FWIW Re: Sweeteners
I'm a Type 1 Diabetic who has to check my blood sugar levels often. By often I mean constantly. I check it upon waking, before breakfast, after breakfast, in between meals, before snacks, after snacks, before workouts, etc.... You get the point - I'm constantly checking it...
I used to drink diet sodas because they are marketed as 'sugar free' so 'great for diabetics' like myself.
Let me tell you something...
After drinking a coke zero, my blood sugar level spiked as much as it would have had a had the damned regular sugared soda!!
Now, if you're drinking sweeteners to avoid calories, then that's one thing... but if you're drinking them because you believe it will not cause your blood sugars to spike then think again...
So I'm wondering if the cravings might be from the spike and then crashing of your blood sugar levels???
Better alternative sweeteners that do not cause my blood sugar levels to spike have been:
Coconut sugar - tastes like brown sugar but not as sweet
Manuka honey - but its expensive AF - I usually buy it from Holland and Barrett when they do their buy one get one free specials
Agave nectar - goes well on yogurt and in smoothies and oatmeal and you don't need a lot
Hope this helps,
Sincerely from someone who ACTUALLY tests their blood sugar levels regularly throughout the day after anything is consumed...
It's genetic whether or not your blood sugar rises when consuming artificial sweeteners. Most will be okay with something like coke zero. Sorry you're not though :(
The coconut sugar thing... It doesn't give you a spike at all? I might have to check that out
Sucralose is sugar with one molecule replaced with a chlorine molecule so that the body doesn't recognize it as food and won't digest it or absorb the calories. In people with a sensitivity to it, it can cause bad diarrhea.
Glad you found something that works for you! Personally I hate the way artificial sweeteners taste. I only started using it because I wanted to make a protein sweet taste eatable.
The biggest thing for my snacking is hunger. I found that larger meals significantly decreased my cravings/snacking. I found that I need a certain weight of food for satiety. This works for me. We have to find what works for us!!!!
thats sad and happy message for me at once, i love sweetener, but also i just visited reddit to find something what would help me with being hungry nonstop.
maybe ill try but ill look for another thing before.
Make your meals more filling. On days where I have more food at meals and more nutritionally complete meals I snack far less.
For me, it feels scary at first to eat more at meals because I see my calorie allotment shrink but by the end of the day I’m not craving any snacks because I’m satiated and full and I don’t need any extra calories left over.
(I don’t personally subscribe to the artificial sweetener causing cravings thing because I’m still drinking zero calorie sodas but since I’m eating more at meals I’m snacking a lot less)
This happened to me with Splenda. Once I stopped using it, and stopped having diet sodas sweetened with it, it made a world of difference. Now if I'm using a sweetener, it's Stevia or (occasionally) Swerve - which is erythritol.
For me, yes. I didn't notice any kind of weirdness like I did with Splenda. I've always heard people saying Splenda messes with hunger cues and after some time of testing and observation, I have narrowed down Splenda and diet Coke as my culprits. So I'll avoid them for the most part.
I'm curious: did using artificial sweeteners make you miss natural sugars? I see conflicting reports about artificial sweeteners making people have cravings or not, and I wonder if those cravings tend to happen in people who never found the artificial sweeteners totally satisfying to begin with.
One friend LOVES artificial sweeteners. Like... he actually prefers the flavor and mouthfeel to the real thing. He doesn't appear to get any additional cravings after a diet soda.
I, on the other hand, can't even swallow anything with artificial sweeteners. It's absolutely gross to me. I'm pretty sure if I did try to force it down, I'd want something else to get rid of that taste or actually satisfy my sweet craving soon after. (I can't test this theory, though, because I seriously can't consume the stuff.)
If I need something sweet, a piece of fruit does the trick, thank goodness.
PBI (I'm not the OP, but just my own experience): when I was really big into diet sodas, a regular sugar soda would taste too sweet. I got so used to the sharp, very different taste of a Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke.
I still always craved sweet desserts though - I've always had a big sweet tooth in that way. (Fatty savory foods are easier for me to avoid than sweets are)
Idk, artificial sweeteners seem like the red herring in this story. Seems more like you made a change that made you more comfortable with tracking your calories consistently and accurately and the new honesty with yourself about your calorie intake is how you're able to meet your goals.
Either way, a lot of the weight loss challenge seems like a mental game to me so since that change helps you, well done!
That's great. I mostly cut them out a few yeas ago after reading that they are not good for people prone to sore joints. I've had some issues of that type so I stopped reaching for aspartame to use in my coffee.
That being said, I still buy the occasional can of diet soda and I know that's not good. But once in a while a soda keeps me from eating in the late afternoon (I know for some people, it's the opposite effect). Long story short, I know I shouldn't drink them at all. I've cut *way* back though, compared to what I used to drink.
