Is Stevia worth it? What's your favourite not-sugar sweetener?
kiela64
Posts: 1,447 Member
I want to reduce my sugar consumption because apparently my blood work is pre prediabetes or something (not at the level of pre diabetes, but the dietician thought that lowering my sugar would be useful for nipping it in the bud or w/e).
I don't feel like I eat a ton of refined sugar to begin with, but I do put it in coffee and eat vanilla flavoured greek yogurt. I'm also considering looking into a lower-carb approach eventually, and what I've read includes limiting sugar bc it's a carb.
I was looking up some recipes and I saw a neat one for a vegan pumpkin pie that was fairly low-calorie that I thought I might try http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-pumpkin-pie/ it includes Stevia which I've never used before. Looking it up online, people have a lot of mixed feelings about it, so I was wondering a) if you like/use Stevia yourself, and if you find it to be good or at least worth trying, and b) if you have another preferable non-sugar sweetener like aspartame or splenda that you think is just as good for reducing sugar consumption, and how it works in baking and coffee, etc?
I don't feel like I eat a ton of refined sugar to begin with, but I do put it in coffee and eat vanilla flavoured greek yogurt. I'm also considering looking into a lower-carb approach eventually, and what I've read includes limiting sugar bc it's a carb.
I was looking up some recipes and I saw a neat one for a vegan pumpkin pie that was fairly low-calorie that I thought I might try http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/recipe-pumpkin-pie/ it includes Stevia which I've never used before. Looking it up online, people have a lot of mixed feelings about it, so I was wondering a) if you like/use Stevia yourself, and if you find it to be good or at least worth trying, and b) if you have another preferable non-sugar sweetener like aspartame or splenda that you think is just as good for reducing sugar consumption, and how it works in baking and coffee, etc?
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Replies
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I like sucralose.
I bake with sugar, though.0 -
splenda for me
In order of artificial sweetener aftertaste (being first on the list is bad), my taste buds go:
1. Stevia
2 Aspartame
3. Splenda
I can see the appeal of stevia if it tasted better to me (being naturalish), but the taste is just not worth it to me. In some things with splenda, I can hardly tell the difference between it and "real" sugar.
One of my favorite dishes with the baking formulated splenda (and I did this before pumpkin pie spice was cool) is to add about 1/8 cup of splenda, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice to a can of pumpkin and mix together with a spoon. Insta desert that is highly nutritious.0 -
catscats222 wrote: »i love, love that pumpkin recipe and I am going to make it today
i peeked at your diet, that maple syrup and jam are also killing your diet
i keep my sugars to less than 50 grams a day, and i try to make it from natural foods like milk, veggies, fruit - this really works for me
yep, those too! I had replaced the jam with fresh fruit for a while, but now it's no longer summer the fresh fruit has been mealy and unappetizing. I have no excuse for the maple syrup haha, so I know it needs to go completely. I thought that if I had enough sweet-tasting things I might not crave it.0 -
I've tried to like stevia, but I just can't get past the bitter aftertaste. I use Splenda/sucralose due to taste preference.0
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I don't care for any of them, so I mostly just use some type of sugar. But I rarely drink sweetened drinks and only have sweets (candy, cookies, pie, etc.) occasionally so my added sugar intake is fairly low.0
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Honestly, I made myself learn to like things without sugar. Like my coffee, i cut out all sweeteners. I use extracts, my favorite is almond, half n half, and sometimes I'll add in spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or cardamon. It makes it flavorful without the sugar. Yogurt is tough. One brand I can't remember the name now, advertising as ZERO. Meaning that it uses stevia, no artificial flavors and color. It took a bit to get used to, but it wasn't that bad. Adding fruit helps too. Frozen berries or if you can canned fruit that's in water or 100% juice.
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Stevia is my favorite. I use it in and on everything. tastes just like regular sugar to me.0
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I use them all. Some do better in liquids, others in baking.
There's a Splenda (sucralose) brown sugar blend that has half the sugar. This is great for baking and I am betting would be great for anything pumpkin.
I use Stevia or Splenda in my tea. The spoonable Stevia that has been fluffed out is about spoon-for-spoon the same for sugar, so can be measured out the same.
I drink Mio (acesulfame potassium and sucralose), or Crystal Lite (aspartame, acesulfame potassium, Sucralose) flavoured waters.
