Artificial Sweetener Confusion

sweeteners
(Brent) #1

Guys/Gals i have a lot of confusion when it comes to artificial sweeteners. Confusion on exactly what to use and sweetness leveling abilities of different products.

One of my favorite books of all times has been Dr Fung’s “The obesity code”. Dr Fung’s opinion is that all artificial sweeteners are bad and you should give them up. Unfortunately that’s something i’m unwilling to do. I don’t consume a ton of them but i need sweeteners. I need it for my tea, smothies, and a variety of other things but i wan’t to use the best ones i can.

I remember hearing choose liquid sweeteners and they are cut with bad things like maltodextrin that some of the crystallized ones use. So one of the first sweeteners i tried was SweetLeaf Sweet Drops (SteviaClear). Hearing that stevia is one of the sweetest things and it would only take a few drops. Well that wasn’t true (at least for me) for this product. Even the label says only a few drops but it takes me 3-4 dropper full to set my tea at a descent sweetness level. No i don’t like things EXTREMELY sweet. At this level is just “slightly” sweet.

Next i heard Erythritol/Xylotol where great. I tried this product on amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018UWALFS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Again compared to regular sugar this isn’t NEARLY as sweet and have to use a lot to get it to compare to sugar. I don’t know if its the specific product i tried or if it just how it is.

I want to try xylitol but i have dogs so i would have to bring it to work and only use it there.

Then i’ve heard people say sucrolose is not bad just as long as its not cut with anything like maltodextrin (so don’t use splenda or maybe use a liquid form).

Then back to stevia. I’ve heard pure stevia should be green. If not they have said it has been highly processed but a lot of the pure stevia products are still white even if the label clearly states that nothing else was used other than the stevia leaf.

My biggest concern is insulin response. I’m not so much interested in blood sugar response. Has their been any studies on insulin response of different artificial sweeteners? I know i can be different from person to person but just in general?

(Tim W) #2

In the future, you might want to consider a long fast (3-7 days or so). I only mention this because you are familiar with Fung’s work.

I’ve found that folks often lose desire for sweeteners during that nice long period, and it does wonders for insulin response as well.

As for now, check out Dr. Nally’s website, he has a section on fake sugars, I refer to it often.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #3

If you get a blood glucose meter (they’re cheap!), you can test your blood sugar before and after the sweetener. Eat the sweetener by itself dissolved in water. If you notice a big DROP in blood glucose, this will indicate a large release of insulin.

Define big drop? 20 points would be my indicator.

Individual results may vary. Lol

#4

I, too, find that sweeteners don’t seem to have the sugar equivalence they claim, at least not to my taste buds. But some people (not everyone) comment that my stuff is oversweetened. I think maybe sweetness perception of artificial sweeteners (including stevia, which is actually heavily processed) varies from one person to another the same way perception of bitterness in stevia and sucralose varies.

I do have a sweet tooth, but I rarely actually crave sweets anymore. I do really enjoy sweetened tea and coffee, though, and I find them extremely useful tools. Perhaps it would be ideal to give them up, but my numbers are good and my weight is dropping, so I see no reason to become needlessly ascetic.

I tried erythritol in my beverages because I was concerned that sucralose is said to affect the gut biome. But it just doesn’t work for me. I have to use a huge amount to even taste it, and then I find that it creates an unpleasant sensation. So I just use liquid sucralose. It still takes way more than I would expect (AT LEAST six drops, depending on what I’m drinking), but I can achieve a taste I enjoy. I do use erythritol in other things, but mainly for the texture and/or bulk.

I have not personally tested my blood sugar, but friends have eaten/drunk my stuff (with sucralose and erythritol) and were surprised (especially considering the strong level of sweetness) to find absolutely no reaction.