low sugar sweeteners?

[PrickleyPete]

I keep seeing that sugar is as bad as fat. I don't know if this is exactly true but I would like to cut down on my sugar. I'm not training for a marathon or trying to loose weight so I don't need to cut it out completely, but I just ate a yogurt with 19 grams and I think that is probably not so good for me.

So what do you use as sweetener that is low sugar? I like agave nectar in some things, Speln*da in other things. I rarely use just plain white sugar except for the occasional baked stuff, so most of the sugar I eat is hidden in things.

What's a girl to do?
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[Nemesis]

I use stevia in things that need a bit of sweetness like my coffee.
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[petunia_843]

Hmmm - I have gotten pretty criticized for this topic before.

I use nothing but artificial sweeteners. Splenda is my favorite, followed by Sweet N Low. I don't like Equal in the packets, but I like stuff with aspartame in it. I haven't tried Stevia yet.

I have been using artificial sweeteners my whole life. Now I have to continue to have to use them. As a diabetic, I cannot have any sugar whatsoever. So if I want something sweet, it has to be sweetened artificially. Even eating too much fruit spikes my blood sugar. I know not all diabetics are as stringent as I am with the fruit, but for me personally it's what happens.

I haven't really noticed a difference in feeling from cutting out sugar totally as I have. I probably ate a lot of it hidden in foods more so than just going out and having Krispy Kremes. It is so sneaky what foods they will put the sugar in. I applaud people for wanting to give up sugar, but it's really hard. And having to think about all the sugar out there that's inside what seem like perfectly neutral foods is damn hard, too.

[littlespacebug]

Sugar = sugar = sugar. You're not going to find any kind of sweetener (sugar) that is lower in sugar, because it is already sugar. Agave nectar is sugar. Fruit is sugar. Sorry to be blunt...

I can get a yogurt that has 19 grams of sugar, and that sugar is HFCS. I can get another yogurt sweetened with agave nectar or honey or fruit which also has 19 grams of sugar, and it's still 19 grams of sugar either way. It's kind of like asking what weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of rocks.

If you're looking for information on sugars that maybe have a lower glycemic index, or the benefits of natural sweeteners vs. white sugar, or artificial sweeteners that's a different story.

Here's a good link that lists sugars in all it's various forms.

[PurpleDoor]

First off, is that a plain or a flavored yogurt? I'd start by switching to plain yogurt and adding fresh fruit instead.

I view sugar/agave/honey/maple syrup as equally "bad". Not that I never eat them, but that they are not desirable foods to be having on a regular basis.

Honestly though, I don't particularly care for artificial zero-calorie sweeteners. Some of it is that they just freak me out a bit, but I also find that some of them have an aftertaste (which I don't like), they're expensive, etc. etc. etc. If you have a medical condition like diabetes where you really can't eat ANY sugar then I can see using them when you are really craving a sweet, but yeah, I don't want to be using them on a regular basis any more than I want to be using sugar.

So! As far as what I do about it, my approach is basically to try to do without it much of the time. As you eat less sugar, you will definitely find that you become more sensitive to it, with the result that things don't have to be very sweet to satisfy you. For example, I now find most fruit sweet enough to qualify as a dessert by itself, even though fruit is generally NOT as sweet as a cookie, piece of cake, etc. When I bake, I usually cut the sugar in the recipe by 1/3 or 1/2--you'd be surprised at how many recipes you can do this with without negatively impacting the output. I also really try to avoid processed/packaged foods, as so many of them have sugar added. I suspect for most people, cutting out prepackaged/processed foods and making all their food from scratch would result in a drastic decrease in sugar intake.

I know some people feel that fruit should be treated as equivalent to sugar, but I don't really bother trying to limit my fruit intake (of course, if I were a diabetic or otherwise very sensitive I might feel differently). I guess I feel like fruit has so much other awesome stuff in it, and that while fruit sugar may be equivalent to table sugar, a piece of fruit has nowhere near the sugar that something you might eat instead has, so overall it's a win. Also, I am not, as a general rule, inclined to gorge on fruit the way I might gorge on a plate of cookies.

