I'm looking to reduce my sugar intake. I drink mostly water and tea and I like having my tea sweetened a little.

I hear so many varied opinions on the different artificial sweeteners. I was told that some of them cause cancer which scared me away from trying any. But I don't know if that's just bullshit. I've tried some that have a really funny aftertaste. Like I can't even drink a diet soda, it's nasty to me.

I've heard some good things about Stevia. Do you guys have any thoughts on whether there is any danger to using these frakenfood sweeteners?

There is plenty of science that shows they are not good.

My opinion is avoid sweeteners (natural or artificial).

As far as ones like Stevia, they have been show to jack your blood sugar and up your Diabetes risk the same as other sweeteners. I can't remember the specifics but I believe Stevia has been implicated in other side-effects.

Aspartame has been show to be neurotoxic. Some studies also show aspartame is a carcinogen.

My personal opinion, verified with my own eyes is that sugar and sweeteners generally are a major factor in pre-mature aging, and degrading fitness.

If you enjoy a sweetened tea, I'd stick to a little bit of honey, which is still a sweetener, but is as natural as it gets... made by f'ing insects.

Agree with CEO: I used to drink artificial sweeteners quite a bit and found they made me anxious and scatter brained. The research on the stuff is the tip of the iceburg with a lot of unknowns. When there's big money to be made (artificial sweeteners are on every table in every restaurant in America), I wouldn't trust the FDA. The adage "If your great grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it" holds true.

I made a thread about this once. Aspartame is bad shit.

Speak why don't you give local honey a whirl. It's allergy season and it's supposed to help with that as well.

I took a nutrition class in university and for one week we examined artificial sweeteners, most if not all types. I don't remember too much of it though.

The consensus was that generally, they are not too good. Although some may be indeed good for you (If I remember correctly, stevia was one).

Most if not all sweeteners claim to be low/no calorie, which is actually blatantly false for a lot of them. Even if they don't contain the same amount of calories as sugars, they are still caloric and do provoke a spike in your blood glucose.

Can someone speak about flavored water like fruit water? How about those sugar free mixers like crystal light and mio?

if you eliminate sugar/sweeteners, your brain stops craving it.

Kind of like No Fap

So... after a while of not eating this crap, you will have much improved willpower.
For instance at a party, people will be ravenously downing desserts and you will be able to politely decline because it truly doesn't interest you, or it may even seem disgusting.

Like I said, though, I don't think a bit honey now and then is a problem, and arguably like El Mech. said, may have some healthy properties.

Personally, I eat fruit when I want something sweet.

I avoid all artificial sweeteners. They're processed foods and science will kill you. However, ALL sweeteners, natural or processed should be used with moderation. To flavor water, I infuse with lemons/limes, cucumbers, and green tea. I drink my coffee black, eat pussy wet, drink my liquors neat over ice, and if the recipe asks for sugar, I substitute with hot sauce.

In the last few weeks of cooking at home and avoiding sugar (and processed/prepared) foods I look and feel 10x better. Inflammation has gone down, weight dropped, energy levels are up exponentially, and my pecker looks like a kickstand 1st thing in the morning.

edit- When you look at the back of food packages and realize how much sugar/high fructose corn syrup we ingest as it is, then it's a no brainer to cut back as much as we can just by not adding anymore.

It isn't necessarily true you will stop craving sugar/sweets if you stop eating them. I went cold turkey off of the stuff two years ago for a couple of months. I had a bad relapse.

Bro the FDA says artificial sweeteners are oooo'kay. An they wouldn't do anything to jeopardize your health.

If natural sugar ain't good for you, I can't imagine that artificial sugar is any better.

But most of your paleo grass fed beef is sitting in polystyrene foam covered with plastic.
Coke from a plastic bottle tastes different than coke from a metal can.
Beer tastes different from cans versus glass bottles.
You inhale volatile hydrocarbons emanating from the gas you put in your tank and the carpets that line your work space.
Your skin is typically in constant contact with synthetic fibers or natural fibers treated with harsh chemicals.

WIA

All I know is when I do a 3 or 4 day no carb diet ala South Beach, I use Stevia and haven't had any problems. I get the same bloat loss and can have a lemonade when I'm really craving a beer. I will say that it only really works as a drink sweetener. It's only OK in oatmeal. However, it's now my favorite way to sweeten home made iced tea and lemonade. I will flat out pick it over sugar.

Honey and real sugar are the best (and healthiest, especially honey) sweeteners. They're also natural. Artificial sweeteners are shit synthesized in a laboratory and are bad for you, yes.

Are there any artificial sweeteners that aren't insulogenic?

Quote: (04-12-2015 03:42 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  

I'm looking to reduce my sugar intake. I drink mostly water and tea and I like having my tea sweetened a little.

I hear so many varied opinions on the different artificial sweeteners. I was told that some of them cause cancer which scared me away from trying any. But I don't know if that's just bullshit. I've tried some that have a really funny aftertaste. Like I can't even drink a diet soda, it's nasty to me.

I've heard some good things about Stevia. Do you guys have any thoughts on whether there is any danger to using these frakenfood sweeteners?

I try to limit sugar wherever I can. I take Stevia with my coffee, which I like dark and sweet, like my ladies (not really; but maybe once in a while...).

The thing to remember with Stevia products is they are not all created equally. A lot of them are packed with fructose and other types of sugar, which defeats the purpose of a sugar substitute. The Truvia brand is pretty good, but avoid the Stevia in the Raw - hardly any actual Stevia in that.

