Zero calorie sweetner linked to heart disease, blood clotting and strokes new study finds.

[Iron Woode]

Your post doesn't make much sense. All maple syrup has antioxidants and minerals. I say highly processed because it's filtered for large impurities and then cooked over low indirect heat for days. Maple sap is like an off clear mildly sweet water. Nutritious if you're lost in the woods and come across someone's catch can for it. Takes something like 14 gallons of sap to make a little more than a gallon of maple syrup as you know it. Taste and grading comes down to when the sap was harvested.

When I was a child we had family friends at the time who would grow birch and make syrup from the sap. I've only had it about twice here in the US, but they'd give our family a decent container of it back when we lived in the uk. Birch syrup is still very rare because it requires way more sap to be cooked down than maple. I had to google the figure but it's 110 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. It's very expensive if you can find it in stores. A 16 oz bottle will run you about $90 for an early season and the price goes down later in the season as the quality goes down. The third syrup I've seen a few times in my life has been sweet sorghum syrup. I've seen sorghum a few times in pearled format in shops but I don't know how to cook it besides to a porridge state.

maple syrup is made using a 40:1 ratio of sap to syrup.

There are quite a few sugar shacks and sugar bushes around my area. Maple syrup here in 100% natural and organic. The only processing is boiling it down. Grading comes down to the syrup's chemical make up which varies by tree and time of collection. Birch syrup is not common here but you can find it if you look for it. It's more expensive than maple syrup.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

As a diabetic, I try to avoid artificial sweeteners. I drink mostly water and occasionally cranberry juice. I rarely have a diet drink. I am not surprised there are issues with some sweeteners.

Warms me heart to read you are taking good care of yourself.

And there may indeed be issues with some sweeteners. I am cynical about this particular study is all. Basing it on an already high risk group makes it tough for me to put any stock in. I'd also like funding fully disclosed so I know no one has a horse in the race.

After so many studies reaching opposite conclusions on eggs, caffeine, animal fat, on and on, I pay no attention until a consensus emerges over time. Even then I apply a modicum of cynicism before incorporating any of the information into my lifestyle. That is, if I do incorporate it.

 

[A///]

maple syrup is made using a 40:1 ratio of sap to syrup.

There are quite a few sugar shacks and sugar bushes around my area. Maple syrup here in 100% natural and organic. The only processing is boiling it down. Grading comes down to the syrup's chemical make up which varies by tree and time of collection. Birch syrup is not common here but you can find it if you look for it. It's more expensive than maple syrup.

Whoops. I wrote that and had to second guess it because it didn't sound right. The color taste I already went over later in the post. Also the cost of birch syrup.

I personally like the tail end of the maple sap harvest where the color and flavors are stronger. That maple syrup will put hair on your chest.

 

[Torn Mind]

Birches have the original patent on xylitol. Only problem...they seem rather...vegetative....

 

[manly]

I'll avoid erythritol, and all sugar alcohols for that matter.

Common sweetener found to significantly and immediately boost heart attack and stroke risk

A common sweetener, erythritol, causes stress in brain vessel cells, reduces protective nitric oxide, and blocks clot-busting signals.

www.earth.com

 

[Muse]

I'll avoid erythritol, and all sugar alcohols for that matter.

Common sweetener found to significantly and immediately boost heart attack and stroke risk

A common sweetener, erythritol, causes stress in brain vessel cells, reduces protective nitric oxide, and blocks clot-busting signals.

www.earth.com

I use a teensy little bit of stevia in my lemonade and tea.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

After we established both the origins of Aspartame and emerging evidence of adverse effects, I attempted to get background information on substitutes. I had been drinking Aspartame-sweetened soda pop for the last two or three years.

Supposedly Monkfruit by itself is not harmful, but it is usually supplemented by Erythritol. Based on this thread, I'm avoiding erythritol until I receive additional information.

Sucralose is interesting stuff. By itself, the molecule contains chlorine atoms but doesn't metabolize. It goes into the body to provide sweetening, and goes out of the body without alteration. The acesulfame potassium which often accompanies sucralose may only stress the kidneys with the extra potassium. I have discovered -- to the best of my knowledge -- that SHASTA, the California manufacturer, produces the only Grapefruit soda available with the Sucralose/Acesulfame-K sweetener. For the flavor, I've come to love the stuff.

Stevia appears to be not only harmless, but possibly beneficial in blood sugar and blood pressure management. I ordered a few cases of stevia-sweetened soft drinks through Amazon: the prevailing product seems to be "Zevia". I was warned in advance that stevia has a slightly metallic taste, and confirmed that this feature is most noticeable with certain flavors of the soda drinks. The Orange soda seems to be passable.

I had ordered bags of powdered Aspartame, Stevia and the Monkfruit-plus-erythritol formulation. I plan to stick with the Stevia for making my homemade lemonade with my homemade lemons.. In fact, I'm going to mix up a batch today.

For now, I'm inclined to get Shasta grapefruit and lemon-lime soda with sucralose -- and perhaps the root-beer if they have it. I'm also attempting to drink more water and V8 juice and less carbonated drinks. I'm feeling pretty good lately. Of course I'm going out this morning to get a sausage-egg-and-cheese breakfast biscuit, because the kitchen is a mess for my yesterday's preparation of breaded catfish filets for freezing and later use.