavioral science. Some of us have bodies that have learned sweet = inrush of sugar and carbs, so the body has adapted accordingly. Some of us have bodies that have learned sweetner = no in rush of sugar and carbs, so the body adapts accordingly. I suspect that it may depend upon whether or not your taste buds can make the differentiation between sweetner and sweet sugar and how much you've exposed your body to the different kinds of sweet and resulting calories as to whether or not your body does or does not respond to non-caloric sweetner as it does to caloric sweetner.

    I'd love to see someone in the field do a strong study to test this theorem, but it took how long for researchers to follow up on what people with diabetes have known for 30 years?:wink: OTOH, maybe there's a researcher at Pennington or somewhere similar who is researching this at this very moment!
  • pfmf
    pfmf Posts: 7
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    Stevia! Of course! (palm banging against forehead)

    I knew somehow I was getting extra carbs and couldn't figure it out!

    Yes, powdered Stevia has maltodextrin (usually made from corn, which I'm allergic to; Trader Joes and Whole Foods house brands have rice maltodextrin, which seems fine). I probably have 8-12 packets a day.

    Now having read this thread, today I've had just one. Easily done.

    Thanks!
    Pam
  • SnowFlinga
    SnowFlinga Posts: 124 Member
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    Dairy is more insulogenic than its nutrition facts would lead you to believe. I don't have the scientific article reference handy, but search the web and you'll most likely find it. Some people find that dairy doesn't interfere with their ketogenic diet, but unfortunately I'm not one of those people. I log everything (and measure everything) and it became quite clear as I was tracking my ketosis levels (using blood test strips) that dairy was impacting me. I now limit my dairy to butter and only a couple ounces of hard cheeses and the weight loss has become more consistent. Note that softer cheeses are more insulogenic than harder cheeses.

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