Obesity Discussion Forums

[Sharona]

Hi!
What do we do if, like me & my boys, we're super-sensitive to ALL artificial sweeteners? It makes things harder. I saw the recipes forum, & some call for artificial sweeteners. Thanks.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Sharona

Hi!
What do we do if, like me & my boys, we're super-sensitive to ALL artificial sweeteners? It makes things harder. I saw the recipes forum, & some call for artificial sweeteners. Thanks.

I am curious, there are so many different types of artificial sweeteners out there, have you tested them all to see if you are compatible with any of them?

[Sharona]

We've tried Aspartame, Splenda, Equal, are there others?

We all have anxiety disorders, among other things, & sugar substitutes make it worse. Also gives us headaches & insomnia.

On second thought, I think I've only tried Equal in restaurants, in my coffee, & I can't remember much about side effects. Do you know anything about Equal? Maybe we could give that another try.

[Sharona]

Just looked it up - Equal contains aspartame

[Sharona]

We've also tried NutraSweet.

[Sharona]

Do you know anything about Stevia?

[Irving]

Originally Posted by Sharona

Do you know anything about Stevia?

it is called Rebiana and is made by cocacola and cargill companies. stevia comes from the sunflower family in south and central america.

my understanding is stevia is illegal in the united states for use as a food additive but is ok as a dietary supplement. so i do not think you can buy it and add to food. in 2009 there are hopes for approval from united states to use as food.

[Sharona]

Do you know why it's illegal?

[Irving]

Originally Posted by Sharona

Do you know why it's illegal?

i am sure the fda wants to study it first before allowing us to consume it

[cardinarky]

Stevia is available at Amazon.com, Vitamin World, and GNC to name a few. You can buy it in individual packets or by the kilo. I have a friend who uses it because of some of the bad press attached to some of the other artificial items on the market.
Personally, I have been using nothing but artificials since the early 60's. Switched to diet drinks when they first hit the market, TAB and Fresca (gag) were my mixers of choice.
I have no diabetes, and it does run in my family (mother). Possibly this is one good side effect of the artificial.

[justme]

I avoid all artificial sweeteners. In my opinion they are worse that using real sugar as far as over all health goes.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by cardinarky

Stevia is available at Amazon.com, Vitamin World, and GNC to name a few. You can buy it in individual packets or by the kilo. I have a friend who uses it because of some of the bad press attached to some of the other artificial items on the market.
Personally, I have been using nothing but artificials since the early 60's. Switched to diet drinks when they first hit the market, TAB and Fresca (gag) were my mixers of choice.
I have no diabetes, and it does run in my family (mother). Possibly this is one good side effect of the artificial.

So these aren't being sold as supplements but as sweeteners? Interesting.

I remember Tab.

[Sharona]

I agree with YTWCKF. I avoid them too. No one knows yet if they're safe or not. But having said that, how do we lose weight now? Eating would be awful boring with no sugar whatsoever.

[Obesity Discussion]

Originally Posted by Sharona

I agree with YTWCKF. I avoid them too. No one knows yet if they're safe or not. But having said that, how do we lose weight now? Eating would be awful boring with no sugar whatsoever.

Losing weight is a matter of eating less calories than you burn each day, not how much sugar you eat. It's that simple. For someone in your unusual position, a little sugar won't hurt you, but you have to account for it when you are counting your calories. Heck I could eat 100g of a sugar a day and lose weight as long as my calories consumed were less than the calories I burn.

That being said, there are a lot of things you can do to reduce sugar but not avoid it. For example, when I cook my meats I buy Lawry's liquid seasonings. Only 1-2g of sugar per serving, and it really gives meat a great flavor. KC Masterpiece makes a 10 calorie BBQ sauce with no sugar added. Same deal. I find mustard and honey mustard very flavorful, again, no sugar and few calories. There are tons of salad dressings with little to no sugar that are low calorie. Again, there are myriad ways

Maybe these recipes that call for sugar substitutes aren't the best idea, so you may have to improvise your meals with other seasonings/flavoring methods.

[vegan314]

You can buy stevia at walmart.
I use agave nectar (amazon ), pure maple syrup,turbinado sugar(raw sugar also at walmart, but I get it from the Amish) I also use fruit juice concentrate (apple).
Splenda is molecular very close to DDT and has chlorine in it.
Nutrisweet gets past the brain barrier, thus headaches and other worse symptoms.
Sacchrin got ALOT of bad press back in the 70's but they admit they were wrong now.

I just try to stay away from all the artificial stuff because the people who are making them and the people who are making money off of them may/or may not be big fat liars.(IMHO)

[dreamblooms]

Originally Posted by justme

I avoid all artificial sweeteners. In my opinion they are worse that using real sugar as far as over all health goes.

Hi, I too was uncertain about this and wrote to the govenment. They sent back this email. In it, the first link opens to a .pdf. Hope this helps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: NHLBI Health Information Center <NHLBIInfo@nhlbi.nih.gov>
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2007 16:55:04 -0500
Subject: Question CRM:00140094


Dear Sir or Madam:


On behalf of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Health Information Center, we are responding to your request for information on suclarose.

For information on suclarose you may contact the American Dietetic Association at 1-800-366-1655 or visit their Web page at http://www.eatright.org/ada/files/Sucralose.pdf.

NHLBI follows recommendations of the FDA at http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/200...weeteners.html.
If you have additional questions on Sucralose, you may wish to contact the FDA by telephone at 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332) or by e-mail at the following Web address: http://www.fda.gov/comments......html.


Sincerely,

NHLBI Health Information Center
PO Box 30105
Bethesda, MD 20824

Phone: 301-592-8573

Fax: 301-592-8563
E-mail: nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov
Web site: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov

Make healthy choices in 2008 with the colorful Keep the Beat Wall Calendar; check off each day of physical activity and use charts to track weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar. Order at http://emall.nhlbihin.net/ktbcalendar. Customization and large quantity orders available. Call the NHLBI Health Information Center at 301-592-8573.

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