I'm going back to sugar.............

a little trick for your tea, my bf uses maple sirop. i'm not sure how many calories compares to white sugar, but at least its not refined and you actualy have some nutrient in it, so you dont have empty calories, only half a teaspoon is enough really and that is about 10 cal, no sure if it would go well in coffee, but maybe its worth a try.

may

I have to use sugar instead of artificial sweeteners, I was mostly using Splenda but like you it upset my stomach. :sick: The only thing I use artificial sweetener in is my diet pepsi.

I get the craving for more sugar with refined sugar, and with artificial sweeteners.

but, if I use honey, brown sugar or maple syrup, I find my sweet tooth is satisfied.

Just a suggestion. :flowerforyou:

I have thought about using honey in my tea, what type of honey do you use and how much for a cup of tea? What do you use the brown sugar and maple syrup on? Hope you don't mind me asking because I am very interested .:flowerforyou:

I use brown sugar in place of white sugar in everything. I try to find raw honey for tea and I use about a tsp. It's not super sweet, just enough. I have also heard that for honey, the darker the honey the more nutrients in it, but it's really trace amounts, so I don't worry too much. You can also use maple syrup in place of sugar in recipes. I've been subbing it cup for cup, but it's trickier, since it can change the texture.

Also, my current favorite treat is:

I cup of quartered strawberries
1 cup of plain lowfat yogurt
and about a tsp of honey drizzled over the top.

It feels like dessert. I always sweeten plain yogurt with honey, and sometimes for a treat, I put honey in my coffee. I had an Egyptian friend teach me this. Now Starbucks even has a "honey latte". I tried one, and they use some bizarre "honey flavoured syrup" and it was so sweet I couldn't even drink it. They were very nice, and made me a regular latte, which I put honey in myself. I was dumbfounded at how sweet it was! Truly undrinkable. Proof that you can wean yourself from sweets. (I used to put four tablespoons (yeah, you read that right) of sugar in my morning coffee. Now I don't use any usually.)

I like Agave - it's from the cactus plant, available at WF and the like. I sweeten my tea with juice - 1 oz or so (just a splash) - has the same number of calories as sugar. Never liked fake sweeteners.

I was checking out the pros and cons of Splenda since I posted but I think I will ask my daughter whose in grad school if her school has anybody working on it for a research project. Actually I will ask both daughters (they go to different colleges ) See if I can get someones opinion who actually works in their chemistry dept about it. I can't say I liked what I read but I really don't want to go back to sugar. So I would definately use brown sugar like Vivia. I don't really bake anymore and I ususally just put some on my cereal but then again if I don't get an answer that satisfies me I will opt out for honey in tea or since I live in Vermont I will use maple syrupin my cereal. I don't like the fact that there is chlorine in Splenda.

I like Agave - it's from the cactus plant, available at WF and the like. I sweeten my tea with juice - 1 oz or so (just a splash) - has the same number of calories as sugar. Never liked fake sweeteners.

Another natural sweetener that doesn't have any calories is Stevia. Stevia is an herb that is very sweet so you don't have to use much of it at all.

Stevia comes in powdered and liquid forms. I prefer the liquid form since it isn't so messy. Just 3 drops in my tea or coffee and I'm done. You can get it at health food stores.

How do they make stevia? And what is Agave nectar?

How do they make stevia? And what is Agave nectar?

Agave is from the agave cactus. Available in health food stores - similar to honey in texture.