Artificial Sweeteners - Revisited
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Yeah, I can't eat any amount of sugar alcohols without side effects but aspartame is fine.0
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So, how much had you lost, and have you adjusted your calories down to compensate? If you're getting close to your goal weight, errors in logging have more of an effect because you have less leeway. Have you tried tightening that up yet?
Personally, I have no similar experience with artificial sweeteners. Granted, I don't use anywhere close to the number you do. I'm more on the lines of 5 max per day.
I think you'd have better luck following the weight loss flow chart that gets posted all of the time rather than cutting out the sweetener. Unless doing that causes you to cut cals as well.0 -
chelsea7162 wrote: »I don't hate sugar free foods as when it comes to soda or sweets, the empty calories and carbs are unnecessary and if you have to have soda it's better to get diet. I just think sugar alcohols are terrible. Not because they're bad for you or whatever, it just sucks being around someone who just consumed many grams sugar alcohols. Sugar free gummies and road trips don't mix
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So, how much had you lost, and have you adjusted your calories down to compensate? If you're getting close to your goal weight, errors in logging have more of an effect because you have less leeway. Have you tried tightening that up yet?
Personally, I have no similar experience with artificial sweeteners. Granted, I don't use anywhere close to the number you do. I'm more on the lines of 5 max per day.
I think you'd have better luck following the weight loss flow chart that gets posted all of the time rather than cutting out the sweetener. Unless doing that causes you to cut cals as well.
When everything came to a halt I had reached my halfway point. I'm 5'6", 45 yrs old, started at 202 and am sitting at 175. My goal is 145. Just last week I adjusted from 1200 calories a day to 1100 and I'm trying to stay as close to that as possible without going over. I track 95% of everything I eat, good or bad because accuracy is what counts in the long run. I was eating some of my exercise calories back and have decided to only do that on rare occasion and only half of them at the most. I was also eye-balling stuff and went back to straight measuring but I also wanted to make sure I was covering all bases so I did the artificial sweetener research and found lots of differing opinions on it. That's why I started the thread so I could see what others had to say on it. I meal prep every day and know exactly what I'm eating and at what time and of what and that hasn't changed since September unless we have an occasional night out, birthday or holiday. I mean we have to have a life while on this journey since its marathon and not a sprint, right? ;-) I have not been measuring regularly when it came to my liquids so I've started that back so that I can maybe see results there instead. I'm happy with how I'm starting to look and extremely ecstatic about how I feel so those are successes in and of themselves :-)
Just yesterday I went to the dr and after she took my pulse and blood pressure she commented, "Wow, you're going to live forever!" and smiled. THAT made all of my work worth it at that moment
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Sucralose (Splenda) also comes from a plant (sugar)... does that make it "good" for me?
It doesn't. It isn't bad for me either, though. It just tastes good and then passes right through without anything "good" or "bad" being digested from it (sugar molecule is modified to make it undigested).0 -
Aspartame is the only artificial sweetener that doesn't make me sick. Agave has been the worst (severe gastric distress).0
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midwesterner85 wrote: »Sucralose (Splenda) also comes from a plant (sugar)... does that make it "good" for me?
It doesn't. It isn't bad for me either, though. It just tastes good and then passes right through without anything "good" or "bad" being digested from it (sugar molecule is modified to make it undigested).
The chlorine gas used to make sucralose comes from a plant too, a chemical plant.0 -
midwesterner85 wrote: »Sucralose (Splenda) also comes from a plant (sugar)... does that make it "good" for me?
It doesn't. It isn't bad for me either, though. It just tastes good and then passes right through without anything "good" or "bad" being digested from it (sugar molecule is modified to make it undigested).
The chlorine gas used to make sucralose comes from a plant too, a chemical plant.
If you are trying to scare me about chlorine in sucralose, that isn't going to work since there is chlorine in almost everything I eat and drink. Often, that chlorine is mixed with sodium to produce a sodium chloride molecule. Some people even keep bottles of this stuff around to sprinkle on food for taste.0 -
Everyone's body chemistry is different and some people should NOT consume them (like me). However, it can take a long time to realize it. Two of my GI doctors and a GI surgeon told me that anyone with IBS or IBD should not ever have artificial sweeteners because it reduces the good intestinal flora over time. Sometimes, I wonder if that played a factor in my ulcerative colitis (half a lifetime of using Equal) ...
If your weight loss has stalled but you are still on target with exercise and properly logging food, why not take the artificial sweeteners out of the equation, give it a week or two and see where things stand? It doesn't hurt anything ... some people can consume them for years without issue but others cannot. It could be outside influences stalling weight loss including stress and even nasal allergies (my doc told me this one - weird and not sure exactly how that plays out).0 -
Artificial sweetener tastes metallic to me--awful! I can taste even small amounts and it ruins the food for me. Anyone else?0
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keepupwithjack wrote: »Artificial sweetener tastes metallic to me--awful! I can taste even small amounts and it ruins the food for me. Anyone else?
