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Sugar substitutes

I have found that sugar free drinks raise my blood sugar so much that i'me thinking would the full sugar drinks be any worse .
 
If you’re going to use a sugar substitute, use stevia, monk fruit, swerve, xylitol, or erythritol. Avoid Splenda, nutrisweet, and aspartame because these disrupt the gut micro biome. I’ve never heard of any of the good substitutes raising blood sugar and they don’t do that when I use them. However, all of them can create an insulin response because the body thinks you are adding carbs. Too much insulin can lead to systemic inflammation, so you want to minimize exaggerated insulin secretion, as well as High blood sugar.
 
I believe it depends on the actual type of sugar substitute.

Certainly from long experience, erythritol and stevia - which are claimed not to affect glucose levels - are definitely OK for me.
 
I don't see much of a rise in bg from the so-called better ones, but they might well raise insulin which we can't currently measure easily.
They are all manufactured chemicals, and I want to keep any such substance to minimum in my body.
As catinahat said, they will feed your sweet tooth and keep you wanting more
 
Also most are severely toxic to pets, so be sure not to leave them where pets could get at them.

I think if they are that bad to fellow mammals, they probably aren't good for us, either.
 
I've been using sugar free drinks right from the begining ( TAB ) if you're old enough to remember that , but never really noticed it raising my blood sugar until recently when i've been buying the cheaper supermarket brands , I wonder if that has anything to do with it .
 
Outlier said:
Also most are severely toxic to pets, so be sure not to leave them where pets could get at them.

I think if they are that bad to fellow mammals, they probably aren't good for us, either.
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I've heard that xylitol can kill dogs but I'm not sure the others are especially toxic to animals? Interestingly, xylitol kills dogs by decreasing their blood glucose.
 
I never like saccharine as a substitute when I was younger.

I knew a Vietnam vet who called his Vietnamese girl friend Sak Rin, as he told her he already has a sugar (wife) at home.
 
Outlier said:
Also most are severely toxic to pets, so be sure not to leave them where pets could get at them.

I think if they are that bad to fellow mammals, they probably aren't good for us, either.
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sunspots said:
I've heard that xylitol can kill dogs but I'm not sure the others are especially toxic to animals? Interestingly, xylitol kills dogs by decreasing their blood glucose.
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@Outlier: Out of interest, do you have a reliable source for your information?
I tend to agree with @sunspots that something that decreases glucose levels and causes severe hypos in any animal is not the same as a concern about it raising glucose levels in humans....

I'm a long time dog owner and when I was originally researching suitable low carb sweeteners around 8 years ago, I found a reliable animal poisons website which listed dogs as the main (and almost only) known animal to suffer from xylitol poisoning which causes serious hypos potentially resulting in death. It mentioned a few known cases of horses and ferrets being affected, but no other animals, though this may have changed since then as there seem to be a lot of sites now claiming xylitol is toxic to animals in general, which may or may not be a case of "Chinese whispers" o_O

The American Kennel Club has this to say about sweeteners and dogs; https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/vets-corner/artificial-sweetener-safety-for-dogs/ which suggests that while xylitol is definitely toxic, some other sweeteners in quantities may cause diarrhoea or gastric upsets - unpleasant but not life threatening.
 
Good question. My source is my vet, who is very keen on nutrition. Vets per se don't get any useful training in that unless they study it as a separate discipline - a couple of hours total, and given by a dog food company (!) is not exactly reliable.
However, better safe than sorry, so I thought I'd add the caveat about pets not having access to sweeteners or foodstuffs with artificial sweeteners.
 
Neoliner said:
Nothing like a good derail ;) Interesting though :)
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Diabetics are often pet owners and some may have assistance dogs trained to warn then of hypos, so I feel it's important that when choosing a sweetener they need to be aware of any that might be a potential danger to their animals.
 
Robbity2 said:
Diabetics are often pet owners and some may have assistance dogs trained to warn then of hypos, so I feel it's important that when choosing a sweetener they need to be aware of any that might be a potential danger to their animals.
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So posting new thread to highlight the issue it would be better than diluting a someone else's
 
Neoliner said:
Is there any truth that sugar substitutes raise your blood sugar levers?
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Hi and welcome.

I've never found an artificial sweetener to have any impact on my BG level. That doesn't mean that other people won't experience just that reaction. We do not seem to react uniformly in the way beloved of media headlines.
 
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