stevia v.s. splenda

[sweeten09]

I have read alot about stevia. Is this better than splenda? I have a sweet tooth and it is hard for me to wean off of the splenda in my coffee and egg shake. I even stopped drinking coffee because it added to my splenda carb.

[Georgiana]

I really think everyone needs to find the sweeteners that work for her. I get a cephalic response from Splenda, aspartame (this also stalls me or makes me retain water... I was never interested to test it long enough to figure it out exactly ), cyclamate, saccharine and ace-K. Never tried sugar alcohols like xylitol, so I don't know about those ones. I tolerate stevia much better, although I still have issues if I have more than 1-2 packets per day so I try to use only 1/3 or 1/2 of a packet at once.

Lately I didn't have any sweeteners. Last time I had something artificially sweetened was almost half a year ago. I really can't say I miss them... If I want something sweet I eat things like red/yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes, roasted zucchini (I find the yellow one sweeter) or berries.

Anyway, stevia may have carbs depending which brand you use. For example SweetLeaf has none, but Truvia and PureVia do (from sugar alcohols, so they claim we can "ignore" them). But even these stevia sweeteners would be restricted to 3 servings per day, regardless of the carbs in them.

[sweeten09]

Thank you for the reply on Stevia, I think I will try switching from Splenda and see if it makes any difference. I only use it occasionally anyway, but I do like a little sweetness in my tea.

[Georgiana]

Good that you mentioned tea, because I forgot to add something in my previous post. When I deal with cravings because of my TOM, I often make cinnamon tea. It's sweet enough that it doesn't need any sweetener added to it.

Megs posted the recipe a while ago. I'll go search for it and give you the link... Be right back.

---

Here it is: http://www.atkinsdietbulletinboard.c...lly-sweet.html (Cinnamon Tea: Naturally SWEET!)

[Nancy Mo]

My nutritionist/chiropractor restricts the use of any artificial sweetner, except Stevia!!

[Nancy Mo]

He said the others have too many toxins. Equal and Splenda have been linked to Multiple Sclerosis. Noticed there are more people diagnosed with that lately? I have. The biggest culprit is diet sodas!!

[imagood1]

Most diet sodas are sweetened with aspartame (Equal under a different name) not Splenda. Diet Rite is one of the only brands I've seen that is sweetened with Splenda. I agree with Georgia about Stevia and the counts...we are allowed 3 sweeteners a day - I use the Sweetleaf occassionally and even though it has no carb count I do count it toward my daily total.

Audrey what I've been doing is I fill my cup with decaf in the morning and add a litle cream and 1 packet of Splenda...any additional coffee I have during the day I only have cream in it - the first couple days I didn't care for my after dinner cup because it wasn't "sweet" but now that I've been doing it for a few days I found myself having my 1st cup of the day with only cream in it...no Splenda. I tried adding the Sweetleaf to my after dinner cup but decided I still don't care for the taste of it so I didn't do it again.

[sweeten09]

I have been getting used to the taste of stevia (sweetleaf). I think with the cream and 1/2 packet, I will be able to start eliminating it completely.

Yesterday I had my 2 eggs with bacon for breakfast, for lunch I had a 2 cups Ceasar Salad with 3 oz steak, I kept 1/2 of the salad and steak for dinner and whipped up 2 scrabbled eggs with 1 oz cheese and 2 pieces of bacon. I felt I did not have enough carb for the day. I had stored some strawberries in the freezer and had abour 6-8 with cream. My sugar was at 90. I feel I should be going up the rung even though I am not moving the scale. I do see a difference in my measurements. I also look thinner. When does that scale move? This stall is getting me down.
My fitday is always within the percentages and I am in moderate ketosis each night.

[sweeten09]

Mistake- 7 oz steak at lunch, saved 1/2 for dinner. Audrey

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by sweeten09

I feel I should be going up the rung even though I am not moving the scale. I do see a difference in my measurements. I also look thinner. When does that scale move? This stall is getting me down.

If your measurements are changing, you are not a stalled. A stall would be four consecutive weeks without weight or inches lost. IF you were in a stall, it would have meant you had either reached your CCLL or had an intolerance to some food. For food intolerances, once you figure them out, you just drop the food that's been causing you problems. If instead you had found your CCLL, then you can still climb up the rungs, just stay below your CCLL by swapping food groups (e.g. have 5 net carbs of beans one day instead of 5 net carbs of diary).

If you are a slow loser, then you will need to stay longer in every rung, to see how foods are affecting you. But other than that, it should not hold you back from climbing the Carbohydrate Ladder.