COMMENT from MD EADES: We aren’t fans of it as we wrote about extensively in The Protein Power LifePlan in a chapter called ‘How Sweet It Is…Not!’ You should also check my blog archives, where there is some discussion about it as well.

Anne

Just a side note about Equal. I started a low carb lifestyle in 1998. I was 40 years old and had 20/20 vision. I started gagging down diet sodas until finally I could drink my beloved Pepsi again. The strange thing though is that by the time I hit 42 I can barely see anything close up and my vision is somewhat blurry. I understand that as one gets older their eye sight goes, but that much in that short of a time period? My sister who has never touched anything but pure sugar is 6 years older and has perfect vision (20/20) as did my parents…coincidence? I’d love to hear some opinions on whether aspartame screws up your eyesight. thanks, robin.

COMMENT from MD EADES: Don’t know of any specific research that implicates aspartame in presbyopia–the loss of near vision with age–but there is a fair amount of suggestive literature on the deleterious effects of aspartame on the brain and the eyes are nothing but a specialized extension of the brain, so anything’s possible. However, the onset of presbyopia is usually not gradual. It just seems like you wake up one day and your arms have gotten too short to read the paper comfortably. Not literally one day, obviously, but for many people in my experience it is precipitous–just as you experienced–often over just a few months from I can read the menu to where did I put my reading glasses!

Back in my pre-lowcarb days I liked a little bit of hot cocoa drink mixed in with my morning coffee. Of course that ended with my LC conversion. With the arrival of Truvia I decided to revive my cocoa – coffee drink.

Hot chocolate drink:
4 TBS Hersey’s Natural Unsweetened Cocoa and 6 packets of Truvia whisked together in a mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of hot half and half and whisk well.

Mix ¼ hot chocolate drink with ¾ coffee. I’m hooked again!

I sure hope Truvia proves to be minimally damaging.

I enjoy your blog!!

Philip Thackray

COMMENT from MD EADES: Thanks! Sounds delicious. I’ll have to give it a try.

I quit buying the new Zevia soda when I realized that it was sweetened not just with stevia, but with 11 g of erithrytol – and while I have been hearing that erithrytol really doesn’t raise bg, that’s what they were telling us about all the sugar alcohols for quite a while. And what they said about fructose…

On the other hand, the store where I most often buy a cup of coffee has unflavored Splenda syrup on the counter next to the little rainbow packets – and I do make a point of telling the barista every so often that this is WHY I most often get my coffee there.