RussianJet From Kazakhstan, joined Jul 2007, 6296 posts, RR: 23 Posted (6 months 2 weeks 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
As part of an ongoing effort to stay reasonably slim, I have renounced adding sugar to things. I still want sweet drinks fairly often though, and for starters many artificial sweeteners taste awful, and for another I am concerned about side effects.
Having tried pretty much everything, my taste conclusion is that sucralose is the closest to real sugar and by far the most bearable. Following that, aspartame and saccharine are the next most bearable. I found that Stevia tastes appalling - really can't understand what the hype is with that one.
I am aware of potential health issues with Aspartame, and Stevia is kind of newish and the potential issues probably not so well understood. Are there any known issues with sucralose-based sweeteners?
Grateful for any views, and for any alternatives I may have overlooked.
DocLightning From United States of America, joined Nov 2005, 16838 posts, RR: 57 Reply 1, posted (6 months 2 weeks 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
Stevia is pretty safe. It's just a plant extract (not that plant extracts are safe; opium is a plant extract). I just find that it has an unpleasant chemical after-taste.
Sucralose (SPLENDA) hasn't had any issues identified. That's what I use. Tastes like sugar, dissolves well in cold or hot liquids, and now available generic!
Ken777 From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 7469 posts, RR: 5 Reply 2, posted (6 months 2 weeks 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
The wife & I have moved to Splenda. We generally buy them at Sam's - I use the packets for coffee and my better half uses the loose pour that you measure like sugar.
When moving to the artificial side we used half & half for a while. Half sugar and half chemical made it easier. After a week it was simple to go full chemical.
RussianJet From Kazakhstan, joined Jul 2007, 6296 posts, RR: 23 Reply 3, posted (6 months 2 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 1389 times:
Quoting DocLightning (Reply 1): Sucralose (SPLENDA) hasn't had any issues identified
Thanks Doc. Couldn't find anything obvious about it anywhere to suggest it was nasty in any way, I was just surprised it hadn't been more widespread before given it tastes so close.
TSS From United States of America, joined Dec 2006, 2870 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (6 months 2 weeks 1 day 23 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
Quoting RussianJet (Thread starter): Grateful for any views, and for any alternatives I may have overlooked.
This might sound radical, but there is always the alternative of leaving sweeteners out of your drinks entirely as I have. Don't attempt to do it all at once- Just cut the amount of sweetener you use per drink by a quarter every month or so and you won't really miss it. After a while any drink that has the usual amount of sweetener in it will taste unpleasantly like a cup full of sugar syrup.
I also stopped drinking any kind of carbonated drinks. That wasn't too hard to do since my carbonated drink of choice, Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, is no longer available in my area and none of the others have ever done much for me anyway.
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RussianJet From Kazakhstan, joined Jul 2007, 6296 posts, RR: 23 Reply 5, posted (6 months 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
Quoting TSS (Reply 4): This might sound radical, but there is always the alternative of leaving sweeteners out of your drinks entirely as I have. Don't attempt to do it all at once- Just cut the amount of sweetener you use per drink by a quarter every month or so and you won't really miss it. After a while any drink that has the usual amount of sweetener in it will taste unpleasantly like a cup full of sugar syrup.
Thanks for that. I am already far less dependant on sweet-tasting things than I once was, and if no sweetener is available I am perfectly able to drink a coffee or tea straight. However, I like things like hot chocolate for example, which have to be sweetened. I have found that cocoa made with skimmed milk and sucralose is very palatable, and good for a low-cal chocolate fix.
Quoting TSS (Reply 4): I also stopped drinking any kind of carbonated drinks. That wasn't too hard to do since my carbonated drink of choice, Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, is no longer available in my area and none of the others have ever done much for me anyway.
Hardly every touch fizzy drinks, so not too much of a problem for me.
TLG From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 324 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (6 months 2 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
Quoting DocLightning (Reply 1): Sucralose (SPLENDA) hasn't had any issues identified. That's what I use. Tastes like sugar, dissolves well in cold or hot liquids, and now available generic!
I use Splenda, or the Walmart generic version of it, and in my opinion it's quite good. It's the best alternative to sugar I've found so far. I've been a Type 1 diabetic for nearly 20 years, so I've been avoiding sugar for that long. The artificial sweetener choices are certainly much better than they were in 1993!
PITingres From United States of America, joined Dec 2007, 959 posts, RR: 12 Reply 8, posted (6 months 2 weeks 15 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
Cyclamate + saccharine tastes best to me, not that I use much of it. Can't get it in the US, though, thanks to some bozo feeding insane doses to rats. The one time I tried Splenda I got a massive headache, which may or may not have been cause and effect; I never heard of anyone else having a problem with the stuff.
TSS From United States of America, joined Dec 2006, 2870 posts, RR: 5 Reply 10, posted (6 months 1 week 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 1389 times:
Quoting bjorn14 (Reply 9): You should try Cherry Coke Zero.
I have. The cola half of the equation is comparable, but "Cherry" ( "Maraschino" ) versus "Wild Cherry" (as found in some old-style cough remedies) are two very different flavors.
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Aesma From France, joined Nov 2009, 4813 posts, RR: 9 Reply 11, posted (6 months 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 1371 times:
Quoting RussianJet (Reply 3): Thanks Doc. Couldn't find anything obvious about it anywhere to suggest it was nasty in any way, I was just surprised it hadn't been more widespread before given it tastes so close.
Apparently artificial sweeteners have different taste/effect on different people. When designing a product with sweeteners instead of sugar, it is common during testing that a third of the testers find it good, a third find it alright, and a third horrible.
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