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Sugar or Sweetener?
iona_ellen
Posts: 138 Member
My mum is (I suppose you could say) very against sweetener whereas I am all for it. But to be honest I'm not sure why....
Which do you think is a better option & why?
Which do you think is a better option & why?
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Replies
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Either.2
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I love both. The sweetener in my coffee keeps my calories lower so I can have ice cream.8
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Sweetener. 100% Sugar affects blood glucose, can cause inflammation in those with health issues and isn't good for CAD. That's most people. If you want a treat, especially if it is one to share, it is MUCH safer to go with a sweetener.
I realize the taste is different but it just requires some getting used to. The people i know who grew up on no sugar added diets tend to enjoy the taste as much as others enjoy sugar, and they avoid the health risks (if you don't believe the rumors about current available sweeteners). It's just a matter of what you are used to.
The downside of sweeteners would be cost. They cost more than sugar.1 -
Both are good options for different things.
Sugar when I want the energy, sweetener when I don't.3 -
Sugar. I love sugar.3
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So situational. Taste for taste, I prefer sugar. I generally don't add much sugar to my food or drinks though0
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I use Stevia myself, have been using for 12 years. There was an after taste, but became accustom to it very quick and now I can't use sugar in my coffee or tea. However, if I had to choose between sugar and sweetener, sugar for sure!0
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I prefer sugar in my coffee because I haven't found a sweetener that I like the taste of.2
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So when you are unsure of your stance on a subject, @iona_ellen , do you typically poll the Internet to get clarity?
My experience with Internet polling is greater confusion, not less.
Sugar is higher in calories obviously, and is a problem for diabetics.
Some people are concerned about the artificial nature of sweeteners. After I reviewed the studies for and against, I have concluded they are Generally Regarded as Safe (GRAS) for a reason. They are safe.
Since calories can add up quickly in drinks, I stick to artificial sweeteners in my water and my sodas.
I add sugar to my baking and is absolutely required for home-made bread.5 -
I go with sugar or honey to help save the bees.1
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whichever one fits for your goals...3
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I use honey or maple syrup to make things more sweet and for desserts I. Try to use recipes with dates to satisfy my sweet tooth1
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I add sugar to my baking and is absolutely required for home-made bread.
It's essential to have food for yeast in any bread. Homemade or not. You could feed the baker's yeast fructose or glucose or some other sugar, but my understanding is that baker's yeast simply loves sucrose. Not all yeasts, or even all strains of that particular species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, love sucrose so much, and this relationship is no doubt why most leavened breads use that strain of yeast and have used sugar for as long as they've been around.
I laugh whenever I see "sugar" listed as an ingredient in most breads, because of course most of the sugar is consumed by the yeast. They eat the sugar, poop out carbon dioxide, and die when you bake, leaving lovely holes all over the place. So the ingredient "sugar" really, technically, should be "dead yeast and air holes."
As for me, I prefer the taste of sucrose (table sugar) to pretty much any other sweetener. There are some things I enjoy honey on, such as toast (sugar + cinnamon is a nice treat too, though). As I dislike drinking my calories, I switched to artificially-sweetened and unsweetened beverages many years ago, though. I don't mind aspartame, I've gotten used to it, although it seemed very odd to me at first. I find the aftertaste of both saccharine and sucralose to be quite unpleasant and have never gotten used to either. Particularly sucralose, which I can identify with the first taste of any food or beverage.
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I avoid sugar completely. I'm a little more open to artificial sweeteners--probably since I grew up around them with family with type 1 diabetics. However, don't think that no calories means no consequences. They don't help with weight loss. I would use sparingly.0
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I avoid sugar completely. I'm a little more open to artificial sweeteners--probably since I grew up around them with family with type 1 diabetics. However, don't think that no calories means no consequences. They don't help with weight loss. I would use sparingly.
I don't agree with the no/low calorie sweeteners not helping with weight loss because they can help keep calories lower depending on how much you use. For example, pop. Diet vs regular. You save a lot of calories by choosing diet over regular. I prefer not to drink my calories, but when I occasionally have pop, it is diet. I use both stevia and sugar depending on the use. I agree with using both sparingly.
