Type 2 Artificial sweetners

[flossymartin]

Hi just wondering if anyone uses Stevia as an artificial sweeteners ? Does anyone find it not very sweet??. Adding it to coffee etc I need to use more than with other sweeteners to get the same taste .

 

[1103andrewb]

I use canderel and silverspoon, both basically the same sweetener, Tesco own brand Stevia was horrid.

 

[flossymartin]

Hi it's the tesco one I'm using and its rubbish .I wondered if it could go off and not be sweet!!Was keen to use stevia / truvia as they are meant to be more natural sweeteners .?? What do others use in drinks or in cooking etc ??

 

[1103andrewb]

I used to work in a factory making baby food, about 2 or 3 times a week I took delivery of about 6.5 tons of maltodextrin, so I guess it is being fed to babies, but also took delivery of ton after ton of granulated and caster sugar on a regular basis. get the kids hooked early on their sugar fix

 

[Robbity]

Try a different brand - but always look carefully at all the ingredients. Pure stevia is actually very sweet, and on its own you only need a minute quantity to sweeten things - and too much can often leave a nasty after taste. So sometimes other ingredients in the form of starchy fillers may be added used to bulk it out - e.g. maltodextrin which appears to be the main ingredient in Tesco's "stevia".

Robbity

 

[Celeriac]

I gave up sugar as a teenager as my dentist assured me that I wouldn't need fillings again and I've not had any since. I gave up sweeteners in 2012 when I gave up Diet Pepsi. I really didn't think I would ever be able to give up sweeteners but I did.

The trick, is to gradually reduce all the added sugar and sweetener items that you eat - the cereals, jams, jellies, soft drinks, tinned soups, condiments etc and to have higher cocoa solids chocolates. As your body gets used to less sweetness, you'll find that your tastebuds become more sensitive. I can taste the lactose in milk and smell sugar in tea. Eventually you just won't like them.

I watched a doco with Stephen Nolan on catchup tonight and a doc was saying that sweeteners can be just as bad as sugar, because the body can't tell the difference.

 

[DeejayR]

sweeteners can be just as bad as sugar, because the body can't tell the difference.

I wish I hadn't just read that.
I use xylitol and except that it dissolves faster I can't tell it from sugar. I'm also slightly impressed by the claim that the Finnish government gives xylitol sweets to schoolchildren to protect their teeth. Xylitol = birch tree sap = lots of birch trees in Finland = nice little earner? You decide.

 

[Prem51]

I have Truvia and find it very sweet (only use a third of a teaspoon instead of a teaspoon of sugar) and a bit of a 'sharp' aftertaste. I have tried different sweeteners and found I like a mix of different sweeteners for different things.
In tea and for baking I use a 50/50 mix of Canderel and Xylitol. In coffee I use a 70/30 mix of Sweet 'N Low and Truvia.
I haven't tried Splenda yet, but will.

 

[DeejayR]

@flossymartin I don't know if you're including cooking with sweeteners as well as drinks, but @Prem51 I'd like to know how you find xylitol works (or not) in cooking, having just read of a pavlova that failed with xylitol where sugar would have worked. Also why (I never did chemistry at school )

 

[Prem51]

@flossymartin I don't know if you're including cooking with sweeteners as well as drinks, but @Prem51 I'd like to know how you find xylitol works (or not) in cooking, having just read of a pavlova that failed with xylitol where sugar would have worked. Also why (I never did chemistry at school )

I didn't like the taste of the Xylitol (I think it was Sainsburys True Sweet) which was a bit sharp, so I mixed it 50/50 with Candarel which I found a little bitter - those are my best descriptions of the tastes. The mix worked well in tea. I have only used it in baking @ewelina 's peanut butter cookies so far and those turned out well.

 

[DeejayR]

@Prem51 Health warning: don't forget xylitol is poisonous to dogs, if you have one, and have any xylitol left.

 

[Prem51]

It's ok I don't have a dog or visiting dogs.

 

[Robbity]

I watched a doco with Stephen Nolan on catchup tonight and a doc was saying that sweeteners can be just as bad as sugar, because the body can't tell the difference.

Probably not taste wise, but many of the artificial or alternative sweeteners include non-digestible carbs, and that does make a difference blood sugar wise, as they don't get processed/converted. My body definitely knows the difference - "real" sugar spikes me but erythritol and stevia don't. However some of the others do cause wind, bloating and the runs - instead....

Robbity

 

[Gemma2]

Hi. I have been using Hermesasetas for the past 52 years in my tea.other brands yuk!