Gonna challenge myself to coffee without the sweetener (tomorrow... lol)

(Rebecca 🌸 Frankenfluffy) #21

I’m fascinated by this question! In my own experience, when I use Splenda or consume a product containing Nutrasweet, my demand for insulin doesn’t increase (ie I don’t need to take any extra insulin to cover it).

I totally get how artificial sweeteners can stimulate desire for, and consumption of, other sweet things - whether or not this is ‘want’ from the taste buds or the brain or indeed the pancreas, I don’t know, but it does seem to be a ‘thing’, whatever the reason, be it physiological, endocrinological or psychological.

I’ve never had cause to be tested for insulin response - well actually as type 1 I have zero, so that’s a non-starter! :rofl: - and I know we’re all different anyway in terms of our bodies’ responses to, and demands for, things - but I know there’s a lot of debate out there as to whether artificial sweeteners stimulate an insulin response, and I find it very interesting!

(Rebecca 🌸 Frankenfluffy) #22

Because it was doing its job! :heavy_check_mark:

(Robert C) #23

One of the nice things about getting used to black coffee is that it is one less problem if you want to fast for autophagy.

If you want to do a 72 (or more) hour fast - having to give up those favorite coffee additives represents added stress.

#24

I have 90% chocolate, I bought it just to cover some edible gifts as my own chocolate melts at a warmer room temperature. It’s totally not sweet and it’s not enjoyable at all, I don’t eat it but it has cocoa powder. I love cocoa powder (just not alone), chocolate is all about that and fat, definitely not about sweetness. I enjoy my own, very fatty unsweetened chocolate too (though I still like when it’s a tad sweetened, I barely started to eat it without sweetener. but no sweetener tastes way better than too much).
So maybe you like cocoa or chocolate, not necessarily sweets.
Rituals? Maybe. I learned as a kid that dessert is the last course of every meal and it was a pretty stubborn habit, some circumstances helped to keep it awake too. If you eat proper food in the right amounts, I don’t think you need to eat your chocolate every day. But I don’t think it does a significant harm and it’s surely nice. I am relaxed and things change by themselves as time passes. I only enforce using less and less sweetener but I do it gradually, without any problems.

#25

Yes. That’s why I ate banana with chocolate almost every day on keto in the beginning. I had no meat, no heavily processed food (not like I missed those, I lived without them since years), no gluten, no lactose, I was on a budget and I was adamant to stick to keto until fat adaptation, I had to keep something! I ate sweets all the time too but for different reasons. I have no regrets, it was a fine idea.
I don’t eat banana now. I could but I don’t need it (often, at least). I eat medlar now because I have medlar trees and it’s medlar season! 10g a day, sometimes zero, just perfect. I don’t need it but it’s MY own medlar and it’s great and it doesn’t cause a problem.
If something is mostly harmless but it helps to make my life easier, I usually keep it until I “need” it. Sweetener in my zillion coffee a day sounded a worse idea so I used less and less and stopped, that was something to fight for but there was no force, just gradual change. You should figure out what works for you, what are your priorities… I don’t force things but train myself, some habits would never break if I did nothing at all.

(Susan) #26

Good luck getting used to black coffee, you can do this =).

(Full Metal KETO AF) #27

I gave it up because I wake several hours before breakfast and I want coffee. No cream extends my IF fasting window by three hours. So black espresso for me now. Embrace the sweet bitterness of life! :cowboy_hat_face:

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #28

You will be suprised how much your taste will evolve over Keto.
I could never drink a coffee without two sugars. I could never drink espresso. I could never drink black coffee.
Now black coffee is all that I drink!
It sucks for a bit, but once you get used to not having the sweet hit, it’s actually bearable. You’ll get there.

#29

I cut coffee down from 4 mugs a day to 1/2 mug and I’ve never felt better. I have so much energy I have no reason to drink the coffee… probalby just make me jitter unpleasantly now.

Coffee raises cortisol levels for sure from what I’ve read. And that in turn raises blood sugar and insulin. By cutting down on the coffee, I also cut down on the artificial sweetener, (in my case liquid stevia), and allegedly I guess that’d mean lower insulin levels.

