Sugar-substitute food: they can't be that bad yes?

Zeze

Lifer
Mar 4, 2011
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I need your H&F expertise.

While trying to eat healthy, sugar free jello has been a god-send to stave off snack cravings.

My initial google search shows that they're generally fine and add nothing to weight gain. I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

I've read articles about how fake sugar is bad for your metabolism and gets your craving going more, but if that's all you eat for snack, I don't see a problem with it.

What are your thoughts?

http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/1ekxs3/ysk_sugar_substitutes_do_not_cause_cancer_have/
 
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2timer

Golden Member
Apr 20, 2012
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My immediate experience has been that when dieting and hungry, if I eat something that has aspartame in it, like chewing gum or Monster, I get awful headaches that don't respond to aspirin. So I don't touch artificial sweeteners. There are much better options.
 

Zeze

Lifer
Mar 4, 2011
11,395
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My immediate experience has been that when dieting and hungry, if I eat something that has aspartame in it, like chewing gum or Monster, I get awful headaches that don't respond to aspirin. So I don't touch artificial sweeteners. There are much better options.

What are the 'much better' options that'll curb the sweet kick?

I don't have any reaction from them.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
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What are the 'much better' options that'll curb the sweet kick?

I don't have any reaction from them.

Pretty much they're all terrible for you. I was on agave for awhile, but that's just as bad for you as anything else. Some light reading:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/agave-this-sweetener-is-f_b_537936.html

But, I also recognize that I cave once in awhile. I want to be a man of steel against sugar, but it's also nice to enjoy life once in awhile. So right now I try to make more natural sugary stuff. One of my staples is these chocolate-chip cookies:

2 cups Almond Meal
1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
1/3 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 cup Melted Coconut Oil
1 tablespoon Honey
1 tablespoon Maple Syrup
2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/3 cup Dark Chocolate Chips (I use soy chips, due to a dairy allergy)
1/3 cup Walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix almond meal, salt, baking soda (by electric mixer, not hand)
3. Add coconut oil, honey, maple syrup, vanilla
4. Fold chocolate chips & walnuts into mixture & roll into golf-ball size
5. Add a pinch of sea salt to the outside
6. Gently flatten as you put them on the cookie sheet (they don't really flatten as they cook)
7. Bake for 9 minutes (the outer edges will get golden-brown, careful - they burn easily)

These cookies are AMAZING. It has honey and maple syrup as the sugar, plus the chocolate chips, and that's it - no refined white sugar, no brown sugar, no corn syrup or HFCS, no agave nectar, no aspartame or stevia.
 

mple

Senior member
Oct 10, 2011
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17828671

Short summary: practice moderation.

My immediate experience has been that when dieting and hungry, if I eat something that has aspartame in it, like chewing gum or Monster, I get awful headaches that don't respond to aspirin. So I don't touch artificial sweeteners. There are much better options.

My experience with sugar substitutes is quite the opposite, but it is of course anecdotal experience; therefore, it should be taken with a grain of salt.
 

NickelPlate

Senior member
Nov 9, 2006
652
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I had a Medical Doctor years ago tell me that anything that tastes sweet is an appetite stimulant whether it's real sugar or a substitute. Meaning that you'll probably want more in a short time. Speaking from personal experience and reading up on the trickery of the processed food industry, I have no problem agreeing with that.

As far as which ones are better? Well I don't know for certain but I like Stevia extract (the white stuff). You can either get it in powder form at a health food store or the chain grocery stores now sell a more processed version under the brand name of Truvia.

It's good stuff and doesn't take much to add some sweetness but I'd go easy on anything with processed sugars or heaps of artificial sweeteners. Jello is fine and I like it too on occasion but I think you'd be better off eating a piece of fruit which is not only sweet with natural sugars but also choose something which has some bulk fiber which helps to fill you up and keep you that way. Drink liberal amounts of water (8oz or more) with an apple and you won't be hungry for awhile.
 

iluvdeal

Golden Member
Nov 22, 1999
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These cookies are AMAZING. It has honey and maple syrup as the sugar, plus the chocolate chips, and that's it - no refined white sugar, no brown sugar, no corn syrup or HFCS, no agave nectar, no aspartame or stevia.

