Artificial Sweetner Alternatives

I put artificial sweeteners on my cereal and in my 3 or 4 cups of green tea (Sodium Saccharin) everyday as a substitute to sugar. I hear artificial sweetners are bad (not exactly sure why, I hear Saccharin can cause UTI's and bladder problems) so would like to try a natural sweetener but what? Can anyone suggest something cheap and something I can buy within the UK? What about Xylitol?

Thanks

stevia

elan164 wrote:stevia

Thanks, it seems stevia and xylitol both have many benefits to health, I guess either would do. Stevia is suppose to improves insulin sensitivity, reduces blood sugar and inflammation while xylitol helps with teeth and bones.

Having a difficult time finding stevia, Holland and Barrett does no sell it (at least on their website) and when I look on Google Shopping, I keep getting supplements and liquids.

Can someone find a UK link with cheap P&P? I will keep looking though.

I would suggest Lo Han, then Xylitol, then Stevia, then Whey Low, then erythritol in that order.

Stay away from Splenda (Sucralose) and Aspartame.

The short answer is increased cardiovascular disease and obesity, excitotoxicity, and destruction of intestinal flora.

Too much stevia (when used in excess) can stimulate insulin.

This is why Lo Han is at the top of the list, it causes the least problems and actually is good for you.

I need to check out Lo Han... haven't tried that yet. Like many of you guys, I try to stay away from Aspartame, Saccharine, Acesulfame K, and usually Sucralose. My one weakness for sucralose was the Monster Java Lo-Ball I use to have every so often.

Of the sugar alcohols mentioned, Erythritol and Xylitol, Xylitol has the most research behind it. I don't think there is really much research on Erythritol. Erythritol, although a little less sweet (70% of sucrose), has almost no calories and is supposed to have most all Xylitol's benefits with less of its potential gastric issues. Both have a slight cool taste so I only use them (as the sole sweetener) in certain things, in limited amounts.

In general I'm trying to get away from using any sweeteners, but some teas are still pretty nasty without anything. :-)

If I use a sweetener in my rolled oats, it is Trehalose (on sale now 2 for one from Swansonvitamins). I started trying it after reading about its potential use for Alzheimer's and also inducing autophagy.

Stevia is still my main sweetener for teas. I've tried a lot of different brands and forms (liquid, powder, 'granulated' combos , etc.) but the one I use most is KAL Pure Stevia Extract. Comes with that little scoop/spoon. A 3.5oz bottle lasts a very long time.

On the subject of Erythritol and Stevia... Coca-Cola (paired with Cargill) has truvia, and Pepsi (paired with Whole Earth) has PureVia. Both of these two use the shadily FDA GRAS approved Rebaudioside A (rebiana) stevioside. I say shadily because the FDA approved this single stevioside with much fewer studies to back it up than there are for Stevia (and of course there were zero studies on the Erythritol and Rebiana combos themselves), but won't give Stevia GRAS status stating lack of studies and pointing to one flawed study that suggested steviocide could be mutagenic. WHO and other world organizations have declared it safe but the FDA keeps it off the GRAS list as they are getting money from the big dogs to do so.

From what I hear, truvia's Erythritol is GMO derived while PureVia's Erythritol is non-GMO derived. But PureVia also has isomaltulose in it as well. Supposedly Coke has a 'Sprite Green' drink sweetened with truvia, but I have yet to see it. I've seen nothing local using PureVia either. As much as I prefer just using Stevia over these two, since we can't seem to stop folks from drinking the diet soft drinks I would still like to see both Pepsi and Coke replace Aspartame and Acesulfame K in their diet drinks with these two. Wonder if it will ever happen?

Some good reads:
http://nutritionwonderland.com/2009/02/stevia-controversy
http://nutritionwonderland.com/2009/02/truvia-purevia-past-future
http://nutritionwonderland.com/2009/02/science-truvia-and-purevia-rebiana

till now i´ve gone with stevia, but lo han sounds even better..
CS does lo han has a bitter taste also?? And would you recommand to go for powder or liquid extracts??

So the top 3 in this order are Lo Han, Xylitol, Stevia. I need places in the UK that sells any of these for a good price without expensive p&p... any suggestions?

I made 2 iherb orders recently, if only I knew, I would have ordered one of these.

gregslater - I was curious about Trehalose, haven't tried that one yet. Please let us know what you think of it.

tao81 - Lo Han is okay, it mostly depends on what brand you use. It's sort of a personal taste kind of thing, however you can blend it with xylitol to balance it out.

I would say Xylitol, it's an excellent prebiotic. Mix it with yogurt and you will see a difference. It has been show to work in syngergy with LGG (which I use) in oral and intestinal health. It gives the probiotics you are taking a boost!

You might also consider inulin and GOS (galacto-oligosaccharides), other prebiotics with a mild to moderate sweet taste and excellent prebiotic effects.

Like other people wisely mentioned, avoid Aspartame, Sucralose and other artificial sweeteners like the plague.

BTW, Trehalose is also a prebiotic. I believe brewer's yeast is a source of it...

Anyone using lo han, which is your favorite lo han product?

I use a packet of stevia a day and it seems to work for me.

I was addicted to diet Pepsi and was taking in aspartame in soda, gum, etc. and I can assure you it was causing insulin resistance in my body. I had to work out twice as hard as I do now in order to see any kind of results. Since going off it in July I'm a different person.

I'm gonna try some of those other one's you guys mentioned here though. I'm getting my wife to bake with it now which is great.

The body can, in some ways, respond to sweet tastes as if you were actually eating sugar. I stay away from artificial sweeteners for that reason.

For example, there are two phases of insulin secretion after a sweet meal. An initial spike, and than a less intense, longer phase. The first spike is induced in part by the presence of sugar in the mouth.