Seems like I am eating less low carb deserts these days… even though they might be like 1 or 2 net carbs, I always think I get more hungry after for some reason.

I found out recently if I keep coffee down to 1/2 mug per day and really eat no sweets, I can easily go without any thought or tempation of food for 16-18 long overnight. So long as my BHB is around 1.0 or better. EDIT: and if I do think of food, I think so what, no way in heck I desire to eat it now… so full…

(Susan) #30

I rarely drink coffee, but if I do, it is black. I prefer Herbal or Green tea -still plain but they have a nice flavour =).

(Doug) #31

You know that “Dark Energy” that is supposed to balance equations for ther physical basis of our universe?

It’s COFFEE. :smile::sunglasses:

(Jane) #32

:laughing:

#33

We lived in Seattle when I was 13 through 16 and, of course, coffee became a very important part of my day. :wink: And we Balkan people love our coffee, a very central point of socialization :wink: We even give coffee as a gift ;). I love coffee!
I drank it without sugar, both of my parents drank it that was, but I did add milk. In my late teens I realized that coffee with milk was causing some stomach pains and I had weirder and weirder aftertastes. I never drank milk, so I connected stomach issues with coffee+milk combo and I switched to just plain black. I used to drink coffee all days long; however, since I quit smoking I only drink my morning coffee and somedays have a decaf in the afternoon.

#34

beauty of carnivore. It gives a natural fasting rhythm in our life without even having to force any IF plan into our life. As nature intended.

We are eating like a healthy natural pride of lions. They make a big kill, eat their absolute fill and don’t hunt again for days til they require food again :slight_smile: lol

#35

welp, here I am, sipping on my hot creamy coffee, and no sweetener. It’s comforting and good, especially since I’m cold sitting here at my desk, but my stubborn brain STILL wants to say “but it would be even better with a couple drops” :joy: but no, with each sip I take, the more I’m silencing that voice. It actually does taste better with each sip.

#36

I get so jealous of you coffee drinkers!

I hate the taste of coffee but when you guys say it is so delish, warm, comforting, creamy and all I just think…darn it LOL Ya’ll tear me up on that :slight_smile:

Heavy whipping cream is a sweet taste. The more you drink it without sweetener the more you will taste that yummy cream.

Happy to read such a great report from you!!

(Jane Srygley) #37

This probably wouldn’t be carnivore LOL (is coffee carnivore?) but I use spices in my black coffee: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. I really like it! I can also deal with a little salt in my coffee. Good luck!

#38

lol! I can’t remember, why don’t you (if you have that feeling of wanting it)? Personal choice to be 100% no plants? I was actually thinking… if drinking coffee this way is good, but not exciting like sweet coffee is, maybe I’ll naturally give it up and be even closer to plant free!

eta: but at the moment I don’t feel like a huge hurry to give up coffee since from what I read it is a very low oxalate source? That’s probably also why I’m currently ok with using some spices… I continue to research and learn, though!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #39

Unfortunately, until someone manages to develop and market a home insulin meter, we have to infer an effect from the pattern of glucose readings. You have to take them before ingesting the sweetener (baseline), then at 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes at least, to get enough data points. You also have to avoid eating for a few hours before, as well as during the experiment. If you notice a significant dip in the serum glucose readings, it is a sign that your insulin went up.

ETA: To answer a couple of questions people raised upthread, the U.S. FDA requires that manufacturers seeking approval to market a non-sugar sweetener must provide experimental data showing that said sweetener does not raise serum glucose. Without such proof, the sweetener may not be sold in the United States.

Since all such tests are paid for by the manufacturer, and since the FDA cares nothing for insulin levels in this connection, manufacturers have a reason not to test their sweeteners for an insulin effect. Such testing would be an unnecessary expense, since it is not required in order to gain approval.

#40

that actually sounds really good! Technically it wouldn’t be strict carnivore, but I’m not opposed to spices. However, I did used to put a ton of cinnamon in my coffee and I completely stopped that once I realized I was actually adding carbs! lol… I was putting a lot in, not just a sprinkle. It was so much it was gathering in clumps at the bottom of my mug.:woman_facepalming: live and learn! So anyway I just don’t put any in now because a sprinkle wasn’t enough for my taste. lol