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snowflake930 wrote: »I avoid sugar completely. I'm a little more open to artificial sweeteners--probably since I grew up around them with family with type 1 diabetics. However, don't think that no calories means no consequences. They don't help with weight loss. I would use sparingly.
I don't agree with the no/low calorie sweeteners not helping with weight loss because they can help keep calories lower depending on how much you use. For example, pop. Diet vs regular. You save a lot of calories by choosing diet over regular. I prefer not to drink my calories, but when I occasionally have pop, it is diet. I use both stevia and sugar depending on the use. I agree with using both sparingly.
To clarify, they don't help unless you are replacing sugar. Although they won't increase blood sugar, they still stimulate an insulin response, which drives hunger.1 -
If I'm drinking a sweetened drink it's going to be sweetened with a no calorie sweetener. But for most other things I usually prefer some type of sugar.0
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snowflake930 wrote: »I avoid sugar completely. I'm a little more open to artificial sweeteners--probably since I grew up around them with family with type 1 diabetics. However, don't think that no calories means no consequences. They don't help with weight loss. I would use sparingly.
I don't agree with the no/low calorie sweeteners not helping with weight loss because they can help keep calories lower depending on how much you use. For example, pop. Diet vs regular. You save a lot of calories by choosing diet over regular. I prefer not to drink my calories, but when I occasionally have pop, it is diet. I use both stevia and sugar depending on the use. I agree with using both sparingly.
To clarify, they don't help unless you are replacing sugar. Although they won't increase blood sugar, they still stimulate an insulin response, which drives hunger.
And another thing you're demonstrably wrong about.
http://examine.com/faq/do-artificial-sweeteners-spike-insulin/6 -
I avoid sugar completely. I'm a little more open to artificial sweeteners--probably since I grew up around them with family with type 1 diabetics. However, don't think that no calories means no consequences. They don't help with weight loss. I would use sparingly.
so no bread, vegetables, etc?2 -
snowflake930 wrote: »I avoid sugar completely. I'm a little more open to artificial sweeteners--probably since I grew up around them with family with type 1 diabetics. However, don't think that no calories means no consequences. They don't help with weight loss. I would use sparingly.
I don't agree with the no/low calorie sweeteners not helping with weight loss because they can help keep calories lower depending on how much you use. For example, pop. Diet vs regular. You save a lot of calories by choosing diet over regular. I prefer not to drink my calories, but when I occasionally have pop, it is diet. I use both stevia and sugar depending on the use. I agree with using both sparingly.
To clarify, they don't help unless you are replacing sugar. Although they won't increase blood sugar, they still stimulate an insulin response, which drives hunger.
wrong..1 -
Artificial sweetners increase cravings for sweet:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/pdf/yjbm_83_2_101.pdf
This study followed 62 overweight women trying to lose weight who regularly drank diet beverages. Half the women were randomized to start drinking water instead, the other half continued drinking diet beverages (one small drink five days a week) for 24 weeks. The women who switched to water lost significantly more weight. The water group also improved their fasting insulin, signs of insulin resistance and their glucose tolerance, compared to the diet drinks group.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26537940
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/09/18/could-artificial-sweeteners-be-contributing-to-the-obesity-crisis/#465faec65dbf3 -
Artificial sweetners increase cravings for sweet:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/pdf/yjbm_83_2_101.pdf
This study followed 62 overweight women trying to lose weight who regularly drank diet beverages. Half the women were randomized to start drinking water instead, the other half continued drinking diet beverages (one small drink five days a week) for 24 weeks. The women who switched to water lost significantly more weight. The water group also improved their fasting insulin, signs of insulin resistance and their glucose tolerance, compared to the diet drinks group.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26537940
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/09/18/could-artificial-sweeteners-be-contributing-to-the-obesity-crisis/#465faec65dbf
you are moving hte goalposts from your origial post..
insulin does not drive hunger...
