I gave it up 3 years ago as it was making me hungrier; since then no AS what so ever.

I would chew it if I could but it hurts my jaw, I really wish I could, kinda makes me sad. I haven't noticed any problems with AS or small amounts of real sugar. I know others are more sensitive to those things though.

I have switched to a gum called Spry (my favorite being cinnamon but the others are good too) that was sweetened with xylitol at Whole Foods for when I really crave some gum to chew on. No after taste but the flavor lasts a shorter period than most regular gums you'd find in your local corner store. I haven't noticed an increase in hunger due to it and it helped me kick a nasty cigarette habit. Just my 2 cents.

Although artificial sweeteners in food(s) seem to kick start major cravings for me, I haven't noticed the same issue with the odd stick of gum. I usually go through a pack roughly every two weeks.... gum is a great way to eliminate random snacking while doing major food prep, it battles the odd cigarette craving while driving (3.5 years quit now and that is the only time I occasionally struggle), and after lunch breath issues at work lol.

wabmester wrote: »

Could never stand the aftertaste, so I've never been a fan of any AS. I'm happy with the little bit of Real Sugar(TM) I get from berries and chocolate.

If you need to chew on something, chew on ice cubes. Negative calories!

Be careful with that! My mom went through an ice chewing phase and fractured all of her teeth...now they just fall out a piece at a time.

Also, wanting to chew ice can be a sign of anemia.

But it is fun to do

I chew Trident nearly every day. I haven't noticed any stalls or BG spikes in relation. Trident does not make me hungry, but Extra and other brands do. I mean a ravenous hunger that I cannot seem to sate! Plus, for me, fasting works better when I have my gum to chew.

I use the tiny low carb Altoids. I'm sure if enough are consumed there are many carbs. But since Altoids are so powerful, not many are needed.

I was chain-chewing sugarfree gum for a while when I went keto, 1-2 packs a day, in an attempt to quell my appetite; little did I know it was actually making me hungrier and causing sweet cravings.

I also believe chewing so much sf gum was partly responsible for my weight loss stall. When I ditched the gum, along with liquid sucralose in my hot drinks, the scale started to move downwards again. It could be a coincidence, but I don't think so. I believe AS affects my body like sugar, to a degree and appears to have been impacting my weight loss and health goal negatively. Now I'm starting to view it a bit like poison as I've read that sucralose, for example, is carcinogenic, and they really don't know much about its long term effects. I don't want to drip feed that into my body every day anymore.

I thought I'd miss gum but I really don't anymore. I don't miss sweetener in my hot beverages anymore either. They were both tough to kick at 1st but it's tangible how much better I feel without them. I think the less chemicals and weird lab-produced ingredients we put in our bodies the better.

I finally got to the point of realizing that in order for gum not to be a habit/feeding that sugar fix issue, I had to find one I could barely tolerate, or I wanted to binge full packs - or multiple packs. For me, that was regular trident. I don't have it as much anymore, but I do once in a while. I've never done the xylitol gums, but things like stride, extra, ice breakers, etc., all made me want to binge...