Sugar Alternatives, good or bad?

[GGreen]

Like stevia, good or bad for you?

[Odidnetne]

I'm wary of those no-calorie sweeteners, I think that there is too much money in the low-carb and diabetic industry protecting it for real research, plus anything that's no water and has no calories shouldn't be consumed, in my opinion.

[GGreen]

True that, however stevia is not like aspartame or other harmful sugar alternatives developed by some company to make money, it is a natural plant. Now, whether this sweet plant that is sweeter than sugar is harmful is questionable.

[Odidnetne]

True that, however stevia is not like aspartame or other harmful sugar alternatives developed by some company to make money, it is a natural plant. Now, whether this sweet plant that is sweeter than sugar is harmful is questionable.

 

I'm not 100% familiar with Stevia though, does it have calories?

[GGreen]

True that, however stevia is not like aspartame or other harmful sugar alternatives developed by some company to make money, it is a natural plant. Now, whether this sweet plant that is sweeter than sugar is harmful is questionable.

 

I'm not 100% familiar with Stevia though, does it have calories?

 

 

It has zero calories

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

http://www.healthrecipes.com/health_stevia.htm

http://www.stevia.com/SteviaArticle.asp?ID=2415

[_raVen_]

Stevia has been used for hundreds of years by indigenous People in South America and in Japan with no ill or side effects. It is the FDA which won't allow it to be sold as a "sweetener" (but as a supplement ). Most of this has to do with the long arm of the Sugar and artificial sweetener industries, whose lobbies are about as powerful as the cattle and dairy industries.

 

Now, large amounts of anything isn't "good"; so, I would probably not consume a cup of the stuff per day.

Good thing is *very* little is needed. for some, it may take getting used to; others, like me, may really like it.

 

I use it daily in my green smoothies. Good in iced tea too, if you need a sweetener.

 

For recipes, it is best combined with another natural sweetener, like sugar, for better taste results.

 

In recipes with citrus, it is also enhanced greatly -- lemonade or iced tea with lemon, for a couple examples.

[michael]

Stevia is 100% natural. It has sort of fallen into the "too good to be true" category of nutritional supplements because the FDA, working on behalf of the sugar and artificial sweetener lobby has given it a nebulous rating for safety. To this day, it cannot be labeled as a sweetener, even though that's exactly what it is sold as in other industrialized nations.

 

Stevia has been used by native Paraguayans for centuries and in Japan, whose people are wary of any artificial ingredients, it has been the sweetener of choice (along with xylitol) for a couple decades now. The anti-stevia crowd was so worried about this natural, nutritive, non-caloric and diabetic safe alternative, that it actually strong armed the FDA in attempting to BURN all books related to stevia. That's how much they felt threatened by stevia...

[Kathryn]

I remember when, right after I bought a book on sweetening with stevia, they were taken off the shelves. (&@#$ the FDA!

 

Stevia is also good for helping prevent dental decay, as it has natural antibacterial properties.

 

I like to add a liquid flavored stevia to water (Wisdom Herbs makes it in orange, vanilla and chocolate/raspberry). Just a few drops will do.

 

It's funny to see some of the stevia in the health food store: if you get the powder, it seems a bit expensive, until you look at the label, and see that it has over 100 servings (and a teeny, tiny scoop in to measure them out!)

[Guest]

I bought mine on ebay...equal to 450 packets for 18 bucks...I gave half of it to my mother and I still have a bunch left and its now been over a year. I'll probably get more in november. I love it!!!! Its great for light sweetening but not if you want something super sweet...so if you want super sweet food I suggest getting it modestly sweet with stevia then using agave or raw sugar to do the rest...its not so pricey if you no where to get it

[chesty leroux]

i used to use stevia in my oatmeal and stuff, it's ok, it has quite a distinctive aftertaste. And when i tried to bake with it, it was a disaster. But i felt better using it then all the chemical stuff.

[Guest]

Thats where I stop using it. I add it in really small increments up intil I know if I add anymore the after taste will kick in...thats when I use raw sugar but preferably agave to do the rest...when I do it right I never even notice(well I do but thats because I made whatever I'm eating or drinking)

[Kathryn]

Don't forget date sugar as well: made solely from dried, powdered dates. It tastes especially good in baked goods that have tropical flavors (coconut, pineapple) or are a bit more substantial (coffee cakes) because of its distinctive flavor.

[Guest]

I always forget about date sugar because I never have any...and just breeze by it in the grocery store. My mother makes some mean zuchini bread and carrot cake with date sugar and the non-hydrogenated Tofutti cream cheese(that means its healthy cream cheese)

[lmmy]

Which sugar alternative? No-calorie ones or ones with calories? In the latter case, maple syrup = good, blackstrap molasses = good, agave = semi-good (environmental destruction is tied to it), fructose = not so good, HFCS = bad. Those are all that I know of.