And I like my diet Pepsi (aspartame).0 -
OP, if you're thinking of cutting sugar to reduce your blood sugar, you may want to look into the effect of Splenda, aspartame, etc on blood sugar. It's my understanding that they have no calories, but still raise blood sugar as much as sugar. Stevia, otoh, has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. I use stevia regularly, though not in baking. I think it's one of those things you need to get used to. I used to find it odd, but now it seems normal.0
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Can_Do_Gal wrote: »OP, if you're thinking of cutting sugar to reduce your blood sugar, you may want to look into the effect of Splenda, aspartame, etc on blood sugar. It's my understanding that they have no calories, but still raise blood sugar as much as sugar. Stevia, otoh, has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. I use stevia regularly, though not in baking. I think it's one of those things you need to get used to. I used to find it odd, but now it seems normal.
Actually stevia does have an effect on blood sugar - it can LOWER it. If you are like me and on the bottom of the range all the time, it tanks it if you use it without other carbs or something that raises blood sugar a little. I tried using it in just tea and was seeing stars every time. took my blood sugar readings a few times and it was averaging 40 (!!) every time. Not going to be an issue for everyone, but something to watch for!
My favorite at the moment is monk fruit extract. Great taste, so far no issues with blood sugar.
And whatever you do - please use moderation! Sometimes an excess of artificial sweeteners (especially aspartame and sucralose) over a long time can cause auto-immune type symptoms that mimic or make worse some diseases (like fibromyalgia, lupus, etc). It can take awhile to notice the effects, so most people never make the association except after suffering for awhile! Those diseases tend to "encourage" weight gain by making you tired/fatigued a lot (reducing activity-calories out). Which makes people use even more artificial sweeteners in an effort to stop the weight gain (not realizing that the sweeteners are causing/contributing to it indirectly!) and it just keeps getting worse and gaining more.
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I like my splenda / sucralose. Main reason is it tastes indistinguishable from sugar (to me), can be used in baking, and is cheap and plentiful at my local Costco.
I just made a batch of chocolate chip cookies a few days ago I'm still eating my way through - I subbed the white sugar for splenda, replaced two of the cups of flour with almond flour. Probably reasonably diabetic-friendly, I would guess.
I didn't skimp on the brown sugar, of course, and I added extra semi-sweet chips.0 -
Nothing! I don't use real or artificial sweeteners. The real stuff is bad enough but artificial crap is not for me.0
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I use the Truvia brand of Stevia. I tried it first with a different brand and I was disgusted by it but found Truvia to have a good taste.
I started off with Splenda a couple of years ago and started getting horrible stomach pains. When I realized the only thing I had changed in my diet was the Splenda (and I was eating very well otherwise), I decided to google it and found that Splenda has been known to cause digestive disorders such as IBS in some people. Since then I decided to stay away from artificial sweeteners but then researched Stevia, tried Truvia and loved it, so I use that now. I do still consume regular sugar when added into some things but try to use stevia in most of my sugar intake.0 -
Can_Do_Gal wrote: »OP, if you're thinking of cutting sugar to reduce your blood sugar, you may want to look into the effect of Splenda, aspartame, etc on blood sugar. It's my understanding that they have no calories, but still raise blood sugar as much as sugar. Stevia, otoh, has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. I use stevia regularly, though not in baking. I think it's one of those things you need to get used to. I used to find it odd, but now it seems normal.
No they don't. Otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of very sick diabetics on our hands. Those of us who regularly test our blood sugars are acutely aware of the effects of various foods on blood sugar levels. Artificial sweeteners do nothing. Carbohydrates on the other hand, like potatoes, breads, and rice, oh my.
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Can_Do_Gal wrote: »OP, if you're thinking of cutting sugar to reduce your blood sugar, you may want to look into the effect of Splenda, aspartame, etc on blood sugar. It's my understanding that they have no calories, but still raise blood sugar as much as sugar. Stevia, otoh, has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. I use stevia regularly, though not in baking. I think it's one of those things you need to get used to. I used to find it odd, but now it seems normal.
No they don't. Otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of very sick diabetics on our hands. Those of us who regularly test our blood sugars are acutely aware of the effects of various foods on blood sugar levels. Artificial sweeteners do nothing. Carbohydrates on the other hand, like potatoes, breads, and rice, oh my.