I remember in the 80s Sweet N Low (pink packet) had a cancer in lab rats warning that disappeared in the 90s, guess the check to the FDA must have cleared by then.

Yeah, I remember that about saccharin -- they had to revise the claims of cancer when it was revealed rats got it when they consumed 600 times the human dose. Still tastes like shit even if it is relatively safe.

Technically, and scientifically, there's nothing wrong with artificial sweeteners. There is no evidence that it does any actual harm to your body, including in the long term. If you want to avoid them that's your choice and I respect it, but I hate it when people are paranoid for no reason. There are 2 things they still do:

1) still jacks your insulin level. This is because your body thinks it's still getting actual sugar, when it's not, and this fact may make you feel uncomfortable.
2) it does still damage your teeth as well. Not sure how much one cares about this

Personally I am by default primal diet, and in the mornings I eat sugar-free jam, diet coke, etc. but don't overanalyze it. Also, if you work out / jog, it's fine to ingest sugar right before/after the exercise.
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Quote: (04-13-2015 11:12 AM)Cyclone Wrote:  

Technically, and scientifically, there's nothing wrong with artificial sweeteners. There is no evidence that it does any actual harm to your body, including in the long term. If you want to avoid them that's your choice and I respect it, but I hate it when people are paranoid for no reason. There are 2 things they still do:

1) still jacks your insulin level. This is because your body thinks it's still getting actual sugar, when it's not, and this fact may make you feel uncomfortable.
2) it does still damage your teeth as well. Not sure how much one cares about this

Personally I am by default primal diet, and in the mornings I eat sugar-free jam, diet coke, etc. but don't overanalyze it. Also, if you work out / jog, it's fine to ingest sugar right before/after the exercise.
.

I don't think peoples fear of artificial sweeteners are for no reason what so ever.

I know personally that I don't do well with Sucralose. When I got to Peru I could only find Whey Protein and Amino acids sweetened with Sucralose. Back in the states I used all natural supplements sweetened with Stevia. With in 3 days of taking the protein and aminos I started getting headaches like I was hung over even though I was not drinking alcohol. On the 5th day of taking them I woke up with a sharp pain in my my neck. I googled the shit out of it and there are plenty of other people that had the same symptoms when they added artificial sweeteners to their diet. Granted I'm sure it doesn't effect everyone this way but it certainly did effect me in this manner and as soon as I stopped taking these supplements I didn't have any more problems.

My ex LTR was a registered nurse at the local hospital and a younger man in his 20s came into the hospital and was diagnosed with MS (multiple sclerosis)
After 4 months treatments were not doing what they were supposed to and he was still having some odd symptoms.... The dug a little deeper and found out he switched to diet soda to lose weight an was drinking 4 a day. They had him stop and with in a month all his symptoms were gone.... For certain people it can fuck with your nervous system. An even if you dont get the severe symptoms do you really think its good for you?

Its up to you to decide for yourself whether or not you want to ingest fake sugars.... But to completely write it off as healthy and tell people they are crazy for thinking other wise is irresponsible.

Look around you... in my small hometown in the USA everyone was fat and sick looking and miserable.... They eat nothing but fake foods and sugars and I truly dont think that its all one big coincidence.

Stick to honey and maple syrup. Maple syrup is pretty nutrient rich in relation to its volume.

Both of them are still sugar though, best in moderation. I like putting a tablespoon of maple syrup in my bullet coffee. For tea I would sweeten with honey (though I don't sweeten my tea, usually because I get fancy Chinese shit that you wouldn't want to adulterate with other flavors)

Try eating a small square of dark chocolate (usually the darker the chocolate bar, the less sugar) with green tea. It's a pretty amazing combination.

Any other time I crave sugar (which is often) I stick to fresh or dried fruit.

I don't like artificial sweeteners for the same reason I don't like processed foods. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth (yuk yuk yuk).

OP instead of using white sugar have you considered using turbinado sugar? It's less processed than white sugar and has part of the plant husk on the crystal which slows down digestion unlike white sugar which gets absorbed super fast. You might have better luck with this.

My attitude is if I can go with something natural vs something checmical I'll always pick natural. Even if sugar isn't super healthy for you, how much are you really using in your tea? Unless you like southern sweet tea in which case its like 8 cups of sugar per batch lol as my neighbor from Georgia used to make it. If your just talking ice tea or sun tea don't need much.

Even if you like sugar, personally speaking I'll eat real sugar all day over fake sweetener even if it does have more calories, who knows what chemicals are in artificial sweeteners.

I have heard from numerous sources artificial coffee creamers are like the worst thing you could possibly ingest.

Alot of this stuff is new as well, who knows longterm effects. I know they say that sivia or stivia stuff is all natural though I've never really looked into it.

I also read that Splenda can cause digestive problems.

Quote: (04-12-2015 05:39 PM)The_CEO Wrote:  

As far as ones like Stevia, they have been show to jack your blood sugar and up your Diabetes risk the same as other sweeteners.

Stevia lowers blood sugar and is generally good for you - http://www.livestrong.com/article/505230...ood-sugar/

I read Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills a really long time ago but remember it laying out a strong, fact-based case of why to avoid most artificial sweeteners and MSG, especially for children. Stick to sugar alcohols like erythritol and xylitol, or stevia if possible, or the real deal. Glycine is an amino acid with possible life-extending properties and a mildly sweet taste, can be used in coffee, tea, etc. I take 20 grams a day and might do a thread on it sometime.

Not sold on something being better just because it's natural. Poison ivy is natural too, but I wouldn't put that in my coffee.

Moderation is key, whether you go real sugar or fake.