Any and all artificial sweeteners put a 'spell' on me. I simply cannot use them.

Anyone else have problems with any 0 GI artificial sweeteners? I had a lot of success with keto back in 2017, fell off the wagon since, gained plus some, and here I am into week 7 today of very low carb, IF. I was doing a 24 hour fast last week, and decided to add different sweeteners like xylitol, and stevia to the teas I like to drink. Huge mistake. I noticed right away that they were causing me to be hungry during the whole fast. That never used to happen.

I did some research and lo and behold, I wasn't the only one. I guess being prediabetic doesn't help my case, and it was messing with my bg and insulin, even though it never showed more than a couple of points on the monitor. Like any bad habit, sugar addiction 'dun me in' from years of abuse and now I can't have even no calorie sweets. Then again, I do know better. I always did better last time once I gave up all things pretend sweet, and the weight fell off. I learned a hard lesson; to go with what works for me.

I noticed it also stalled my weight loss. No thanks. If I'm going to dedicate my time to a good fast, why would I want to compromise weight loss because I wanted a little sweet taste in my tea? I'm so angry at myself. I had done well up to now because I had gotten rid of the sweeteners in my life. I found some in the cupboard, used them, and regretted it. I think this will be a lesson learned. No carbs, and no fake sweets for me. Ugh, this is like quitting smoking(mentally). I went through a depression stage in the second month of quitting them, sort of like saying goodbye to an old friend that was actually trying to murder me. But I succeeded in quitting, luckily. Depression lifted and a sense of pride soon took it's place. I know I got this, just kind of sad the party's over. But, if I can quit smoking(almost one year!), I can do this as well. I enjoyed my fasts until I let this happen. Dagnabbit.

Replies

  • TheDevastator
    TheDevastator Posts: 1,626 Member
    I don't really use any sweeteners much. After going on the carnivore diet, sour cream and cream cheese seem sweet to me. I'm happy eating a lb. of pork sausage, bacon, or kielbasa in the morning with eggs and that's about all I eat in a day. If you crave sweets you probably are lacking some nutrients somewhere. Try magnesium supplementation and making sure you've had enough fats for the day.
  • katsoosweeps
    katsoosweeps Posts: 2 Member
    I think I knew better, and honestly I did it more out of curiosity than cravings. I mentally 'missed' the sweet, and thought it wouldn't hurt anything. I'm like my own human experiment with all this. And yes! cream cheese is sweet to me as well. I ate a couple sausage patties this morning with an egg, and coffee with some heavy cream. I'm still fine 10 hours later. I do take electrolytes every day, and sometimes I will suck on a pink salt rock. So far the only issues I had were some afib issues, those are gone now so I think I'm ok.
  • camtosh
    camtosh Posts: 898 Member
    I was just watching this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aRLsCpxy3o&list=PLmkVOa1Wra8XvfMDz6pzGbMRo1huyTxBt&index=8&ab_channel=JasonFung
    and he explains exactly what happened to you -- artificial sweeteners will make you feel hungry. Salt water is a good alternative during a fast. Or a broth cube in hot water might work. Good luck!
  • skinnyjingbb
    skinnyjingbb Posts: 127 Member
    I thinks in general artificial sweetener and empty stomach is bad combination. but it might be ok when consumed with food.
    I had no problem using them in keto bake goods that I have a little bit after meal, but adding to tea when fasting just increase my hunger.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    Anyone else have problems with any 0 GI artificial sweeteners? I had a lot of success with keto back in 2017, fell off the wagon since, gained plus some, and here I am into week 7 today of very low carb, IF. I was doing a 24 hour fast last week, and decided to add different sweeteners like xylitol, and stevia to the teas I like to drink. Huge mistake. I noticed right away that they were causing me to be hungry during the whole fast. That never used to happen.

