The (Sugar-free) Sweet Life

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Mickie17
Mickie17 Posts: 559 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi there!

I am on a journey to rid white sugar and artificial sweetners from my life. I welcome your suggestions and advice...so please lay it on me!!!! :)

Replies

  • mrssavvysteve
    mrssavvysteve Posts: 239 Member
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    bump
    I am adhering to avoiding sugar that doesnt occur naturally... Interested to here what other people say.

    I always use whole wheat flour, and splenda in all baking recipes..
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    If I really really want to sweeten something, I use Stevia (from a plant). If you'd rather not use the processed version, you can grow your own stevia plant.

    I squeeze a bit of fresh lemon into water and add a tiny sprinkle of Stevia and I've got sweet lemonade.

    I don't buy anything with added sugars or artifical sweeteners. No chemicals, thank you. Juice must be 100% juice with nothing added. Yogurt is organic greek, no hfcs or other sweeteners except fruit. We have all natural (no sugar added) fruit (juice) bars as our "desserts". Raisins, dried pineapple and apricots make a deliciously sweet treat. A pinch of raw, brown sugar added to oatmeal is all it needs to be perfectly wonderful.

    I think that we've become accustomed to too much sweet and salty foods. We dont' appreciate natural flavors as much because everything is drowned in sugar and salt. I use only real spices as well, no mixes or packets (they often have silcon dioxide, msg and salt added). I do love my sweet and salty foods, but I try to make then natural versions, not artificially so.

    http://www.eattasteheal.com/ETH_6tastes.htm
  • NanBar
    NanBar Posts: 283 Member
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    Sucanat- dried cane syrup- as natural and unprocessed as it comes. Great for baking.
  • ElaineDianne70
    ElaineDianne70 Posts: 243 Member
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    If I really really want to sweeten something, I use Stevia (from a plant). If you'd rather not use the processed version, you can grow your own stevia plant.

    I squeeze a bit of fresh lemon into water and add a tiny sprinkle of Stevia and I've got sweet lemonade.

    I don't buy anything with added sugars or artifical sweeteners. No chemicals, thank you. Juice must be 100% juice with nothing added. Yogurt is organic greek, no hfcs or other sweeteners except fruit. We have all natural (no sugar added) fruit (juice) bars as our "desserts". Raisins, dried pineapple and apricots make a deliciously sweet treat. A pinch of raw, brown sugar added to oatmeal is all it needs to be perfectly wonderful.

    I think that we've become accustomed to too much sweet and salty foods. We dont' appreciate natural flavors as much because everything is drowned in sugar and salt. I use only real spices as well, no mixes or packets (they often have silcon dioxide, msg and salt added). I do love my sweet and salty foods, but I try to make then natural versions, not artificially so.

    Great post!!!!!!!
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    Go online and learn about all the different sugars.
    Organic sugar is no different from table sugar except no pesticides.
    Raw sugar is just table sugar with some molasses left in it. Not enough nutrition to make a difference.
    Brown sugar is just table sugar with molasses added back to it.
    Honey's got nutrients but you have to be careful about which honey (some of them are processed). And you can heat honey - it will lose its nutrients.
    HFCS is in just about everything out there.
    Agave syrup is also processed but doesn't cause the insulin spike.

    You really have to look at the ingredients on the packages. Anything with -ose on the end. Fructose, sucrose, sucralose, etc. They are all sugars.

    I think the Stevia plant (or the extract or the powder) is the only way to go for sweetener. It's not sugar; it's just a plant that happens to be sweet.

    I would stay away from Splenda, equal, sweet & low
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    bump
    I am adhering to avoiding sugar that doesnt occur naturally... Interested to here what other people say.

    I always use whole wheat flour, and splenda in all baking recipes..

    Isn't Splenda a fake sweetener? It doesn't occur naturally.
  • ElaineDianne70
    ElaineDianne70 Posts: 243 Member
    Options
    bump
    I am adhering to avoiding sugar that doesnt occur naturally... Interested to here what other people say.

    I always use whole wheat flour, and splenda in all baking recipes..

    Isn't Splenda a fake sweetener? It doesn't occur naturally.

    Yes, from what I've read about Splenda, you should stay away from it.
  • Mickie17
    Mickie17 Posts: 559 Member
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    So how does Stevia affect your metabolism? I understand you shouldn't do artificial sweeteners, because of the chemicals, but also because of the low to no calories, because the body gets use to not needing to burn much when those items are consumed; therefore, when you splurge on a piece of chocolate cake the metabolism doesn't work right to burn those sweet calories. So, I'm wondering if the same would happen by using Stevia, even if it's natural???
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    It's fairly new to the mainstream, but here is some info that I found on it - http://www.everstevia.com/index.html
  • Mickie17
    Mickie17 Posts: 559 Member
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    Great info..good start for me. I'll tell you what...journaling is the only wy to go. I thik I found on eof my culprits! My new panini grill...yikes I journaled my sandwich....geez-o!!! Now I'm starting to get a better picture of where I was going wrong!

    Please keep the tips coming!!!! Looking for some great treats to satisfy my sweet-tooth, without white sugar or artificial sweeteners!Thanks!
  • Mickie17
    Mickie17 Posts: 559 Member
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    PS: I can't wait to buy some Stevia and make some lemonade!!!

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