Problems with Splenda

[missyb32641]

I can not use splenda because of the after taste. Have any of you had this problem and how did you deal with it. All of the artificial sweetners taste bad to me but Splenda is the worst. I thought about using Somer Sweet no real after taste to me but it is so expensive. I don't know what to do and I really want PP to work.

[Mitra]

I have the same problem. I deal with it by not using splenda.

Some people find that the liquid form is less problematic than the powder, but having a jar of the powder and a packet of the tiny tablets sitting unused in the cupboard, I didn't feel like adding the liquid form to my collection!

I just decided that artificial sweeteners weren't worth the bother, so I don't use them.

[Gaelen]

Missyb, welcome in!

I know it's almost a natural thing to think that you need to replace added sugar with an artificial sweetener, but the truth is, unless you were really adding a LOT of sugar before starting Protein Power, you may find that just cutting out or drastically reducing added sweeteners (artificial or otherwise) will reset your tastebuds so that things that are less sweet become your preference. When that happens, you can appreciate the natural tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter) of food. What foods/beverages were you adding sugar to prior to starting the plan--or what foods/beverages were you only eating sweetened?

If you're not ready to just stop adding sweetener to foods, you might try stevia, which is the herbal sweetening agent stevia leaf. SteviaPlus uses some filler to make adding it to things easier to measure (it's quite concentrated.)

If you're talking about cooking and baking, stevia may also be helpful there...and you may also want to consider adding small amounts (1 tablespoon or less for 4 servings) of strong flavored natural sweeteners (dark honey or blackstrap molasses) to the recipes where the taste of the sweetener is more important than the sweetness itself. Hope that helps.

[mcsblues]

I agree with Janet and Gaelen that you can easily do low carb without AS and to some extent it is a good idea not to recreate too many 'pretend' high carb items as it will tend to keep alive your cravings for the 'real' thing - well that is my experience anyway.

However ;) if you want an AS without discernable aftertaste (and I agree most do!) try getting hold of some erythritol (Hi Stuart! :p) - which has almost identical characteristics as white sugar, although some say it is not quite as sweet. (To my low carb educated palate it tastes very sweet!):)

[Carri]

I have to have sweetener in my tea and I also make yogurt with berries that have to have a sweetener too. So I MUST have something to give sweetness. So I highly recommend the liquid Stevia Glycerite. It's much better than the stevia powders and has no bitter after taste. I use the powder for larger items I want to sweeten like Ice Cream, yogurt, baked goods and deserts. But be careful with using the powder because it will be bitter if you use too much and it's easy to use too much. Give it a try! You can get used to it after awhile. Your taste buds will eventually adjust.

[avnndd]

Splenda is strange...in some things, it has a really weird aftertaste, and in some things not. Sometimes it tastes almost oniony or garlicky to me. Other times it's bitter (usually in soft drinks and vanilla ice cream). I still prefer it to the other sweeteners, though...and as a hedonist, I have to have it! ;-)

I have tried stevia, and some of it is ok...I have some liquid right now that I"m not really too crazy about...not much sweet, too much bitter.

[Mitra]

... I also make yogurt with berries that have to have a sweetener too.

I suspect I just don't have a very sweet tooth, because I have berries with natural yogurt and no sweetener pretty often - and certainly all through the summer and autumn, when the fresh berries are in season. The only fruits I add sweetener to are blackcurrants (which I can only get for a short season) and rhubarb (I use honey, but limit my portion size so it's only around 2g carb).

[Inez]

Using less sweetener and making sure the other ingredients are really good quality so that they really shine through over the sweet taste can help. If I take a taste of regular desserts now, I'm always surprised at how basically all you taste is sugar and also that I don't like that very much! Also, if baking is something you really enjoy, mixing different types of artificial sweeteners helps with the taste and also learning what different types of sweeteners work better with different ingredients.

[Ottawa]

There are a several people here using the Davinci syrups and a few using SweetzFree, a concentrated Splenda with no carrier.
Although expensive and hard to get, one drop = 1 tsp sugar and I foind that it has no aftertaste. Relief would be an AS Connoisseur, and put me on to Xylitol as well for baking and her Zucchinni muffins.

Over the years I need less sweets but find, possibly through habit, that I prefer some sort of sweet after my evening meal that could be sweetened berries or just a warm drink.

[Relief]

I cannot use the powdered forms of splenda at all--especially the measures like sugar variety--It tastes salty to me--really weird and yucky. but the liquid variety has no aftertaste that I can detect, at least in "normal" quantities. I use it in my yogurt, in my tea and to sweeten berries in addition to baked things. here is where to get it. http://www.sweetzfree.com/index.html it looks expensive but dose for dose is about the same as packets.

