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Best sugar substitute?

Spencer67

Well-Known Member
Messages
882
Location
North West
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
Dislikes
Carbs and Blue Meanies
I've been looking around for sometime for a good sugar substitute and found if you go into any supermarket and try and pick something up like Canderel it has the infamous aspartame in and even the commercial Stevia products are contaminated with other chemicals that i just would prefer not to put in my body, pure 100% Stevia looks like the way forward but does it taste ok, i've read some bad reports on the taste, what are other people using here?
 
I like xylitol since it looks and to me tastes just like sugar. But it's poisonous to dogs, if that's significant? I've tried Stevia etc and didn't like it.
 
just have sugar and inject more insulin
 
I tried them all & finally settled on Canderel... not withstanding the aspartame.

It was the only one that didn't taste odd to me... and I rarely sweeten anything these days
 
dan12321 said:
just have sugar and inject more insulin
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I don't have any white sugar in the house as i know it's so refined it's a poison but i do have Brown that i use in my flap jack recipe, they are my weapon of choice over a hypo, but as i'm getting closer to better control i want to get the refined sugar out of my diet completely.

@DeejayR yah i've heard about the taste of pure stevia but not tried it myself yet apart form the Canderel Stevia that's really about 1%?? Stevia and the rest Maltodextrin (The point of that i don't know).

The Asda low cal sweetner Maltodextrin is cheap and i was using that in my Tea, Coffee Cornflakes etc until recently but i've been reading some bad things about it as a complex carb and it messes with your blood sugar, i was wondering why my bloods were going high after a simple bowl of cornflakes with semi skimmed milk and that must be it.

You have to be a bloomin chemist to keep an eye on the chemical garbage they put in all the supermarket foods.
 
Cornflakes and skim milk are bad news, never mind the sweetener. Berries and double cream are better.
But you're a Type 1 and I'm T2 so we may handle our diets differently?
 
DeejayR said:
Cornflakes and skim milk are bad news, never mind the sweetener. Berries and double cream are better.
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Why are they so bad? I love cornflakes i was pretty ill a few weeks ago and it was the only thing i could eat. I know i wanna quit cows milk because of the vet drugs in it so i get almond milk and soya, organic full fat milk is so nice though.
 
Splenda has no aspartame and is the only one where I find the taste is OK (and is also best for baking). I'm sure it would be better to have stevia but I found that tasted awful.
 
Spencer67 said:
Why are they so bad? I love cornflakes i was pretty ill a few weeks ago and it was the only thing i could eat. I know i wanna quit cows milk because of the vet drugs in it so i get almond milk and soya, organic full fat milk is so nice though.
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Sugar in cereal, sugar in milk, never mind the drugs. Organic full fat milk is best if you can afford it! Double cream is even better!
 
I like sucralose. It bakes well and goes well in a cuppa. Xylitol is another that's good for baking and putting in you tea. Stevia is not sweet enough, if you have a little too much, it tastes bitter.
 
SamJB said:
I like sucralose. It bakes well and goes well in a cuppa. Xylitol is another that's good for baking and putting in you tea. Stevia is not sweet enough, if you have a little too much, it tastes bitter.
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Sucralose for the win!!! Will have to get some and stick it in some chocolate cake recipes, although again ive read it is bulked with cheaper maltodextrin. Food companies out for the $$$ as usual.
 
Splenda is my favourite. Even though it's natural, I can't stand the taste of Stevia/Truvia. Canderel/Sweet 'n' Low are okay too, but I definitely find Splenda to be the tastiest.
 
rowan said:
I've just looked at Xylitol and it has the same amount of carbs as sugar?
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Ah, needs explanation from our technical team, eg @Brunneria or someone? 100% carbs, 0% sugar.
Something about polyols here http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/them-polyol-things-you-get-in-low-sugar-sweets.8589/
*edit* Right I've read that thread and I'm not sure. I don't know what quantities we're talking about that make you head for the loo. I use xylitol very sparingly (teaspoon a fortnight in a mug cake or something) so I'm not expecting fireworks.
 
rowan said:
I've just looked at Xylitol and it has the same amount of carbs as sugar?
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As mentioned by DeejayR, Xylitol is a polyol, which means it is a type of indigestible carbohydrate. It's the sweetener used in chewing gums, I think.

Spencer67 said:
Sucralose for the win!!! Will have to get some and stick it in some chocolate cake recipes, although again ive read it is bulked with cheaper maltodextrin. Food companies out for the $$$ as usual.
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Should've mentioned that sucralose is the sweetener in Splenda, but supermarkets usually do a cheaper cersion
 

It gets confusing! I keep reading on here that we should just look at the total carbs on a label, ignore the 'sugars' bit, but sometimes we shouldn't ignore it? And how do we know when to ignore it or not?

I don't tryust any artificial sweeteners because they're just that, artificial even when they say they're 'natural'. They've been processed so much they're certinly not in their natural state by the time we et to use them so I've been doing without. But it would be good to find one that is really safe.
 
And then you have the stevia/sugar blend, half of each,
Carbohydrate 98.2g per 100g, 2g per 2g serving
of which sugars 98.2g per 100g, 2g per 2g serving
so that's the same as sugar, so why bother with the stevia?
 
If you're suspicious, avoid them all. We don't need them after all.
 
Can't recommend any as I don't use any, but if your wanting some for hot drinks then try them without the sweeteners, you get to taste the true flavour of the tea and coffee when you leave the sweetness out, just my opinion.................
 
I use Stevia, which I get from Holland and Barrett when it's in stock. It does have inulin with it, but it's mostly Stevia. Be warned! It's very, very strong. You only need a tiny amount compared to sugar, and on its own it does have a very bitter aftertaste. However, I got used to it pretty quickly, and it's absolutely fine when you put it in something. Think of it like vanilla extract; way too strong on its own, wonderful as an ingredient.
 
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