How do you kick the sweetener habit?

(April Harkness) #21

After a bit of a slipup in Jan i got back to where i was…if not better, in terms of body comp by cleaning up my keto. That included getting rid of artificial sweeteners…and i noticed a profound change. I noticed that when i took them, It increased my appetite and i even felt hypoglycemic after using them. I felt jittery, anxious…Without them i am fine.

(PSackmann) #22

Salt helps with the bitterness, just a dash can help

(Jill Carpenter aka space coast spinster) #23

I’ve been using Splenda in my coffee ever since I can remember. I prefer it over sugar and stevia is down right nasty to me for some reason - with the exception of once tasting a fresh stevia leaf. I bought some seeds, still need to plant.

As a hard core foodie ATM I don’t have sweets all the time but I have a difficult time wrapping my head around things like “never again you’re not allowed” mentally.

Not so much feeling like an addiction but more along the lines of liking the options of variety when things seem too repetitive.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #24

I’m not doing anything to kick the artificial sweetener habit !

I freaking love Splenda :slight_smile: Its a very strong selling point every time I see an item sweetened with it. Just bought some BBQ sauce with it. Anxious to try it.
Now, I do drink a TON of those naturally flavored sparkling waters, and now they are sweetened with aspartame :frowning: That sucks… 90% because they don’t taste as good as Splenda… and maybe 10% because aspartame “supposedly can be cancer causing”. The thing that really kills me, is that they used to use Splenda… and they even advertised it with a little blue and white Splenda label… then, almost certainly for cost reasons, quietly switched to aspartame :frowning: Wish I could find some good flavored sparkling water with Splenda again. I can go through a couple liters of this stuff a day when its hot.

My 20oz mug of double strength coffee (which I’m drinking right now) needs 5 Splenda packets.

I can’t imagine making fat bombs without some kind of sweetener… Or any other of the awesome Keto deserts my GF makes. Every time a recipe calls for sweetener, I immediately switch that to Splenda :slight_smile:
Oh, and I hate Stevia. Haven’t tried Erythitol yet (what does that treat anyway :slight_smile: lol) …but not very hopeful with it anyway… Oh, plus we don’t want it anywhere near the dogs.

If Splenda is causing me some slight insulin spikes, so be it. I want to enjoy my diet, and I refuse to cut out some sweetness in it :slight_smile: Plus, I’ll bet it doesn’t cause near the spike that eating a couple maple bars, or apple fritters at 2 or 3 am right before I went to bed did :slight_smile: Nor all the king sized Milky ways, or Reeses PB cups… etc, etc.

One more thing… for 5 years, from 2010 to 2015, I ate a super clean diet… kind of paleo I guess, except that I ate a measured cup of oatmeal, twice a day. I ate close to zero processed foods. Lots of meat, fish, veggies, nuts… I and I mean LOTS, like 4000-5300 cals worth a day.
But all during this time I ate Splenda. SF syrup on my eggs (which also used to be sweetened with Splenda, and lots of Splenda packets in each of my daily bowls of oatmeal, and 5 packets in my coffee.

So anyway, in my personal experience, one should eat LOTS of Splenda, to get in shape like this :wink:

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Right before my back injury, but trying to get back into it now. This time with Keto, and at least now, Im not starving all the freaking time ! …worst part of my old diet.

#25

Do you own stock in Splenda? Lol. I’ve never used it but after an episode of Dr. Oz where they were testing a lady for kidney failure, because of her Splenda habit… I was never tempted to try it!

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #26

I probably should, huh ? :slight_smile: lol

I used to be able to buy a box of 1500 packets for like $12, and it would last for like 3 months. Then, they quit selling those, and went to 1000 packets of Splenda brand, for $20 :frowning: :frowning: :frowning:

It would take a lot more than one episode of Dr. Oz to change my mind about Splenda / sucralose.

