The FastDay Forum

Dunno if it has been posted before but is there a certain type of sweetner to use or not to use?
Ali

Have sugar.
Do not lie to your system.
Learn to limit the amount of things you need sweet.

Sorry, there is no easy way.
Sweeteners are really bad for your insulin system.

[carorees]

There have been scare stories about aspartame, not sure about the others. There have been studies suggesting having sweeteners affects insulin, others failed to show this. Some studies have linked sweeteners with weight gain, others not. All the studies are probably flawed in some way and none of the sweeteners have been around long enough for long term effects to be known. Sugar is also, of course, not good for you!

Sorry, that's of no help, I know!

[wildmissus]

I know it doesn't answer your question but sweeteners for me are artificial so a big no no. I don't take sugar in my tea but I use honey on my porridge.

Nutrapoison (aspartame) gets a worse rap than Sucralose (made with chlorine) but both are free of calories.

I'm happy that neither impact on blood glucose homeostasis, if there is an insulin response to an artificially sweetened drink it is insignificant, and perhaps a consequence of drinking something sweet as much as anything else. You can't double blind the brain to the sweet taste.

Afraid I need sweetness. Just cannot get used to tea and coffee being unsweetened although I can do herbal teas without. I tend to use Stevia based sweeteners and agave nectar which is low GI. As I am addicted to chocolate but am managing to go without on fast days, perhaps I will eventually give up sweetness. (Probably when Hell freezes over!) Sorry, I'm very far from perfect.

Agave nectar is a con. It's calorific and carbohydrate heavy - mainly fructose so the GI is reduced 'cos there's less G and more F

http://blog.fooducate.com/2010/01/17/ei ... ve-nectar/

[Tracieknits]

I am getting more selective about where I use my sweet. I need decent chocolate, and at least one trip a week to a great patisserie. However Nespresso is so good that I can now manage to have coffee with no sugar it it, thanks to my new toy.

I don't use artificial sweetener, because the bad things I've read coincide with me gaining nearly 100 pounds while drinking an average of six cans of diet coke a day. Some studies are showing that your brain says "Oh my, I taste something sweet, I'd better get ready for a bunch of calories!" Then hormones are released in anticipation of receiving and dealing with the sugar coming, but it never comes. So your body demands you eat more than you might have otherwise.

So I'm far from perfect, but when I choose to have sweet, I try to make it as natural and real as possible. I also dull it with fat and protein, if possible. So I'll have a small amount of chocolate or ice cream instead of hard candies or cotton candy.