    I did some research and lo and behold, I wasn't the only one. I guess being prediabetic doesn't help my case, and it was messing with my bg and insulin, even though it never showed more than a couple of points on the monitor. Like any bad habit, sugar addiction 'dun me in' from years of abuse and now I can't have even no calorie sweets. Then again, I do know better. I always did better last time once I gave up all things pretend sweet, and the weight fell off. I learned a hard lesson; to go with what works for me.

    I noticed it also stalled my weight loss. No thanks. If I'm going to dedicate my time to a good fast, why would I want to compromise weight loss because I wanted a little sweet taste in my tea? I'm so angry at myself. I had done well up to now because I had gotten rid of the sweeteners in my life. I found some in the cupboard, used them, and regretted it. I think this will be a lesson learned. No carbs, and no fake sweets for me. Ugh, this is like quitting smoking(mentally). I went through a depression stage in the second month of quitting them, sort of like saying goodbye to an old friend that was actually trying to murder me. But I succeeded in quitting, luckily. Depression lifted and a sense of pride soon took it's place. I know I got this, just kind of sad the party's over. But, if I can quit smoking(almost one year!), I can do this as well. I enjoyed my fasts until I let this happen. Dagnabbit.

    xylitol can definitely cause GI discomfort. Stevia is less likely, unless it's binded with maltodextrin. But a zero calorie sweetener will not stop weight loss. You could always try different ones. I drink diet sodas daily and caffeine is generally an appetite suppressant.

    The question is, how often are your fast? What are your stats? I know the leaner I get, the hungrier I am. It's a natural response. As you get leaner, ghrelin (hunger hormone) will increase and leptin (fat burning hormone) will decrease. It's a reaction to calorie reduction.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 7,018 Member
    edited February 2021
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Anyone else have problems with any 0 GI artificial sweeteners? I had a lot of success with keto back in 2017, fell off the wagon since, gained plus some, and here I am into week 7 today of very low carb, IF. I was doing a 24 hour fast last week, and decided to add different sweeteners like xylitol, and stevia to the teas I like to drink. Huge mistake. I noticed right away that they were causing me to be hungry during the whole fast. That never used to happen.

    I did some research and lo and behold, I wasn't the only one. I guess being prediabetic doesn't help my case, and it was messing with my bg and insulin, even though it never showed more than a couple of points on the monitor. Like any bad habit, sugar addiction 'dun me in' from years of abuse and now I can't have even no calorie sweets. Then again, I do know better. I always did better last time once I gave up all things pretend sweet, and the weight fell off. I learned a hard lesson; to go with what works for me.

    I noticed it also stalled my weight loss. No thanks. If I'm going to dedicate my time to a good fast, why would I want to compromise weight loss because I wanted a little sweet taste in my tea? I'm so angry at myself. I had done well up to now because I had gotten rid of the sweeteners in my life. I found some in the cupboard, used them, and regretted it. I think this will be a lesson learned. No carbs, and no fake sweets for me. Ugh, this is like quitting smoking(mentally). I went through a depression stage in the second month of quitting them, sort of like saying goodbye to an old friend that was actually trying to murder me. But I succeeded in quitting, luckily. Depression lifted and a sense of pride soon took it's place. I know I got this, just kind of sad the party's over. But, if I can quit smoking(almost one year!), I can do this as well. I enjoyed my fasts until I let this happen. Dagnabbit.

    xylitol can definitely cause GI discomfort. Stevia is less likely, unless it's binded with maltodextrin. But a zero calorie sweetener will not stop weight loss. You could always try different ones. I drink diet sodas daily and caffeine is generally an appetite suppressant.

    The question is, how often are your fast? What are your stats? I know the leaner I get, the hungrier I am. It's a natural response. As you get leaner, ghrelin (hunger hormone) will increase and leptin (fat burning hormone) will decrease. It's a reaction to calorie reduction.

    Hear, hear!
    It can get annoying at times for sure.