I don't need to read the study to know that they lost weight when they switched to water because they were giving up calorie dense things for less calorie dense things...its not complicated...
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Artificial sweetners increase cravings for sweet:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/pdf/yjbm_83_2_101.pdf
This study followed 62 overweight women trying to lose weight who regularly drank diet beverages. Half the women were randomized to start drinking water instead, the other half continued drinking diet beverages (one small drink five days a week) for 24 weeks. The women who switched to water lost significantly more weight. The water group also improved their fasting insulin, signs of insulin resistance and their glucose tolerance, compared to the diet drinks group.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26537940
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/09/18/could-artificial-sweeteners-be-contributing-to-the-obesity-crisis/#465faec65dbf
you are moving hte goalposts from your origial post..
insulin does not drive hunger...
I don't need to read the study to know that they lost weight when they switched to water because they were giving up calorie dense things for less calorie dense things...its not complicated...
Giving up diet coke for water is not "giving up calorie dense things for less calorie dense things."
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Artificial sweetners increase cravings for sweet:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/pdf/yjbm_83_2_101.pdf
This study followed 62 overweight women trying to lose weight who regularly drank diet beverages. Half the women were randomized to start drinking water instead, the other half continued drinking diet beverages (one small drink five days a week) for 24 weeks. The women who switched to water lost significantly more weight. The water group also improved their fasting insulin, signs of insulin resistance and their glucose tolerance, compared to the diet drinks group.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26537940
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/09/18/could-artificial-sweeteners-be-contributing-to-the-obesity-crisis/#465faec65dbf
you are moving hte goalposts from your origial post..
insulin does not drive hunger...
I don't need to read the study to know that they lost weight when they switched to water because they were giving up calorie dense things for less calorie dense things...its not complicated...
Giving up diet coke for water is not "giving up calorie dense things for less calorie dense things."
never said that it was..
i said they lost weight by lowering calorie intake; i.e. giving up calorie dense foods...1 -
I prefer sweetener, but that is only because it is a 0 calorie. I don't use much of it either. Usually I don't even use the whole packet and I only put it in my coffee or on my grits. I do prefer the taste of raw sugar, but don't want the extra calories.0
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@tomteboda lol @ "dead yeast air holes".2
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stevia, or raw local honey1
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I still use sugar, just a little in my coffee. I also use monk fruit as well as SugaVida.0
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I don't drink things like soda often, but when I do I sure am NOT going to consume my calories in a drink, so I'll go with the artificial sweetener. Even for something like an iced coffee, if I couldn't get it made with sweetener, I'd choose to go without it completely rather than "waste" my calories.
Artificial sweeteners don't increase my cravings (as it's claimed to do for some people). If anything, when I'm on a cut, it can prevent me from snacking in the evening.
I've lost 100 lbs consuming artificial sweeteners, so I don't believe people when they claim it causes weight gain (just because of my own experience with it).4 -
Artificial sweetners increase cravings for sweet:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2892765/pdf/yjbm_83_2_101.pdf
This study followed 62 overweight women trying to lose weight who regularly drank diet beverages. Half the women were randomized to start drinking water instead, the other half continued drinking diet beverages (one small drink five days a week) for 24 weeks. The women who switched to water lost significantly more weight. The water group also improved their fasting insulin, signs of insulin resistance and their glucose tolerance, compared to the diet drinks group.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26537940
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2014/09/18/could-artificial-sweeteners-be-contributing-to-the-obesity-crisis/#465faec65dbf
you are moving hte goalposts from your origial post..
insulin does not drive hunger...
I don't need to read the study to know that they lost weight when they switched to water because they were giving up calorie dense things for less calorie dense things...its not complicated...
Giving up diet coke for water is not "giving up calorie dense things for less calorie dense things."
never said that it was..
i said they lost weight by lowering calorie intake; i.e. giving up calorie dense foods...
How does that suggest that insulin doesn't "stimulate an insulin response, which drives hunger" (the original goal post)?1
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