How to try different sweeteners

(Larry Lustig) #1

My grocery store has stevia, xylitol, erythritol, monkfruit (with erythritol) and maybe a few others. But all bags are pretty large. I’ve never used any kind of sweetener except sugar and I’d like to try a few to see if one would be appropriate for occasional keto deserts (basically, I need something for me when my family is having ice cream).

Does anyone know some way I can sample the different sweetener products without having to invest in a half-pound of six different items, five of which, at least, I’m not likely to use? For instance, any commercial snack foods that use, exclusively, each of the different options?

(I already suggested a sweetener tasting booth for KetoFest but that’s in the future and not everyone will be able to make it there).

(Lalena Hutton) #2

Get individual packets from restaurants. I grabbed some from Starbucks to test myself out.

(jilliebean1973) #3

Maybe you could email the various corporations and see if they have samples? Would be the fastest way but it would be frugal.

(mwall) #4

I think this depends on the individual and health goals. With my reversed T2D and ongoing IR I simply canNOT accept any significant impact on bg. So I cannot use anything with maltodextrin or dextrin in it because these sweeteners have a higher glycemic impact than table sugar itself!

My best advice is to buy a bottle each of liquid stevia and sucralose and a package of swerve confectioners. The liquid stevia is the most natural and so only a small amount of the liquid sucralose will balance out the natural stevia’s bitterness. This combo is my favorite for most sweetening except for baking, which is where the swerve erythritol comes in. And the confectioner’s grade of swerve is simply easier to blend, dissolve and use in general. The erythritol has a “cool” effect to it’s taste so you might notice that in beverages, but the effect is not very noticeable otherwise and the swerve is also a great way to mask the bitterness of more natural stevia.

Here’s a link to a page on glycemic index I have used many times.
Glycemic Index

(mwall) #5

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(mwall) #6

These three items will cost less than $20 bucks and will last long enough to learn their value for your WOE. :heart_decoration:

(jilliebean1973) #7

I meant to say that asking for Samples would NOT be the fastest way. Whoops.

(Stephanie) #8

I wish I was able to sample before buying! I unfortunately ended up buying bags of sweeteners thinking they’d be great. Stevia and Erythritol are extremely bitter to me…no sweet at all! What I use most is Truvia or Splenda. I only use a tsp in my coffee. I use the Truvia baking blend when I make a cream cheese whip. When I first started I needed something sweet so badly( mad carb/sugar addict!) Although I’ve fallen off the Keto train a bit and need to get super strict again, I still only plan to use my sweeteners sparingly. I’ve spent quite a bit of money on sweeteners that are just going to collect dust in the pantry.

(Holly Love) #9

I bought stevia in the raw and then saw it had dextrose. What kind or brand of stevia has erythritol, or is erythritol a sweetener on its own?