I also do use erithritol and xylitol in baking and they can taste good as well. i have tried all the forms of Stevia and can't stand ANY of them.

I have tried to do without sweet altogether-- and after a time I just go nuts and want to eat every gooey dessert in sight, I feel so deprived. Judicious use of AS keeps me happily on plan. Everybody seems to be different, I would love to be able to do without the " desserts"--i would feel so much more virtuous and healthy but so far I do better with some "goodies" on a regualr basis.

YMMV but I hope you find something that will work for you.

[Knipfty]

I like in my decafe coffee in the mornings. 1 packet into my large cup with Half and half. Does anyone think that this is too much artificial sweetner?

[mcsblues]

I would be very wary of using xylitol as it is digested in a similar way to real sugar (albeit slower). If you check out the table in this Mendoza article - forget the GI, but look at the calories per gram - xylitol is 3 (sugar is 4) compare that to erythritol which is 0.2;

http://www.mendosa.com/netcarbs.htm

[banshee]

I have tried to do without sweet altogether-- and after a time I just go nuts and want to eat every gooey dessert in sight, I feel so deprived. Judicious use of AS keeps me happily on plan.
Relief, I'm the same. If I don't have *something* sweet, I can't stick to the plan. That's what derailed me the first two times on low-carb. I went completely sweet free for 7-8 months, and then went nuts eating everything sweet and sugary in sight and gained all the weight back (and redeveloped all the health problems.) I would even get up in my sleep and eat things without remembering it! (This blog post (http://www.proteinpower.com/drmd/archives/2006/03/gain_weight_whi.html#comments) by Dr. Eades may partly explain why!) This third (and last!) time, I allowed myself to have a sugar-free dessert a couple times a week while losing the weight, along with my AS sweetened tea and I no longer have those cravings. (Strangely, the dessert has to be some sort of SF chocolate at least once a week, though, or I still get the cravings for the "real" stuff!)

I don't have a taste issue with the powdered Splenda, but I do prefer the liquid versions because it doesn't have any carbs from the fillers.

[avnndd]

Knipfty, I think it's whatever works best for you...personally, I use a LOT more than that, with ok results...it's just what I like. I wish I could develop more of an affinity for unsweetened coffee, but at home, I really like it sweet (and with cream). I generally use 2 packets in a mug.

[banshee]

Has anyone heard of the sweetener you can buy that's made from chicory root? It's supposed to bake and taste just like sugar. I found the following source for purchasing it:
http://www.lowcarbspecialties.com/sweet_perfection.html

and the following blog that discusses it: http://www.lowcarbfreedom.com/2005/05/a_new_good_for_.html


The only thing in the ingredients that concerns me is that the blog posting states that it contains 4.1% fructose. But I'm wondering if this would be a reasonable option for people who either find that Splenda has an aftertaste or who don't want the added carbs from the fillers in Splenda. It would certainly increase your fiber intake!

[Viking Dan]

Hm. I never found Splenda to have an aftertaste. Stevia on the other hand...*blech!*

[banshee]

I haven't found it to have an aftertaste, either, but I have at least one friend who can't eat anything I make with Splenda because of the aftertaste for her. This includes pure liquid sucralose, so it isn't the fillers that she's "tasting". I think it's really an individual thing - I think that the "pink packets" and the "blue packets" taste vile, but there are lots of people who think it just tastes sweet. There are always going to be some people who have "weird" taste buds...

[avnndd]

Hey, I resemble that remark...

I remember making a pitcher of Koolaid once with "pink" AS...YUCK!!! It was SO bitter I couldn't drink it.

[kevinpa]

It has always been my experience that when it come to cooking and baking it takes a combination of AS to get a truely enjoyable taste. For example erythritol when used by itself has a slight cooling effect that can be distracting. Splenda by itself can have a noticable aftertaste. But when combining with splenda or sweetzfree with erthritol they create a synergy that is much more appealing and approachs the taste of sugar. Together the cooling effect of the erthritol and the aftertaste of splenda become non issues.

[shulameet]

Dera Missy and Gaelen,

Has anyone tried to counteract bitter taste with acid ingredients? Bitterness usually indicates the presence of a chemical 'base", an alkaloid.

What happens when you use friut juices (especially citrus) or vinegar?
Do any AS break down from these chemical reactions to produce unhealthy results?

Personally, I don't use aspartame because I heard it broke down into toxic byproducts when subjected to too much heat.

Shulameet