For years, we've heard that too much sugar is bad for us. We've been advised to eat less desserts and carbs and not consume calories in what we drink. However, I feel now that the tide is turning.
I've recently been convicted to
attempt completely get off of articial sweeteners. It's going to be incredibly difficult. I have finally gotten myself off of sweet tea and regular caffinated/carbonated beverages and switched to unsweet tea with Splenda and diet drinks. Of course, I try to drink water also, but I just am not a huge fan. But lately, all I'm hearing are the dangers of aspertame. I actually talked to a friend from church this weekend that is a nurse practitioner and she says we are just asking for it by continuously consuming these type sweeteners. She strongly feels it is much healthier for us to drink beverages that are sweetened with good ole' fashioned sugar than those that aren't.
Where does that leave me? I'm STUCK! The diet I am so fervently trying to be on doesn't allow me to eat or drink sugar. It's just simply against the rules and would negate everything I work to accomplish with what I eat throughout the day. But, I certainly don't want to increase my risk of cancer, stroke, etc. by drinking diet drinks or those sweetened with Splenda, Equal, and so forth.
What do I do? I've been introduced to Truvia, which is made from the all-natural Stevia plant. It's not artificial and at the time of this post, is healthy. However, there are no carbonated drinks that use Truvia. It seems like it's just six of one and half a dozen the other.
What are your thoughts? Do without sugar and go for Splenda, or go all out and be "sweet?" I'd love to hear!
8 comments:
My doctor that I visit for Crohn's said once that you might as well drink the regular cokes rather than the diets b/c that's not the best sweetner. SO GO SWEET! ha
I say go sweet too! I dislike the taste of artificial sweetners and have read so many negatives about aspartame and other artificail sweetners, so I just use the "real" stuff in moderation (sometimes not in moderation :).
Do you like the Vitamin Waters? There are some that have 50 calories per serving that are not sweetened with artificial sweeteners. The ones that are 10 calories per serving do have artificial sweeteners in them. I dont like the taste of splenda, aspertame, etc, so I was excited to find out that the Vitamin Waters were made with natural sugar and still low in calories.
Sugar may cause you to gain weight if eaten in excess, but at least it is NATURAL and won't cause cancer! I've always felt that way about artificial sweeteners...
Well, I'll go against the grain here and say that if I'm eating healthy and exercising and my only downfall is a diet coke here and there or some Splenda sweet tea, I think I'm doing okay. It seems like everything will kill you these days, so I say drink the diet and just don't drink as much of it!
I think that anything in moderation is just fine. It's when you drink 5 diet cokes a day that might be an issue.
Okay, here's what I know (sorry it's so long but this is one of my soap boxes :)
Vitamin Water 10s have less calories (25 per serving) than the regular ones and do not contain artificial sweeteners. They have crystalline fructose, erthritol (a natural sugar alcohol), and Stevia (the plant they make Truvia out of). So, it's your best bet for something sweet with not many calories and more natural than other things.
I don't drink or eat things with artificial sweeteners like Equal, NutraSweet, or Splenda because I personally think they are not good for us based on research I've done and from talking to our nurse practitioner at church about it.
White sugar is better for us than the artificial stuff but it packs on the pounds so it's kind of a catch 22.
In our home, we use Truvia (from stevia plant), Sun Crystals(Stevia with some white sugar mixed in-5 calories a packet), and Agave nectar which is expensive ($6-7 a bottle) but you don't have to use a lot in a glass of tea. Agave nectar is totally natural and is what the nurse practioner said she uses also. It is derived from the agave plant and has a lower glycemic index than other sugars. It's 40% sweeter than table sugar, so you can use less too. Its taste is most close to that of honey.
Check out this website.
http://www.allaboutagave.com
I actually thought of you when I got that Agave nectar stuff because it said it had a lower glycemic index and I know that's what you're trying to base your diet on. We all should, really.
I personally feel like God has given us everything we need to keep our bodies healthy and to prevent diseases. We just haven't discovered all of them or they are not made available to us to buy easily. I'm SO glad Stevia has been finally marketed for us in the U.S. It kind of makes me mad that sugar and high fructose corn syrup is packed into our foods and a lot of times into things we don't even realize contain it! The food industry wants us to be addicted to it or something to make money. High fructose corn syrup is a cheap sweetener so that's why it's used a lot. I never realized how many foods I could not eat on the South Beach Diet because of what junk they were filled with. I'd rather buy the good, healthy, natural stuff now that costs more than pay it in medical bills later.
As much as I loved my diet dr. pepper and coke zero, I quit cold turkey last September. I haven't had a diet soda or anything with aspartame since. It's been tough, but I did it just fine. I've been getting my soda fix with Sprite and an occasional regular Dr. Pepper. I haven't cut my regular coffee in the morning or an ice tea with supper, but I'm drinking those with good ol' sugar or Truvia. All in moderation though. Good luck!
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