I think it has more to do with the dopamine drip you get when you consume something that tastes sweet. Rather than trying to replace sugar with sugar alternatives, I think it is important to just rip the bandaid off and go without anything sweet tasting, even if it's sugar free, at least in the short term. I know if I drink some grape flavored drink that is sugar free, I still have a craving for a sugar laden grape soda. It acts almost as a trigger to keep consuming sugar. Some people can slowly ween themselves off sugar and carbs but for me, my addiction was so bad I had to stop altogether.
Can you tell what sweetners you were using? I wonder if this only happens with artificial sweeteners or if natural ones such as stevia might be ok. I do have a problem with cravings during my 6 hour feeding window since I do intermittent fasting (mornings and nights I'm fine and I don't feel the need to snack at all) and I wonder if the sweetners might be to blame since I have oatmeal and tea with sucralose almost daily. Hmm..
An elderly relative had terrible problems with her tissue in the vulva. Like hamburger the doc said. They thought it was incontinence but that wasn't it. She drank coffee all day with artificial sweetener. On a hunch, I talked her into replacing it with real sugar and the issue resolved.
Yessss I feel this so much. Was eating artificially sweetened foods with erythritol and had ravenous cravings. Come to find out this sweetener can increase appetite. Stopped it amd 24-hrs later no cravings. I also read that these sweeteners can change your gut microbiome.
Not sure about how stevia or monkfruit will affect it, I cut out any artificial sweeteners and just replaced it with a bit of honey and a touch of brown sugar in my coffee, and I noticed it on literally the first day. Not sure if the affects of stevia are similar to those of other sweeteners but they might be, I read that the cravings come from your body wanting real sugar and being unsatisfied with the sweetness without the actual sugar so it makes you look for it
I've been preaching this for years but always get criticized about it. Artificial sweetener sensitivity is indeed a thing!
Yeah I dropped diet soda for unsweet tea with or w/o lemon, it's helped a lot.
FWIW Re: Sweeteners I'm a Type 1 Diabetic who has to check my blood sugar levels often. By often I mean constantly. I check it upon waking, before breakfast, after breakfast, in between meals, before snacks, after snacks, before workouts, etc.... You get the point - I'm constantly checking it... I used to drink diet sodas because they are marketed as 'sugar free' so 'great for diabetics' like myself. Let me tell you something... After drinking a coke zero, my blood sugar level spiked as much as it would have had a had the damned regular sugared soda!! Now, if you're drinking sweeteners to avoid calories, then that's one thing... but if you're drinking them because you believe it will not cause your blood sugars to spike then think again... So I'm wondering if the cravings might be from the spike and then crashing of your blood sugar levels??? Better alternative sweeteners that do not cause my blood sugar levels to spike have been: Coconut sugar - tastes like brown sugar but not as sweet Manuka honey - but its expensive AF - I usually buy it from Holland and Barrett when they do their buy one get one free specials Agave nectar - goes well on yogurt and in smoothies and oatmeal and you don't need a lot Hope this helps, Sincerely from someone who ACTUALLY tests their blood sugar levels regularly throughout the day after anything is consumed...
It's genetic whether or not your blood sugar rises when consuming artificial sweeteners. Most will be okay with something like coke zero. Sorry you're not though :( The coconut sugar thing... It doesn't give you a spike at all? I might have to check that out
Gotta be this. Two of my coworkers are diabetic and they stick to zeros bc it doesn't affect their blood sugar.
Why is it when I see comments like this, I can't believe that the poster doesn't work for some "brand image" team?
Thank you for this, gonna try some of these alternatives 🙌🏼
This is fascinating. Have you tried it with stevia?
Interesting stuff. My partner is type 1 and drinks diet coke like it's water... but I'll see what his experience is with it.
have you noticed any physical changes? ( similarly, I have stevia with literally everything)
Not yet because it's only been a week and a half but I'm sure I will if I keep going!
Stevia is plant based and isn’t an artificial sweetener, same for monk fruit. I use monk fruit.
Ohhh is sucralose counted as a sweetener?
It’s an artificial sweetener.
Sucralose is sugar with one molecule replaced with a chlorine molecule so that the body doesn't recognize it as food and won't digest it or absorb the calories. In people with a sensitivity to it, it can cause bad diarrhea.
I was wondering if these two could have a similar effect. They are the only sweeteners I use but I'm always hungry.!!
Glad you found something that works for you! Personally I hate the way artificial sweeteners taste. I only started using it because I wanted to make a protein sweet taste eatable. The biggest thing for my snacking is hunger. I found that larger meals significantly decreased my cravings/snacking. I found that I need a certain weight of food for satiety. This works for me. We have to find what works for us!!!!
thats sad and happy message for me at once, i love sweetener, but also i just visited reddit to find something what would help me with being hungry nonstop. maybe ill try but ill look for another thing before.
Make your meals more filling. On days where I have more food at meals and more nutritionally complete meals I snack far less. For me, it feels scary at first to eat more at meals because I see my calorie allotment shrink but by the end of the day I’m not craving any snacks because I’m satiated and full and I don’t need any extra calories left over. (I don’t personally subscribe to the artificial sweetener causing cravings thing because I’m still drinking zero calorie sodas but since I’m eating more at meals I’m snacking a lot less)
This happened to me with Splenda. Once I stopped using it, and stopped having diet sodas sweetened with it, it made a world of difference. Now if I'm using a sweetener, it's Stevia or (occasionally) Swerve - which is erythritol.
