sweetner and diet foods.

jezebel1

ive recently been trying to diet slimming world without much sucsess will loose a bit then put it back on and not too overspend on food at the same time. i also have a lot of health problems .ive been reading a lot that sweetner is bad for you it can make you gain weight and also cause lots of health problems vertigo, migrains.fibromyalgia ect all of which i have ,i have sweetner in my coffees teas ect and on cereal also its in quiet a lot of diet foods cereal bars yogurts ect so ive decided to cut theses things out there by saving money as diet items are expensive and in the hope that it might make a difference to my health probs. just wonderd if anyone had tried this or if you think it might make a difference thanks in advance x

p.s i have lost 1 stone 3lbs .

Fruball

I think it will make a huge difference to how you feel.

I try to avoid sweeteners as much as possible, esp for the children who I really don't want having them. I am happy for them to have real sugar, not sweeteners.

Try to eat as naturally as you possibly can

(well done with the fantastic weight loss!)

jezebel1

thanks , have been trying more old style cooking ,and trying to cut out processed foods then someone put an email on facebook about the sweetner so started searching on the internet and read nothing good about it ,also when my grandsons come to visit was giving them sugar free pop ect thinking it was beter but now going to give them as much non procesed stuff and nothing with sweetner as is poss x

Seakay

fruit sugar has fewer calories than sugar, and xylitol (although more expensive than sugar) has very few calories and is entirely natural, being made from birch.
I am currently investigating sweeteners made from yacon root
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yacon_syrup
because their sweetness comes from inulin which cannot be digested by humans and so has almost no calories at all.
I'm going to try and grow some roots in Spring, meanwhile my sister got me some syrup for Christmas, which is like a slightly fruity molasses or maple syrup. Very yummy but a bit tasty for drinks.
Fruit sugar and xylitol are very good though and available in supermarkets and health food shops.
I personally don't like stevia because I find it has an aniseedy after taste, but I haven't tried any of the pure but processed types. Beware supermarket stevias which have a lot of bulking ingredients added.
http://www.liveinthenow.com/article/ask-the-herbalist-is-stevia-really-better-than-artificial-sweeteners
I've been looking into all this because I have fibromyalgia and am trying to loose weight, but have also come across information that it would be a bad idea for me to use artificial sweeteners.

meritaten

hun - I am dead against sweeteners! esp those consisting of Aspartame. and I think this is what you have researched! I prefer to use real sugar - but, if you are bothered by the 16 cals a teaspoon of sugar contains, try cutting down real sugar very gradually........a quarter spoon at a time ............eventually you will become accustomed to the less sweet taste.
if you put sugar on cereal - try using a few chunks of fresh fruit for sweetness or a small handfull of dried fruit.
and yes - 'diet' drinks do contain aspartame - and to me that stuff is lethal - how the hell it is passed for human consumption I do not know! try substituting pure fruit juice and 'fizzy' water for pop for the grandkids. tell them its a 'cocktail'! my grandkids love tropical juice and soda water - I call them 'Movitas'!

jezebel1

hi thanks will look into it let me know if you find anything else that works for you x:)

jezebel1

hi meritaten great idea for the kids cocktails will try that didnt realise how many things i had everyday with it in fizzy drinks sweetner in coffee ceareal bars yogurts these things i have on a daily basis i agree think it would be beter just to have a bit of sugar was thinking sugar lumps on slim world they are 1/2 syn each and wont be able to put it on cereal so cant get carried away lol will add fruit as you say to this i sometimes do anyway so dont realy need to pur sweetner all over it as i have been doing x

Katzen

Seakay wrote: »

fruit sugar has fewer calories than sugar, and xylitol (although more expensive than sugar) has very few calories and is entirely natural, being made from birch.
I am currently investigating sweeteners made from yacon root
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yacon_syrup
because their sweetness comes from inulin which cannot be digested by humans and so has almost no calories at all.
I'm going to try and grow some roots in Spring, meanwhile my sister got me some syrup for Christmas, which is like a slightly fruity molasses or maple syrup. Very yummy but a bit tasty for drinks.
Fruit sugar and xylitol are very good though and available in supermarkets and health food shops.
I personally don't like stevia because I find it has an aniseedy after taste, but I haven't tried any of the pure but processed types. Beware supermarket stevias which have a lot of bulking ingredients added.
http://www.liveinthenow.com/article/ask-the-herbalist-is-stevia-really-better-than-artificial-sweeteners
I've been looking into all this because I have fibromyalgia and am trying to loose weight, but have also come across information that it would be a bad idea for me to use artificial sweeteners.

I would be careful with all calorie free sweetners. There is good research to suggest that eating things that taste sweet but don't provide the expected calories make you eat more to compensate, making them worse for you than just having the sugar in the first place.

Softstuff

Aspartame is safe to consume and I have no worries with it at all. Good article here on sweeteners:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/are-artificial-sweeteners-safe/

*niptuckfan*

Hi OP since new year i have cut out all sweetners/asparatmene foods from my diet - because i was trying to loose weight i got sucked into buying a lot of these products...yoghurts, cereal bars, diet fizzy juice - as my sister is type 1 diabetic i know a little about insulin and how it works in your body and she explained how eating these products your body prepares thinking its getting sugar...it doesnt and thats how you get a spike in your blood sugar and end up craving/eating more - i now have a piece of chocolate if i want it but have found by cutting out these products i feel a lot better...it does take a while to change your taste buds but for me defo worth it...people commenting on my skin looking better and i am loosing more weight than before....good luck x

jezebel1

hi nipuckfan deff giving it a go i feel so rough at the moment anything is worth a try on day 3 today of giving up lol had banging headache yesterday but seems to be easing off so think i was having some kind of withdrawl feeling a little beter today spured on now by people on here like yourself who have tried it and it seems to work thanks x