[Guest]

I love maple but I will only eat it if I go out occationally...its far too wastefull. It takes 50 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup...far too taxing on the trees for my tastes

[Odidnetne]

I love maple but I will only eat it if I go out occationally...its far too wastefull. It takes 50 gallons of sap to get one gallon of syrup...far too taxing on the trees for my tastes

 

My friend owns a bunch of maple trees and taps them once a year, that's the only time I'll have it, and we only have like a 16 oz jar to get us through the year, though that dissappears in oatmeal pretty quickly. If I had a griddle, there wouldn't be any left after 3 days of vegan pancakes.

[endcruelty]

stevia is the shit ... no cals no cards no buzz no nothing.... there are brands out there that do have a weird after taste, but after using the powder form, no more after taste..... i'd recommend poweder over liquid..... but if you do get the liquid one make sure it doesnt contain alcohol

 

i buy tons of maple syrup..... 1. cuz it tastes awesome 2. it is 100% sugar but its not prosessed like all that other crap so im content with that 3. im canadian what you expect?

[michael]

Which sugar alternative? No-calorie ones or ones with calories? In the latter case, maple syrup = good, blackstrap molasses = good, agave = semi-good (environmental destruction is tied to it), fructose = not so good, HFCS = bad. Those are all that I know of.

 

My favorites of all are xylitol and erythritol. Xylose is actually an important constituent in human metabolic pathhways. I posted some information and links here when a thread was started on 'zylitol' last year:

 

viewtopic.php?t=1315&highlight=zylitol

 

Fructo-oligosaccharides (present in certain foods like Luo Han Guo fruit and sold in concentrated form by TriMedica as 'Slim Sweet') is still another nutritive, natural sweetener.

 

So there are at least 5 sweeteners you can use that are beneficial and health promoting:

 

1. Stevia

2. Agave Nectar

3. Xylitol

4. Erythritol

5. FOS

 

There's little need to ever really take in table sugar in its various forms as they are all basically cariogenic, promote insulin spiking and feed Candida yeast in the body to some extent.

[Kathryn]

3. Xylitol

4. Erythritol

 

How processed are these?

 

And what is Erythritol? I've heard of Xylitol.

[Guest]

I'd probably eat maple if it was processed that way...tap a few trees for yourself but don't strain any individual tree too terribly.

 

As for other sweeteners has anyone used Malitol...its in my grocers natural food section and its pretty darn cheap but I'm iffy on trying it until I get a thumbs up from someone.

[lmmy]

In my opinion, maple syrup is better than agave nectar -- the agave plant is being forced to the edge of extinction by demand for tequila and agave nectar. The agave plant has a very slow life cycle, you see.

[Guest]

Agave is grown in fields like corn...atleast the field I saw for Jose Cuervo...there's no way it was a natural field like that....as for taste by itself I have to admit maple is better but for ice tea and things I go for agave...if its something baked I normally like molasses the most...maple is nice on pancakes and some baked goods but thats it for me

[michael]

And what is Erythritol? I've heard of Xylitol.

 

I purchase both xylitol and erythritol from my local health food store. This page sums up the properties well:

 

http://www.somethingbetternaturalfoods.com/Nutrition%20and%20Ingredients/Sweeteners/Erythritol.htm

 

Maltitol, like sorbitol is not as easily tolerated in the body like the above polyols. Still, I'll reach for a chocolate bar made with maltitol before grabbing one made with sugar.

[Guest]

If your body tolerates I wonder if its OK...I'm happy with stevia and don't need anything else but I'm just curious. As for liking it more than sugar does that include raw organic sugar???

[michael]

If your body tolerates I wonder if its OK...I'm happy with stevia and don't need anything else but I'm just curious. As for liking it more than sugar does that include raw organic sugar???

 

Stevia is one of the four sweeteners I routinely use in the list of five alternates to sugar I posted. I generally don't purchase Agave. The drawback to stevia is the licorice-like aftertaste. It doesn't work for me alone in oatmeal and homemade soy/hemp milk but I use just enough to avoid having to use more of the higher priced xylitol. I don't buy sugar, processed, raw, organic or otherwise. The greatest benefit of xylitol is that my cravings for sugar has been vastly diminished.

 

Check out these research articles on its dental and upper respitory benefits here:

 

http://xlear.com/xylitol/research.aspx?focus=xylitol

 

Here's another link especially germane to a bodybuilding and fitness forum:

 

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/xylitol.htm

 

The bottom of the article states this about xylitol:

 

"For those looking to increase anabolism and decrease catabolism xylitol may be one more thing to add to the list of helpful substances. Xylitol has been shown to increase ATP, to increase fat release and utilization, to replenish glycogen, to be anabolic, anticatabolic, antioxidant, and it helps fight muscle fatigue."