I don't see this topic, but apologize if it was covered recently. In trying to cut reasonable amounts of sugar out of my drinks and still have some taste, I was using sucralose. But reading about sucralose doesn't sound very encouraging. Any thoughts about Stevia or monk fruit sweetener? Monk fruit especially doesn't seem to have side effects. I have no interest in sparkling or mineral waters, they don't appeal to me.

What type of drinks are you adding sugar too? Tea and coffee?

Tea mainly.

I haven't really read into it much recently, but from what I recall, they're all probably fine in reasonable amounts. Most studies feed them to rats in quantities that are absurdly unrealistic for a human to consume. If, at the end of the day, one helps you feel better and more satiated than another, avoid real sugar, and keep a healthy weight, I'd go with that one.

That being said, I'd imagine both stevia and monk fruit are probably better for you wholistically than the more artificial ones like saccharin or sucralose. I have only ever tried stevia, didn't really find it sweet enough for me. Had a weird taste. It also had something else in it though, I think erithritol. So I don't know.

Also, I think the key to cutting back on sugar, for most people, is the hidden sugars in foods. If you have one tsp of sugar in a cup of tea, but you enjoy that cup of tea more than you would with a substitute, might be worth it.

fishnvet said:

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I don't see this topic, but apologize if it was covered recently. In trying to cut reasonable amounts of sugar out of my drinks and still have some taste, I was using sucralose. But reading about sucralose doesn't sound very encouraging. Any thoughts about Stevia or monk fruit sweetener? Monk fruit especially doesn't seem to have side effects. I have no interest in sparkling or mineral waters, they don't appeal to me.

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Liquid stevia is probably your best option, a lot of grocery stores have it now as well.

I use Stevia in my oatmeal and my kids use it in their coffee.

jtraggie99 said:

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I use Stevia in my oatmeal and my kids use it in the coffee.

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Moral High Horse said:

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jtraggie99 said:

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I use Stevia in my oatmeal and my kids use it in the coffee.

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I must be missing a reference lol. And that was suppose to say "their" coffee. I just drink black coffee myself, always preferred it that way.

I kinda like allulose. You can find that at a lot of grocery stores as well. I think beyond the sweetness, it's pretty similar to sugar in terms of mouth feel, just ~70% as sweet.

SHOP | Green Ape Coffee

This shop has different flavors of allulose and all their coffee I've tried has been excellent.

For tea, honey seems like the easy winner here.

You need to go watch Breaking Bad

BQ2001 said:

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You need to go watch Breaking Bad

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I have. And I'm a PhD chemist. And I still don't get it.

I use erythritol and Stevia/Rebiana.

Honey is sugar from a caloric standpoint.

Stevia and Monk fruit are as natural a high fructose corn syrup.
The best option is substituting low-GI sweeteners like honey, agave, date syrup and reduce consumption.

This may sound weird, but add a couple of cinnamon sticks to your cold brew (if you drink it) and your iced tea. The cinnamon sticks add a natural sweetness. You can sprinkle ground cinnamon in your coffee grounds before you brew a pot, if you drink hot coffee.

I just buy/use the bags of cinnamon sticks in the Mexican spice section of HEB or Wal-Mart (Wal-Mart is usually cheaper)

You can do this with pre-made coffee and tea, or you can brew your own.

Also Harney and Sons makes some amazing tea blends that also have a natural sweetness. For hot tea, I really like the hot cinnamon spice and hot apple spice. Both have a strong cinnamon flavor. No sugar or sweetener needed.

For iced teas, the blueberry green, peach, passion fruit, and soothing vanilla are also very good. I add cinnamon sticks to all of those flavors. I recently purchased the blood orange and raspberry herbal but haven't tried them yet.

Tazo also makes an iced passion herbal tea that has a natural sweetness (buy the tea bags and brew your own; the premade has added sugar).

RustyBoltz said:

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Stevia and Monk fruit are as natural a high fructose corn syrup.
The best option is substituting low-GI sweeteners like honey, agave, date syrup and reduce consumption.

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They're actually very helpful when it comes to weight loss

Some people still want the sweetness without the calories. They work well

For iced tea I just squeeze a quarter lemon in it and that adds enough for me. For hot tea I generally use honey which is still calories as you mentioned.

I got some of the Monk fruit extract. Came in a powder packet like sugar. Actually not bad at all. Makes tea mildly sweet but not Georgia tea heavy sweet. Not an aftertaste that I can see. This will seem to work.
Thanks for all the replies. Honey was always an option but just a fun exercise to find something that has even less calories than honey.

erythritol

fishnvet said:

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I got some of the Monk fruit extract. Came in a powder packet like sugar. Actually not bad at all. Makes tea mildly sweet but not Georgia tea heavy sweet. Not an aftertaste that I can see. This will seem to work.
Thanks for all the replies. Honey was always an option but just a fun exercise to find something that has even less calories than honey.

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I've been using the Yuka app to try and get all the crappy chemicals out of my regular diet and Splenda for my coffee is next on my list. Just ordered up some monkfruit extract thanks for the input!

So KidDoc, since you are also ordering this, the one snag I have found is that the monk fruit like Stevia also contains erythritol. I have read some caution about increased risk for stroke or heart attack with this. You might read on this also. I don't know if there is a solid link or if just sensationalism from a study that showed a vague link if you ate 500 packets per day LOL.

Liquid monk fruit extract doesn't have the erythritol added.

Ahh, hph, very interesting, thanks for the heads up. I'll try the liquid and powder version.

Pure liquid monk fruit is very strong. 8 drops is around a teaspoon of sugar sweetness, so one of those bottle should last awhile.

Allulose

I use Liquid Stevia in my unsweet tea and love it. Important note: I ONLY use the English Toffee or Vanilla flavor because they taste way better than the normal flavor. Also I hate the powdered Stevia. So try those out!

92Ag95 said:

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Allulose

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Why is this good? Haven't tried it.

I'm watching this thread, as I'd like to find a good sugar substitute. Have heard stevia impacts gut biome.

fishnvet said:

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I don't see this topic, but apologize if it was covered recently. In trying to cut reasonable amounts of sugar out of my drinks and still have some taste, I was using sucralose. But reading about sucralose doesn't sound very encouraging. Any thoughts about Stevia or monk fruit sweetener? Monk fruit especially doesn't seem to have side effects. I have no interest in sparkling or mineral waters, they don't appeal to me.

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I follow the evidence-based fitness community. So just to let you know, that is where I come from with this. Really no artificial sweetener is harmful for you. Could some make your stomach upset? Maybe, but that is an individual situation. But overall, most randomized controlled studies indicate, to this point, artificial sweeteners and stevia are safe. If you really want to know about these things, and shoot down any health and nutrition myths, follow guys like Layne Norton and Mike Israetel and it should help you a lot in weeding through what BS and what's more likely truth.

Dr. Layner Norton's takes













Dr. Mike's takes









Point is, don't worry about it. If you're trying to reduce sugary beverages to help you lose weight, go for it.