Need help please: most "sugar-like" sweetener ?

[steve2470]

My fasting blood glucose level has slowly crept up in the last few years, from 99 (upper end of "normal" ) to now 102. My doctor has discussed diet and exercise with me, and says (of course) that medication is not warranted any time soon. My dad had Type 2 diabetes, and I am desperately trying to avoid that.

I LOVE the taste of table sugar. I use it in my coffee. Which sweetener has a taste most like table sugar ? Thank you so much in advance!


Steve

[Historic NY]

1. I use stevia..

but do some research or ask your Dr.

[AJT]

2. If you feel it's ok to use non-natural then Splenda.

I use Splenda sugar substitute and Splenda brown sugar.

[femmocrat]

3. I also use Splenda.

It is so sweet that I only use less than a half teaspoon.

[safeinOhio]

4. I'm doing the 5/2 fast and

all of my bad numbers are now normal. Great BBC documentary on the web. Google "eat, fast and live". I'm finding it real easy to do and have also dropped 10lbs. Easy way for me is to eat my last meal at 2:00 pm and fast until that time the next day. 1 hour video is great. Good luck.

[ghostsinthemachine]

5. Agave. Stop searching

I tried all of em. Agave is it. Non glycemic and no aftertaste. Perfect. Uses about 1/3 less. Works in recipes too.

[DFW]

13. Second that! n/t

[duncang]

6. I am diabetic

I took a different approach to help control my blood sugar. I slowly started lowering the sugar amount I was using in coffee and tea. I'm down to a "sprinkle" Shifted also to a mix of a paleo and Mediterranean diet. Having a large extended family it seems like every month we have at least 2 celebrations. I still eat cake just a small slice.

[woodsprite]

7. I'm a stevia person as well.

My nutritionist suggested Stevia over Splenda and other artificial sweeteners. She said some diabetics can spike with Splenda and it can make some more glucose sensitive. Aspartame gives me a headache. My 2nd choice (in a restaurant for sweetening drinks) is Sweet-n-Low.

Making the switch took some getting used to since the flavor of stevia is a bit different. I found it most noticable in my coffee, but also found if you add a few grains of salt it helps. I haven't found that it has an aftertaste, but it is almost like there is a layer of flavor where it hits the palate, that's missing. The only place I've noticed that was in coffee. Those few grains of salt fix that problem. And I am talking just the slightest pinch - like one of those restaurant packets of salt would last me a week's worth of morning coffees.

I've used it for baking along with Swerve (an erithritol/stevia blend) and have found them indistinguishable from sugar. My boss made lemon bars with Swerve yesterday for my birthday and they were awesome. Nobody could tell the difference.

[Codeine]

14. A pinch of salt helps any cup of coffee.

It sounds weird but flavor enhancement is flavor enhancement.

[Phentex]

8. You are going to have to experiement on your own...

because your taste buds are different from those around you. I can handle most artificial sweeteners but they didn't taste like sugar to me. Then I tried several versions of stevia and found differences in those. The one I like is Pure Via. But my husband finds it WAY too sweet so he uses just a pinch.

Shop around.

[Demsrule86]

9. I was recently diagnosed with Celiac...

And have to change the way I eat completely. I have been using Stevia drops and they work well for creamy stuff and coffee.

[chia]

10. Go rogue, and stop using any sweetener in your coffee at all - you may never go back

I put two spoons of sugar in my coffee for years, and then about 4, maybe 5 years ago I stopped doing it for about six weeks. (I do use half and half.) I got used to the cleaner taste and when I tried to go back to using sugar, I couldn't drink the coffee and had to pour it out and make another cup.

There's something palate-cleansing about unsweetened coffee that makes whatever you're eating with it better (IMO, of course, YMMV), and it's true that your taste buds can change. Give it a try, but if you do, make the change for at least 4-6 weeks.

[steve2470]

16. yea, I just cannot do black coffee, tried it

I can do coffee with TONS of sugar and no cream, or tons of cream and no sugar, but not straight black coffee. I just cannot do it. I have too much of a sweet tooth, I guess. So, stevia or splenda it is, it seems.

I do thank you sincerely for your input

[chia]

17. Oh, I have to have my half and half

I just don't do the sugar anymore.

I can drink black coffee in an emergency - but it has to be an emergency.