PS, I read on Wiki, that tests had been done, which showed that eating the equivalent of 3300 packets of Splenda a day, could cause kidney failure… So my body building buddy and I decided to make sure we always stay below 3000 packets a day, and we should be fine :slight_smile: lol

#27

I have to admit I used to be a die-hard fan and consumer of aspartame. I should have had stock in Diet Coke back then lol. Aspartame definitely triggered cravings for sugary food for me, probably an insulin reaction.

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #28

I think they make one line of Coke now, that uses Splenda… and I’m sure it would taste better. I just don’t like drinks that heavy, for quenching my thirst.

(Lisa) #29

Hey, Chris, I’m a Splenda fan also. Do you ever use the liquid kind? It has no carbs, if those few in the packets are of any concern for you. Based on your pic, it doesn’t look like you need to worry about it! :grinning:

ETA I see that you’re getting back into shape following a back injury. I’m sure you will be back there in no time!

(Jill Carpenter aka space coast spinster) #30

Dude you out do me on the Splenda! :rofl:

I get this now for less than $5.00

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And then I refill it in this container for my coffee​:rofl::rofl::rofl:

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I’ve cut down to half a teaspoon per cup which is usually 2 cup max in the morning.

I’m in Florida and can get this for a dollar though

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(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #31

Well, I’m sure the weight loss will be easy… But gaining a lot of muscle takes years of blood, sweat, and tears. I really don’t know if my life would even allow that now. But I do hope to get a lot leaner, and get 90% of my cardio back…

(Dirty Lazy Keto'er, Sucralose freak ;)) #32

I haven’t used the liquid, but I’m sure it would be fine. I’m guessing all sucralose is great, regardless of the delivery system :slightly_smiling_face:

(Jane Srygley) #33

You look awesome! If sweeteners work for you, that’s great. I used to be able to lose weight while using them, but I’m 56yo now and my body has really changed. I have long-term insulin resistance and have read enough to convince me that sweeteners may not raise blood sugar, but they do cause insulin to spike, so I think it’s important for me to either eliminate or at least cut back on them drastically.

Also, while you may seem completely fine, splenda has been shown to negatively affect gut bacteria, so something to keep in mind. KCKO :slight_smile:

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #34

I’ve been following this discussion with some degree of disinterested mirth, but I missed the above until @AuntJane just quoted it. This is just dumb. So I’m guessing it was meant as a joke, hence the ending wink. My problem with it is that so many people reading this, and looking for justification, will take it seriously. I hope not.

(Jane Srygley) #35

I agree with that, thank you Michael. Also, please remember those of you that CAN eat sweeteners with impunity (@FishChris for instance) , not everyone is like you. I have real health and chronic pain issues that I am trying to solve, so this stuff isn’t a joking matter for me, and to talk about how much sweetener you can eat when I’m asking for support to give it up is a bit like responding to someone asking for help to give up alcohol by talking about how much you love to booze it up. You do keto the way it works for you. I have to do what works for me–and stop doing what doesn’t.

(George) #36

Shit if Splenda can help me get forearms like those I’ll chug the stuff. I’m having a tough time sculpting mine! lol

(Susan) #37

What about doing cold turkey on the sweeteners, but to make it less difficult, make some sweetener free Keto Fat Bombs… so you still have a treat?

I make some with Cream Cheese, Coconut Oil (I melt first) and frozen raspberries, you can also add some Cocoa if you want, and blend all with a hand mixer, then put in silicone mold, put in freezer until frozen, then pop them into an airtight container in the freezer, and take one out when you want one =).

(George) #38

The very few times I make fat bombs, I never add sweetener, and it tastes just fine to me! If folks gave it a shot I’m sure it would help kick the sweetener habit.

I usually do 8 oz cream cheese with half cup of heavy cream, tablespoon or 2 of vanilla extract, juice from 1/4 of a lemon, along with zest from half of lemon, blend with hand mixer, put in fridge overnight and that’ll get me a few servings of crustless lemon cheesecake. If I want to thicken up the texture I’ll add an egg and bake in cupcake baking trays, and add the whipped cream afterwards.

(Susan) #39

That recipe sounds delicious, George, thanks, I will have to try that =).

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #40

Try this one.