This isn't always true. I have several diabetics in my family. Two of them had to give up diet soda because it was spiking their blood sugar. The others can drink it just fine. I have no idea what makes the difference, but it doesn't work the same for everyone.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Can_Do_Gal wrote: »OP, if you're thinking of cutting sugar to reduce your blood sugar, you may want to look into the effect of Splenda, aspartame, etc on blood sugar. It's my understanding that they have no calories, but still raise blood sugar as much as sugar. Stevia, otoh, has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. I use stevia regularly, though not in baking. I think it's one of those things you need to get used to. I used to find it odd, but now it seems normal.
No they don't. Otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of very sick diabetics on our hands. Those of us who regularly test our blood sugars are acutely aware of the effects of various foods on blood sugar levels. Artificial sweeteners do nothing. Carbohydrates on the other hand, like potatoes, breads, and rice, oh my.
This isn't always true. I have several diabetics in my family. Two of them had to give up diet soda because it was spiking their blood sugar. The others can drink it just fine. I have no idea what makes the difference, but it doesn't work the same for everyone.
How, exactly, can a basically metabolically inert substance like sucralose spike blood sugar? If that's possible, I'd love someone to explain the mechanism to me.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Can_Do_Gal wrote: »OP, if you're thinking of cutting sugar to reduce your blood sugar, you may want to look into the effect of Splenda, aspartame, etc on blood sugar. It's my understanding that they have no calories, but still raise blood sugar as much as sugar. Stevia, otoh, has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. I use stevia regularly, though not in baking. I think it's one of those things you need to get used to. I used to find it odd, but now it seems normal.
No they don't. Otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of very sick diabetics on our hands. Those of us who regularly test our blood sugars are acutely aware of the effects of various foods on blood sugar levels. Artificial sweeteners do nothing. Carbohydrates on the other hand, like potatoes, breads, and rice, oh my.
This isn't always true. I have several diabetics in my family. Two of them had to give up diet soda because it was spiking their blood sugar. The others can drink it just fine. I have no idea what makes the difference, but it doesn't work the same for everyone.
I'm assuming this is a diet soda consumed while fasted spike and not a random measurement at an unspecified time after potentially differing meals/meal timing.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Can_Do_Gal wrote: »OP, if you're thinking of cutting sugar to reduce your blood sugar, you may want to look into the effect of Splenda, aspartame, etc on blood sugar. It's my understanding that they have no calories, but still raise blood sugar as much as sugar. Stevia, otoh, has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. I use stevia regularly, though not in baking. I think it's one of those things you need to get used to. I used to find it odd, but now it seems normal.
No they don't. Otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of very sick diabetics on our hands. Those of us who regularly test our blood sugars are acutely aware of the effects of various foods on blood sugar levels. Artificial sweeteners do nothing. Carbohydrates on the other hand, like potatoes, breads, and rice, oh my.
This isn't always true. I have several diabetics in my family. Two of them had to give up diet soda because it was spiking their blood sugar. The others can drink it just fine. I have no idea what makes the difference, but it doesn't work the same for everyone.
I'm assuming this is a diet soda consumed while fasted spike and not a random measurement at an unspecified time after potentially differing meals/meal timing.
I'm not sure what qualifies as "fasted", but yes, when they drink soda not as part of a meal.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Can_Do_Gal wrote: »OP, if you're thinking of cutting sugar to reduce your blood sugar, you may want to look into the effect of Splenda, aspartame, etc on blood sugar. It's my understanding that they have no calories, but still raise blood sugar as much as sugar. Stevia, otoh, has no calories and no effect on blood sugar. I use stevia regularly, though not in baking. I think it's one of those things you need to get used to. I used to find it odd, but now it seems normal.
No they don't. Otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of very sick diabetics on our hands. Those of us who regularly test our blood sugars are acutely aware of the effects of various foods on blood sugar levels. Artificial sweeteners do nothing. Carbohydrates on the other hand, like potatoes, breads, and rice, oh my.
This isn't always true. I have several diabetics in my family. Two of them had to give up diet soda because it was spiking their blood sugar. The others can drink it just fine. I have no idea what makes the difference, but it doesn't work the same for everyone.
How, exactly, can a basically metabolically inert substance like sucralose spike blood sugar? If that's possible, I'd love someone to explain the mechanism to me.
Um, that would have to be someone else. All I know is what the little meter shows. Also, I believe the soda (Diet Coke) was sweetened with aspartame.0
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