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Just a quick vote....or you can explain (since I guess I am asking a compound question)
-- which do you prefer or which do you think is 'safer' sugar...or artificial sweetener?
I'm torn....I try to be very health conscious ...but I'm consistently worried about my weight and dieting, so I drink diet ice tea -- about a bottle a day. Not every day or week but that's what the inconsistent average over weeks and months amounts to. That's my only diet drink. Don't drink sodas at all. Haven't for decades.
I know sugar is the more 'natural' substance. And I've been told 'the body recognizes it and knows how to digest/process it. But it has calories. Aspartame and other sweeteners are of course 'man made. I've been told they 'build up in the body. Is that true? not True.
In general what to you use or prefer...sugar or artificial sweetener? And what are your quick thoughts -- for diet or general safety/health -- on the issue?
Thanks
The answers may be skewed because I'm asking this in Diet and Weight Loss and not the general "health" threads...but....I thought I'd ask. Of the half-dozen family and friends i've asked, I've got five votes for sugar -- one diet drinks person. They really are wary of the artificial stuff.
I've been using stevia, which is a sweetener but it comes from a plant so it's natural. It's supposed to be several times sweeter than sugar. A lot of people use it--you get it right in the grocery store.
I use it in cooking and when I make a smoothie or some homemade lemonade, I use mostly stevia and just a tiny bit of real sugar because the stevia has a slight aftertaste and I want that really sweet taste. You could make your iced tea using stevia.
Aspartame is dangerous, isn't it? Haven't some of those fake sweeteners been banned?
I've been using stevia, which is a sweetener but it comes from a plant so it's natural. It's supposed to be several times sweeter than sugar. A lot of people use it--you get it right in the grocery store.
I use it in cooking and when I make a smoothie or some homemade lemonade, I use mostly stevia and just a tiny bit of real sugar because the stevia has a slight aftertaste and I want that really sweet taste. You could make your iced tea using stevia.
Aspartame is dangerous, isn't it? Haven't some of those fake sweeteners been banned?
Only if you consume it in a large, large quantity. Most people don't consume a high enough level of aspartame to make it very dangerous.
I'm a "real sugar only" kind of girl. I've tried various artifical sweetners over the years but most give me headaches and I'm still kind "iffy" on their safety. And I don't like my daughter to have them either...
I've noticed that you really have to check the labels on things labelled "low" or "no" sugar to see if they are just made with less sugar or if that means they have artifical sweetners in them...
I'm also concerned about calories and insulin resistance - so even though we use sugar here in the house, I just use way, way less of it than I used to.
I avoid artificial sweeteners whenever possible. My theory is that if you're consuming so much of something you have to switch to the diet version, you're consuming too much.
Why not switch to unsweetened tea? I prefer sweet myself, but unsweetened is nice with plenty of lemon.
Coconut palm sugar is a good common ground I think. It tastes a bit like brown sugar, but not quite as sweet. It's low on the GI index coming in at 35 and also is full of good for you vitamins and minerals. I can get it at the Whole Foods near me, but I tend to order it from Amazon.
Also, I know people who like to use xylitol or erythritol which sound sketchy but are derived from plants. I've used both in baking, but since they're hard to find at the regular grocery store I tend not to use them very much. Xylitol can cause intestinal issues in some people and can be deadly to dogs. Erythritol is about half as sweet as sugar but you can combine it with stevia to up the sweetness factor and the erythritol helps neutralize the bitterness that's sometimes occurs with stevia.
A google search can bring up oodles of info on any of them.
Last edited by 2ForTheSea; 08-03-2012 at 11:28 AM..
Why not switch to unsweetened tea? I prefer sweet myself, but unsweetened is nice with plenty of lemon.
Quote:
I've been using stevia, which is a sweetener but it comes from a plant so it's natural.
I do buy UNsweetened tea sometimes. And most times I drink it as is. I buy the 1/2 gallon "Honest Tea" just brewed tea. But sometimes I want more -- or should I say -- a different taste -- and I don't always have lemon juice on me when I'm out.
I'm talking about a pre-bottled tea. The tea I drink is bottled that I buy when shopping for the week or out on errands, and grab an ice tea from a drug- or convenience store. I'd say half the time they don't have unsweetened as an option. Some don't have diet either. They sure do have Sweet Tea though. Every where you look, sweet tea, sweet tea. But no diet or unsweetened.
Most of the time my choice is between tea sweetened with sugar -- or diet. Unsweetened isn't even an option. If a mini-mart ONLY has sugar sweetened tea I chose water over the tea with sugar. But like I said sometimes I just don't want water or a plainer taste.
I use mainly stevia but also frequently mix in a little Splenda with the stevia. I try to avoid corn and cane sugar as much as possible, which means no desserts. I also avoid breads, potatoes and rice. Once you've been off sugars and starches for a few weeks, and your body has adjusted to not having them, it's no big deal to pass them up. I still eat some fruit and oatmeal 1-2x a week.
I have grown stevia, but getting sweet from the leaves is a hit/miss thing. There is a trick to it that does not always work.
I get bulk stevia powder and I use it mixed with sugar. I do not like the after-taste.
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