Kind of depends on the sweetener - and the food, for that matter. I never did get used to sugar free chocolate, for instance. Diet Pepsi is also pretty foul to me (especially after they changed it). Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper, however, is one of my favorite drinks. I find I actually hold it equal to original Dr. Pepper.0 -
So, how much had you lost, and have you adjusted your calories down to compensate? If you're getting close to your goal weight, errors in logging have more of an effect because you have less leeway. Have you tried tightening that up yet?
Personally, I have no similar experience with artificial sweeteners. Granted, I don't use anywhere close to the number you do. I'm more on the lines of 5 max per day.
I think you'd have better luck following the weight loss flow chart that gets posted all of the time rather than cutting out the sweetener. Unless doing that causes you to cut cals as well.
When everything came to a halt I had reached my halfway point. I'm 5'6", 45 yrs old, started at 202 and am sitting at 175. My goal is 145. Just last week I adjusted from 1200 calories a day to 1100 and I'm trying to stay as close to that as possible without going over. I track 95% of everything I eat, good or bad because accuracy is what counts in the long run. I was eating some of my exercise calories back and have decided to only do that on rare occasion and only half of them at the most. I was also eye-balling stuff and went back to straight measuring but I also wanted to make sure I was covering all bases so I did the artificial sweetener research and found lots of differing opinions on it. That's why I started the thread so I could see what others had to say on it. I meal prep every day and know exactly what I'm eating and at what time and of what and that hasn't changed since September unless we have an occasional night out, birthday or holiday. I mean we have to have a life while on this journey since its marathon and not a sprint, right? ;-) I have not been measuring regularly when it came to my liquids so I've started that back so that I can maybe see results there instead. I'm happy with how I'm starting to look and extremely ecstatic about how I feel so those are successes in and of themselves :-)
Just yesterday I went to the dr and after she took my pulse and blood pressure she commented, "Wow, you're going to live forever!" and smiled. THAT made all of my work worth it at that moment
So you don't track everything you consume. That is a problem as that 5% if it is calorie dense can make a big difference.
When you say you now are measuring, how are you doing that? Are you using cups and measuring spoons, or are you using a kitchen scale for solids (including grated [cheese] and ground ones [nut butters]) and the measuring cups and spoons for liquids.0 -
keepupwithjack wrote: »Artificial sweetener tastes metallic to me--awful! I can taste even small amounts and it ruins the food for me. Anyone else?
Yep, me too. I avoid them at all costs.
OP I have read many posts from people who's bodies just do not handle artificial sweeteners well, and once they cut them out their weight started going down again.
Some folks can eat bucket loads of the stuff and be just fine, others just can not. I would be very interested to hear how you go after a few weeks of cutting out the AS.0 -
Christine_72 wrote: »keepupwithjack wrote: »Artificial sweetener tastes metallic to me--awful! I can taste even small amounts and it ruins the food for me. Anyone else?
Yep, me too. I avoid them at all costs.
OP I have read many posts from people who's bodies just do not handle artificial sweeteners well, and once they cut them out their weight started going down again.
Some folks can eat bucket loads of the stuff and be just fine, others just can not. I would be very interested to hear how you go after a few weeks of cutting out the AS.
I guess it could be the sweeteners, or it could be only logging 95% of what is consumed, and other tracking errors.0 -
When I was recovering from the worst UC flare ever, I tried drinking hot tea sweetened with equal just as I had in the past. I lived in the bathroom for several days after. I have not knowingly ingested any artificial sweeteners for at least 8-9 years. If I have intestinal upset, I immediately take an inventory of what I have consumed. Most of the time, it has been from something with hidden artificial sweeteners. Sugar alcohols are not much better for me either.
After being off artificial sweeteners a while, I noticed that certain foods tasted different. For a long while, I thought the fruit and veggies I bought were just not flavorful but I started realizing that apples tasted better and I could eat blueberries without any sweetener.0 -
Personally, I use Splenda. I've tried stevia but I find it disgusting. I can not let myself have 3 spoons of sugar in the morning and 3 at night with tea or coffee. That's just too much at once.
But what I wanted to say is the "article" is not peer reviewed. It's not in a science or nutrition journal. It's not cited or anything. Merely claims meant to scare you. I've heard people saying aspartame makes you blind (which I highly doubt) but I'd rather be blind without diabetes than get diabetes and go blind and deal with other medical issues as I have insulin resistance and PCOS so it won't take much to get me there. I hope this doesn't reply to anyone in particular lol0
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