[Nemesis]

[littlespacebug]

[Figwit]

[PurpleDoor]

My take on "natural" vs. "unnatural" sugar (and this is totally NOT scientific): basically, I go with the idea that if anything has been done to concentrate the sweetness, it's something you should eat in moderation. i.e., honey is a concentrated form of nectar, maple syrup is a concentrated form of sap, fruit juice is a concentrated form of fruit, and so on. If I'm going to sweeten something I might go with maple syrup/honey/juice because they do have some redeeming nutritional properties, which white sugar/corn syrup, etc. do not. But I'm not going to kid myself that they aren't as "bad" in terms of the sugar aspect.

Also, I know for myself at least. I've found it's difficult to have a diet that is both low in sugar and low in fat--you either wind up with a very bland diet (eating a lot of plain legumes and grains), or you are just having to eat around the clock to get enough calories (if you are mostly eating vegetables). Around the same time I started making more of a conscious effort to cut down on my sugar intake, I relaxed about my fat intake (which I previously had been pretty vigilant about). So for example, if I buy milk, yogurt, cheese, etc., I go ahead and get the full-fat version (though I don't eat a ton of dairy). I eat a lot more nuts. I make sure to use a generous splash of olive oil when I saute or roast veggies. I stick avocado into my salads and coconut milk into my curry. I'm not chugging shots of olive oil (I know some people who do...), but I am definitely eating more fat than I used to. I seriously have a MUCH easier time maintaining a healthy weight than I did when I was super focused on cutting fat. Also, anytime I go to the doctor my blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol levels are all good (last time I was in for something my BP had actually dropped to a level I hadn't seen since high school!).

[PrickleyPete]

Ok, all good information.

There is so much to think about, I think I have to go with the choose your battles approach because with all the food information and things to worry about at every turn, you cannot eat anything without encountering information saying it ins't healthy- fake meat, soy, sugar, salt, diet soda, bottled water vs tap, plastics in food packaging/storage, etc. So much information!

I did not realize that sugar is sugar is sugar no matter where it comes from- yogurt, agave nectar, etc.

I think my course of action is going to be to continue to watch processed foods and stick to whole grains, fresh veggies and fruits when I can. This is not a departure from normal so I guess I will be okay with this whole natural vs artificial sweetener thing.
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[PurpleDoor]

[PurpleDoor]

If you are interested in the whole sugar-health thing you might enjoy this NYT article, which focuses a lot on Robert Lustig's take on sugar (Lustig is a doctor who is lately the media poster-boy of the anti-sugar crusade).

[PrickleyPete]

The anti-sugar crusade and things like it are what sets me off about foods in the first place. Someone becomes very vocal about something and I start worrying.
Right now the epilepsy foundation is campaigning against apsartame because it supposedly causes seizures and tumors in epileptics. My sister is epileptic so I am tuned in to what is going on, and have also recently heard too much sugar is worse than fat so I'm like omg what do I eat!?

I do not have any ongoing health concerns and I am at the weight the charts say I should be at so this is not about loosing weight or protecting myself from seizures, more just about the food hysteria that I seem to be succeptible to.

I'm taking all this advice about added sugar to the grocery store as I'm sure it will not hurt for me to read a few more labels when I'm picking out my Greek yogurt, salad dressing, etc.
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[daysleeper]

Refined sugar is never good, fat IS good. I don't know where all this fat phobia comes from. How can you logically compare something that occurs naturally vs something factory made in huge vats?

Unsaturated fats = super good; Saturated fat = not so bad, but def use moderation and Trans fats = superduper bad. If you never ate a refined sugar again you'd be A-OK, not so much if you stopped eating healthy fats. Unless of course you have a condition where you can't digest fats at all.

Studies are often biased (always look who funded the study - it speaks volumes) but if a food was present in a diet 200 hundred years ago or more its fine.
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Blog!

[bookselves]

So much good info in this thread! I've been thinking about cutting down on sugar but I tend to find that reading diet-type sites can get triggery for me. I appreciate the tone of this thread a whole lot.

Can I piggyback on a couple of questions?

1) Does anyone have ideas for adding fizz/flavour to drinks without adding sugar? The water here tastes terrible on its own, and filtered water still tastes pretty boring to me. If I owned a sodastream could I make low sugar fizzy water? I really want a reason to buy one of those.

2) What do low-sugar people order at the bar? Please don't say wine, it gives me a headache.
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