Alternative to aspartame?

[sancocho10 10]

Hi,

 

I'm trying to lose some weight and always use sweeteners instead of sugar. However, I've read some stuff about aspartame that has put me off - I usually have about 8 sweeteners a day.

 

I know there is a natural sugar alternative but can't remember the name. It's much lower in cals. but not quite as toxic as sweeteners. I looked at Perfect Sweet but this is xylitol and Splanda which is sucralose - not sure if these are any better...

 

Cheers Sancocho

[Jess22 10]

Have a read up about Stevia. Not sure about it's availability but last time I heard it was better than aspartame (disgusting stuff). Have you tried just lowering the amount of sugar? Half a spoon instead of one? and looking at other areas of your diet if you are looking to loose weight.

[sancocho10 10]

Have a read up about Stevia. Not sure about it's availability but last time I heard it was better than aspartame (disgusting stuff). Have you tried just lowering the amount of sugar? Half a spoon instead of one? and looking at other areas of your diet if you are looking to loose weight.

 

Hi Jess, yep, I'm cutting back on everything but when I stopped to think how much artificial sweetener I have (apart from the sweeteners, I have diet 7up, diet jelly, diet yoghurts etc!), I thought I would look into something more natural. I may swop Candarel for Splenda and also look into Stevia (yes, that's the name I had heard about!).

Thanks

Sancocho

[CHANutrition 10]

Half spoon is half sugar half artifical sweetner, so you use half the quantity. Thus fewer calories. Your right to be careful, too many artifical sweetners may cause a laxtive effect and increase the risk of cancers.

[Strix 11]

some sweeteners are HIGHLY toxic to pets, so be careful what you bring into your house if you're a pet owner

[medusa 16]

I'm a BzzAgent and had a load of Splenda sent through to try out and distribute to people as samples, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I expected it to taste like every other sweetener I'd tried (i.e. really synthetic and unpleasant, with diarrhoea as a side effect) but it did taste a lot closer to sugar sweetness with no aftertaste, and it didn't cause diarrhoea either.

 

I don't use any sweetener (sugar, honey or artificial) in drinks so I experimented with it in baking. The part played in baking is not only that of sweetening; the crystals also play a key part in breaking up whatever fat is in the baking. In that respect Splenda was not as good as sugar, and the resulting cakes were a little heavy, but they tasted fine.

 

One of the rules of being a BzzAgent is that we are honest about trying a product as a result of being a BzzAgent, rather than because we're a serious product fan, but I can honestly say that before trying Splenda I was a determined synthetic sweetener disliker and this has changed my opinion for the better.

 

I still wouldn't touch any other sweetener I've had the misfortune to come into contact with though.

[JarvisCocker 10]

I use Splenda and find it to be very good.

[sancocho10 10]

Hi everyone

 

Well, I have ditched the Candarel (aspartame) in favour of Splenda as, sadly, I cannot take coffee/tea, cereals without them being sweetened. Honey and molasses etc. affect the taste too much so I bought the granulated version of Splenda. I'm quite chuffed with the lack of aftertaste and chemicals - bring on the Weetabix!