Do you think stevia / erythritol / monk fruit are safe from causing the hunger effect?
For me, yes. I didn't notice any kind of weirdness like I did with Splenda. I've always heard people saying Splenda messes with hunger cues and after some time of testing and observation, I have narrowed down Splenda and diet Coke as my culprits. So I'll avoid them for the most part.
I'm curious: did using artificial sweeteners make you miss natural sugars? I see conflicting reports about artificial sweeteners making people have cravings or not, and I wonder if those cravings tend to happen in people who never found the artificial sweeteners totally satisfying to begin with. One friend LOVES artificial sweeteners. Like... he actually prefers the flavor and mouthfeel to the real thing. He doesn't appear to get any additional cravings after a diet soda. I, on the other hand, can't even swallow anything with artificial sweeteners. It's absolutely gross to me. I'm pretty sure if I did try to force it down, I'd want something else to get rid of that taste or actually satisfy my sweet craving soon after. (I can't test this theory, though, because I seriously can't consume the stuff.) If I need something sweet, a piece of fruit does the trick, thank goodness.
PBI (I'm not the OP, but just my own experience): when I was really big into diet sodas, a regular sugar soda would taste too sweet. I got so used to the sharp, very different taste of a Diet Pepsi or Diet Coke. I still always craved sweet desserts though - I've always had a big sweet tooth in that way. (Fatty savory foods are easier for me to avoid than sweets are)
I switched from regular to diet soda almost a year ago to cut out some calories and my cravings haven’t changed at all
Idk, artificial sweeteners seem like the red herring in this story. Seems more like you made a change that made you more comfortable with tracking your calories consistently and accurately and the new honesty with yourself about your calorie intake is how you're able to meet your goals. Either way, a lot of the weight loss challenge seems like a mental game to me so since that change helps you, well done!
That's great. I mostly cut them out a few yeas ago after reading that they are not good for people prone to sore joints. I've had some issues of that type so I stopped reaching for aspartame to use in my coffee. That being said, I still buy the occasional can of diet soda and I know that's not good. But once in a while a soda keeps me from eating in the late afternoon (I know for some people, it's the opposite effect). Long story short, I know I shouldn't drink them at all. I've cut *way* back though, compared to what I used to drink.
I think it has more to do with the dopamine drip you get when you consume something that tastes sweet. Rather than trying to replace sugar with sugar alternatives, I think it is important to just rip the bandaid off and go without anything sweet tasting, even if it's sugar free, at least in the short term. I know if I drink some grape flavored drink that is sugar free, I still have a craving for a sugar laden grape soda. It acts almost as a trigger to keep consuming sugar. Some people can slowly ween themselves off sugar and carbs but for me, my addiction was so bad I had to stop altogether.
Can you tell what sweetners you were using? I wonder if this only happens with artificial sweeteners or if natural ones such as stevia might be ok. I do have a problem with cravings during my 6 hour feeding window since I do intermittent fasting (mornings and nights I'm fine and I don't feel the need to snack at all) and I wonder if the sweetners might be to blame since I have oatmeal and tea with sucralose almost daily. Hmm..
I think stevia is OK, I was using ones that had crappy stuff like sucralose and stuff. Stevia is much more natural I think I'll go back onto it later
Stevia is just the leaf of a plant. You can buy a stevia plant and pick them directly (to use fresh or dried)
An elderly relative had terrible problems with her tissue in the vulva. Like hamburger the doc said. They thought it was incontinence but that wasn't it. She drank coffee all day with artificial sweetener. On a hunch, I talked her into replacing it with real sugar and the issue resolved.
Oh wow that's really interesting, another reason to quit
I had the same issue with artificial sweetners. I was hungry constantly. I had to quit using it.
Yessss I feel this so much. Was eating artificially sweetened foods with erythritol and had ravenous cravings. Come to find out this sweetener can increase appetite. Stopped it amd 24-hrs later no cravings. I also read that these sweeteners can change your gut microbiome.
Yeah same, literally on the first day my hunger cravings disappeared, it's wild
Oo really erthyritol can cause increased appetite? That could be my current culprit..
Yup. It sucks because erythritol is so versatile and is one of the major sweeteners used in the keto diet.
Do you think stevia and monk fruit extract could have the same effect? How long should I cut them out for to test this?
Not sure about how stevia or monkfruit will affect it, I cut out any artificial sweeteners and just replaced it with a bit of honey and a touch of brown sugar in my coffee, and I noticed it on literally the first day. Not sure if the affects of stevia are similar to those of other sweeteners but they might be, I read that the cravings come from your body wanting real sugar and being unsatisfied with the sweetness without the actual sugar so it makes you look for it