Good News About Non-Caloric Sweeteners

I recently tried Truvia and was not impressed. Firstly the main ingrediant is erythritol followed by rebiana (their brand of refined stevia) and then unknown natural flavors. The texture is very much like sugar, the taste includes the coolness of erythritol and a strong after taste. I have overactive taste buds so it might just be me. I use erythritol occasionally on its own, and also stevia, but prefer a small amount of real sugar used only when eating a meal. I am wondering if others perceive an strong aftertaste.

Hi David,

So if I understand correctly, the Splenda in my am coffee isn't a problem as I'm eating breakfast with it? That's about the only time I use artificial sweeteners.

Hugs,

Gracie

Does this mean that the insulin release itself is not a problem?  I am trying to go 'No Grain" and Mercola prohibits  no-calorie sweeteners too.  It is really hard to have nothing sweet at all and a little stevia now and then would be great.

This is poison, it is a chemical, is not good at all for consumption of any living being. I recently stopped chewing the gum I have used for years, sugar free, with aspartame, I feel so good now! So many sick people, so much cancer, ever wonder where it all comes from? Prehaps look strongly at what we ingest!

David,

I have been using liquid stevia for at least 10 years.

I buy it online.

Great timing, David!  I was just going to pick your brain about erythritol.  I have been using it in my recipes quite a bit recently and found it doesn't show up on my meter, so I thought it was a great sweetener to use.  But I just got an A1c of 5.2, though my BGLs run in the 70s and 80s most of the time; I'm rarely over 100.  (I test fasting and 2 hours after every meal.)  I don't eat fruit because fructose can "go around" my meter yet show up on my A1c.  Do you think erythritol might do this, too?  I haven't seen any studies about it and thought you might have.

I have also seen recommendations for using D-ribose for CFS and Fibromyalgia and have read that it actually lowers BGLs temporarily.  But I'm leery of trying it for the same reason: might it affect my A1c even if it doesn't show up in my BGLs?  I don't want to cause problems with my diabetes control while trying to fix my pain and fatigue issues.  Do you have info about D-ribose?   

Maybe I need to buy my own A1c test and test myself; my doctor has told me he has had his lab recalibrate their equipment when A1c tests were lower than the doc thought was accurate in the past.  I am wracking my brain for a reason my A1c would be higher than previously (4.9 a year ago and 5.0 last July) when my BGLs have been as good or better.  I should have been well under 5.0.  

I am so glad to see this recent study about sweeteners!  I have been saying for quite some time that diet sodas (with or without food) don't affect my BGLs or weight at all.  And they don't make me hungry; in fact, they keep my stomach happy between meals.  (I drink Splenda-sweetened, caffeine-free diet sodas and "fizzy waters.")  I'm glad to hear they don't affect my insulin levels, either.  Thank you for your article!

But the truvia package lists 3 grams of carbs per packet

Hi David -- thanks so much for your comment as to my question about the 3 grams of carbs on the package - It is great to know that I can try and use it -the more alternative we have to safely use the better

Nancy 

...whether earlier studies about non-nutritive sweeteners forgot to take the bulking agent into account.  For instance, aspartame and sucralose, when sold as packet or bulk sweeteners, are bulked out with maltodextrin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dextrin

Says there that maltodextrin is a polysaccharide, which can mean anything from cellulose to table sugar.  (All carbs, nutritionally speaking, are sugars of varying complexity.)  The article says it is easily digested, so it's more like table sugar than like cellulose.  Stands to reason it would cause an insulin release.

Maybe the latest study used pure sweeteners without the bulking agents.  That might explain the difference in outcome.

Truvia will probably work out better in that vein as long as the erythritol can't be digested by anyone.  One of the problems with most sugar alcohols is that some people can digest them and therefore they act like sugar in the body.  If that isn't going to be an issue with this one, then Truvia will probably agree with a lot more people's bodies.  I hope so, because I really like it.  Now maybe they should try combining sucralose and erythritol, because I would SO be there.  :)