I usually have a few drops of Steviasol with my hot drinks. That must amount to approx. 10-12 drops a day.
Also, I started keto WOE a few weeks back, but still feel hungry, even after eating excessive fat. Could my hunger be linked to my Stevia consumption?
If you’ve only been at this a few weeks, you may not yet be fully fat-adapted.
There are some indications that sweet foods may cause insulin to rise, so if your blood glucose is already relatively low, the stevia could be causing it to drop further, and of your aren’t making enough ketones to supply the difference, that might account for the hunger signals.
Are you experiencing any symptoms on hypoglycemia?
All that said, if you’re concerned that the stevia may be triggering hunger, your best bet is to stop using it for a few days and see if the hunger diminishes.
Thanks for the input, that makes a lot of sense.
Yes, I am having symptoms on hypoglycemia, such as dizziness, weakness and such. Mostly after waking up. My glucose reading on the test strips is negative… I thought that’s a good thing?
I’ll stop with the Stevia and see if that helps… thanks
I noticed stevia use increased my cravings for sweetened foods when I wasn’t actually hungry. When I removed it, my appetite decreased tremendously.
@erdoke has some interesting studies pertaining to various sweeteners (inclucing stevia) and increased ad libitum eating.
A few weeks may not be long enough to be fat-adapted. Especially if you’re female.
Also, I’m sure you know this, but fat adaption comes from eliminating carbohydrates, not from eating fat. You need the fat so you’re not hungry and so the body had an alternate fuel in the absence of carbohydrates, but if carbs are present the body will preferentially burn those. Have you been truly rigorous in eliminating carbs?
Where sweeteners are involved reactions seen to be highly idiosyncratic. So yes, it’s possible and really the only way to know is to try eliminating it.
Have you been truly rigorous in eliminating carbs?
Low glucose is good…IF you are producing ketones. If you aren’t yet fat adapted, driving glucose too low could be causing the issues you’re seeing, because the brain does require some glucose. While the liver can manufacture some glucose via gluconeogenesis, it’s not clear from what I’ve read whether that can happen efficiently before you’re fat adapted.
So on the theory that you are sensitive to sweets in terms of insulin release, I would consider stopping the use of the stevia drops for now, give yourself a few weeks of keto eating to ensure fat adaptation and then, if you still want to, test out the drops again and see if they are still causing you issues. You might also, in that timeframe, test out other sweeteners such as xylitol (but be cautious if you have pets, as it is toxic to dogs…not sure about cats) or erythritol, both for glucose impact and for hunger/dizzyness.
Not really. During the initial phase of keto adaptation, many/most people will go through a period referred to as “keto flu” when the body is working its way through changing from glucose burning to fat burning. During this period, adding more fat, and ensuring that electrolytes are adequate (taking salt water, some folks use lite salt which includes potassium) helps minimize the symptoms. But once adapted, you don’t “need” carbs.
Hunger is not unusual when you’re starting, especially if you’re coming from a low-fat way of eating. Your body knows its glucose is low but it doesn’t really know how to metabolise fat yet. Just keep at it and you will adapt!
That’s an aggressive level of carbs for starting out. Five days would put you right in the keto flu period.
I started keto back at the end of April, transitioning from Whole 30,which didn’t allow dairy or sweeteners. I then added dairy but kept sweeteners out of my diet until the holidays, when I thought I would test them. I added stevia drops and swerve. I totally failed the test, and cravings for sweets when I wasn’t hungry came back. I stalled, but luckily didn’t gain weight. Now I’m back to no sweeteners.
@shawnkuplin I transitioned from Whole30 to keto over 2.5 years ago. I was AS and dairy free and at goal weight but started testing FBG and BG when I started keto. Turns out I was spiking from starchy carbs and high protein (a thin pre-diabetic) which was quite a surprise as I had no symptoms. What I’m trying to say is that when I started keto at goal weight but AS and dairy free, I lost a few pounds which I wasn’t trying to do. I stayed AS and dairy free for over a year, felt great but then introduced AS (liquid stevia and Swerve) and some dairy. Sugar has always been a problem for me, so I totally understand what you’re saying. I joined the no AS challenge here for this month. So far, so good.
I have read some studies that conclude that while stevia doesn’t raise glucose it has been shown to increase insulin. I don’t think it is a superior sweetner now. I always felt so bad that I hated its taste when others would talk about how it is natural and superior. In the studies erythritol didn’t do either in clinical trails. But, I have heard others say it does raise their glucose.
Maybe it does all come down to what ever increases your sweetness pleasure of eating should be avoided. I am not there yet. Do you use any sweetners @carolT ?
I keep taking stevia back like a bad rock star boyfriend. Thanks for this thread, convicting!
At the moment, I only have a trace of stevia in some chocolate I made with 100% baker’s chocolate. It was supposed to be for someone else but I’m eating 1 a day. Otherwise I no longer have a sweet tooth.
@Divya Stevia is a mental hunger trigger for me!!! (vs physical hunger) I only partake occasionally.
What beverage are you adding it to? We might be able to suggest alternatives.
[quote=“Ketoberry, post:16, topic:4133”]
We might be able to suggest alternatives.
[/quote] Depending on the beverage, I find that soaking in cinnamon sticks or adding cinnamon powder works. I’ve also started adding glycerin-based extracts (Chocolate, Vanilla, Lemon, etc.) for flavor to reduce my sweeteners.
What beverage are you adding it to? We might be able to suggest alternatives
I usually put in my BPC and some fruit-flavored tea I drink. I’ll eliminate it for a while and see if there is any difference…
Ugh, I thought Stevia was one of the sweeteners that didn’t produce an insulin response. I’d bought some to put in my homemade “ketoaide” for when I’m out on the bike. I’ll need to look into this further…