That's a miniscule amount of sweetener in your recipe given the amount of meal you use, the cookies aren't bland tasting? Usually you see people using ~1 cup of sugar for every cup of flour. The saturated fat from the coconut oil is the only thing that concerns me, you could replace it with applesauce but your cookies will end up more cakey.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
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That's a miniscule amount of sweetener in your recipe given the amount of meal you use, the cookies aren't bland tasting? Usually you see people using ~1 cup of sugar for every cup of flour. The saturated fat from the coconut oil is the only thing that concerns me, you could replace it with applesauce but your cookies will end up more cakey.

You'd think so. These are fantastic. Seriously. I've been off dairy/gluten for years and have been trying to find a cookie like this. Even my non-gluten-free friends think they're pretty good!

Use an electric mixer (hand mixer or Kitchen-aid), don't mix it by hand - it comes out very crumbly until you mash it together with your hands to form it into balls. Follow the recipe to the letter the first time you try it. I use raw honey, although regular works fine too. I also use Madagascar vanilla ($$$ :() because of its great flavor. I recommend buying pre-made Almond meal (Whole Foods has it).
 

DAPUNISHER

Super Moderator CPU Forum Mod and Elite Member
Super Moderator
Aug 22, 2001
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That's a miniscule amount of sweetener in your recipe given the amount of meal you use, the cookies aren't bland tasting? Usually you see people using ~1 cup of sugar for every cup of flour. The saturated fat from the coconut oil is the only thing that concerns me, you could replace it with applesauce but your cookies will end up more cakey.
Virgin Coconut oil is good for you. hydrogenated has trans fats in it, which of course are not. And saturated fat got a bad rap back in the day. But a number of studies done since then, have failed to find an association between saturated fat and heart disease.

I read about it here along with other sources. Among them the film Fathead
 

surfsatwerk

Lifer
Mar 6, 2008
10,110
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Sugar alcohols will literally make my farts so toxic that people literally have died. But other than that no big whoop.
 

darkxshade

Lifer
Mar 31, 2001
13,749
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It can get expensive but this is something I've been doing a lot of lately that helped me curb my snack cravings while on a caloric deficit.

So it's a fact that drinking a lot of water does the trick to keep one fuller except I can't stand to consume plain water due to the tasteless and unsatisfying nature of drinking water as a snack. So I bought a ton of nuun(hydration tablets) which flavors the water and carbonates it a little. Every tablet is about 8 calories and every night, I drink 2-3 tablets worth. It sort of tastes like unsweetened Gatorade with a bit of bite. It's been working great for me and I buy the multipacks so there are a lot of flavors to try that it never gets boring.
 
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_Rick_

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2012
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Just gargle some sugar water.
Or hit some fruit, if you feel the need for a sweet snack.
Banana, apple, anything with a high water and cellulose content and a bit of sweet and sour will do the trick.

Currently I'm also snacking on cereal bars, as they have some sugar, a few carbs, but also some full-grains which fill your belly, while having little nutritional value. Makes the hunger pangs go away, gives you a brief sugar high should you need it, and even has a few long carbs so your body doesn't go into all-out suffering mode.
 

Zeze

Lifer
Mar 4, 2011
11,395
1,181
126
Just gargle some sugar water.
Or hit some fruit, if you feel the need for a sweet snack.
Banana, apple, anything with a high water and cellulose content and a bit of sweet and sour will do the trick.

Currently I'm also snacking on cereal bars, as they have some sugar, a few carbs, but also some full-grains which fill your belly, while having little nutritional value. Makes the hunger pangs go away, gives you a brief sugar high should you need it, and even has a few long carbs so your body doesn't go into all-out suffering mode.

Fruit is a big no for keto- tons of sugar and carb.

The cereal bars are deceivingly bad for you too.
 

smackababy

Lifer
Oct 30, 2008
27,024
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It is threads like this that make me happy I dislike almost all sweet foods. Sour, I love, but sweet just doesn't do it for me.
 

_Rick_

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2012
3,941
69
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Fruit is a big no for keto- tons of sugar and carb.

The cereal bars are deceivingly bad for you too.

Well, I gotta bridge that 12:30-22:30 gap somehow ;)
I can't afford to have an empty stomach for 4 hours, and then go for a bike ride or to volleyball practice feeling miserable. Better to have some slight reserves, because the better I feel, the more I can put the hammer down.
But then I'm rating cardio-fitness over weight.

As for tons of sugar and carb: compared to most of the other stuff you could snack, fruit is still doing relatively good. Of course, if you're on a keto diet, then you gotta do what ya gotta do. I try to keep things slightly more balanced, as long as my weight isn't getting into regions where it really shouldn't be.
 
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