[TexasProgresive]

11. I was diagnosed type 2 diabetic 26 years ago.

Before I was diagnosed I drank coffee with two teaspoons of honey and 1/2 and 1/2. One year I quit the honey for Lent. Come Easter I was looking forward to honeyed coffee. It was all I could do to not spit it out. My point is that you might try weaning yourself down on the sugar in your coffee. As I write this there's a cuppa black no sweetener coffee next to my laptop. I find I really enjoy the taste of coffee without additions. As to alternate sweeteners there are problems, some tend to have a bitter aftertaste which multiplies the bitterness of coffee and tea. It was suggested that agave nectar is a panacea for diabetics. I am not a fan. This is highly processed to the point of being almost pure fructose. While fructose is low on the glycemic index it is not particularly safe for diabetics. Fructose tends to raise serum triglycerides and to increase insulin resistance. My personal opinion is that my T2D was caused by drinking enormous amounts of Coca Cola daily sweetened with HFCS (high fructose corn syrup). In any case diabetics and prediabetics should avoid any food ending in ose, glucose, dextrose, sucrose, fructose etc.

You might find this article on agave helpful.

Debunking The Blue Agave Myth By Dr. Jonny Bowden

Agave syrup (nectar) is basically high-fructose corn syrup masquerading as a health food.

Sorry. Don’t kill the messenger.

It’s easy to understand how agave syrup got its great reputation. Even the word “Agave” has a fine pedigree, coming from the Greek word for noble. The blue agave species- considered the best for the making agave nectar — flourishes in rich volcanic soil. (It’s also the only variety permitted to be used for the making of tequila.) And extracts from the agave plant have been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Unfortunately there’s zero evidence that any of those compounds are present in the commercially made syrup.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jonny-bowden/debunking-the-blue-agave_b_450144.html

Edit to add: there is a Diabetic Support Group at DU:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1271
And you might be interested in Diabetic Connect
http://www.diabeticconnect.com/

[chia]

18. Exactly

"Before I was diagnosed I drank coffee with two teaspoons of honey and 1/2 and 1/2. One year I quit the honey for Lent. Come Easter I was looking forward to honeyed coffee. It was all I could do to not spit it out."

Exactly what happened to me with the sugar.

[steve2470]

12. thanks everyone, YOU ROCK! :))) NT

[True Dough]

15. One more vote for stevia

but I've heard good things about agave as well (also mentioned earlier in this thread). You probably can't go wrong either way, unless you're one of those people who find stevia has a disagreeable after-taste. That's not an issue for me.

[TexasBushwhacker]

19. I just can't do stevia

I'm very sensitive to bitter tastes and , for me, stevia really has it. My sweetner of preference is good old saccharine (Sweet n Low). The packets are good, but if you want to get zero carbs, order the liquid Sweet n Low online.

[politicat]

20. Might be a good time to talk to a registered dietitian/nutritionist.

Most insurance will cover at least one visit.

But there are a lot of non-caloric, non-nutritive sweeteners and they have a lot of different applications. Personally, I like Splenda in liquids (tea, coffee) and Swerve (combination of erythritol and some other oligosaccharides) for (low carb) baking and ice cream. I am very fond of Torani's flavored Splenda syrups in coffee drinks, especially brown sugar and cinnamon and Belgian cookie. I avoid stevia because I am allergic to ragweeds and stevia is a ragweed. Stevia almost always causes me some form of immune response, usually sinus irritation and often digestive issues.

If you're trying to stay out of the pre-diabetes/metabolic syndrome world, do be aware that agave is almost pure fructose -- far more fructose than in HCFS -- and refined fructose is linked to elevated triglycerides, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and insulin resistance. Agave is refined, make no mistake. In other words, agave may have a low glycemic index, but that doesn't mean it's helpful. (Fructose in fruit is not a problem because the fiber and micronutrients are valuable, and the fructose concentration is low.)

Personally, when we started making this transition to low carb and whole foods as a means of preventing worse consequences, we found that cold turkey off all sweets helped a lot - 30 days - by giving our senses a break to readjust, and altering our methods of preparation of coffee and tea made that easier. We cold brew both coffee and tea to reduce bitterness.

One other - I use d-ribose powder because I have a genetic quirk that means I don't produce sufficient ATP for my muscles. It has a mildly sweet flavor (it is a pentose) that I find sufficient in tea. I set up a liter bottle of water, with a couple teaspoons of d-ribose and a tea bag and let it brew over night.

[tblue37]

21. I prefer saccharine. I can't stand aspartame or sorbitol. nt