    @katsoosweeps I wouldn't get mad at myself. Successful weight loss is one that is sustainable and customized to you and your needs. We try different things. Sometimes they work for us, and sometimes they hinder us. As long as you keep moving forward and learning, you're doing fine. Just a note though, like psulemon said, that not all sweeteners are created equal, so you may try different ones. There's a million. I personally use pure sucralose powder that I make into my own liquid-drop version for my coffee and tea. I have used a stevia, erythritol blend called Pyure in the past and it's a powder/granular formulation. As psulemon mentioned, sweetener in and of itself is not going to stop weight loss. Change in habits (eating too much and loosey-gooset bad habits like taking BLTs-bites licks and tastes and not logging them) or weird water retention can make it appear that you are stalled. Which is SOOOOOOO AGGRAVATING, but just requires patience, of which we all are short on supply for sure.

    Forgive my rambling, I haven't yet finished my first cuppa joe yet. :smirk: HTH.
  • Sunny_Bunny_
    Sunny_Bunny_ Posts: 7,140 Member
    The problem I’ve noticed in myself throughout the 6 years I’ve been low carb is that sweeteners of any kind seem to increase hunger. I’ve completely quit them 100 times and every time I decide to have a little again it slowly creeps back in to being a daily staple. With the hunger, I overeat and weight starts to come back.
  • SFFirebird
    SFFirebird Posts: 21 Member
    i seem to be allergic to all artificial sweeteners. Allergy to ragweed and related plants: Stevia is in the Asteraceae/Compositae plant family. This family includes ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, daisies, and many other plants. In theory, people who are sensitive to ragweed and related plants may also be sensitive to stevia.
  • flatcoatedR
    flatcoatedR Posts: 173 Member
    So far I have not notice any of the diet sweetners affecting my weight loss (6 mths with no stalls), making me hungry, or spiking my insulin. If my weight-loss does start slowing down, this will be the first thing I will look into. That being said, I know they are very unhealthy and I need to start eliminating them from my eating.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,428 MFP Moderator
    So far I have not notice any of the diet sweetners affecting my weight loss (6 mths with no stalls), making me hungry, or spiking my insulin. If my weight-loss does start slowing down, this will be the first thing I will look into. That being said, I know they are very unhealthy and I need to start eliminating them from my eating.

    If you have a weight loss stall, the first thing you should look at is calories. Sweeteners have zero impact on fat loss. And they aren't unhealthy. At worst, its neutral.
  • baconslave
    baconslave Posts: 7,018 Member
    edited June 2021
    psuLemon wrote: »
    So far I have not notice any of the diet sweetners affecting my weight loss (6 mths with no stalls), making me hungry, or spiking my insulin. If my weight-loss does start slowing down, this will be the first thing I will look into. That being said, I know they are very unhealthy and I need to start eliminating them from my eating.

    If you have a weight loss stall, the first thing you should look at is calories. Sweeteners have zero impact on fat loss. And they aren't unhealthy. At worst, its neutral.

    Yep. :+1:



    Sweeteners can sometimes make some people crave more carbs or feel snacky more often, but that just results in you eating more calories if you are being a little too loosey-goosey. All the more reason to log properly (or keep a close eye on portion sizes if that is your method.)

    Diet sodas and liquid sucralose help keep me compliant b/c if I get things I like from time to time, then I can make the necessary sacrifices to keep calories down where they need to be to lose.
  • lketty
    lketty Posts: 9 Member
    If you quit smoking (congrats btw) you can definitely kick sweets.

    I believe you can do it :)
  • Chanda7799
    Chanda7799 Posts: 20 Member
    I use organic stevia powder with no other sweeteners in it and I can handle it during a fast.
  • g2renew
    g2renew Posts: 155 Member
    Artificial sweeteners make me hungrier than i feel i should be.

    For me, real stuff in small amounts works best. I try to get most of my sweet fix via fruits, veg, nuts, but sometimes real chocolate, ice cream, etc.