Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Christine on April 7, 2009 at 10:03am

OMG Chapmans has sugar free Drumsticks. The best icecream cones ever and they taste AMAZING!!! Seriously!

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Permalink Reply by Lucile K. on May 8, 2009 at 7:27pm

Sugar free puddings aren't too bad.

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Permalink Reply by Robyn on May 8, 2009 at 7:41pm

I agree Lucile......chocolate with coolwhip

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Permalink Reply by elaine peterson on May 10, 2009 at 7:55am

Chocolate is great....Banana Fudge is not too shabby. GOT to have Cool Whip or whipped cream! I just tried Bryers Carb Smart Chocolate Almond Ice Cream Bars. How did I miss these??? 9 grams of carbs. Yum.

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Permalink Reply by Lucile K. on May 10, 2009 at 8:01am

I like Whipped Cream too. I don't feel so deprived with some on my yogurt. LandOLakes contains 1g carb per 2T. But I can't have desserts like Bryers Carb Smart Chocolate Almond Ice Cream Bars in the house. Because I don't trust myself to stop with just one.

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Permalink Reply by elaine peterson on May 10, 2009 at 8:09am

That can definitely be a problem! I find if I eat one after a meal....when I am not so much hungry as just craving something sweet, one will do it.

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Permalink Reply by Lucile K. on May 11, 2009 at 7:02pm

Candylike Almonds (2 Servings) (Recipe from a May/2008 Prevention Guide called Outsmart Diabetes)
20 raw almonds
1 t ground cinnamon
1 packet sugar sustitute, such as Splenda

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Roast almonds on nonstick baking sheet for 7-10 minutes.

Place roasted almonds in a small bowl and spritz with zero-calorie butter or cooking spray. Sprinkle with sugar substitute and cinnamon. Eat when cool.

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Permalink Reply by elaine peterson on May 12, 2009 at 10:15am

Lucile...this sounds wonderful. I wonder if it would work on any kind of nuts! Thanks

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Permalink Reply by Lucile K. on May 12, 2009 at 11:17am

I'm not so sure about any recipe containing an artificial sweetener being wonderful anymore. My friend told me that diet soft drinks are bad, because the brain raises blood sugar levels when you TASTE sweet.

Does anyone know whether the brain raises blood sugar levels when you taste something sweet?

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on May 12, 2009 at 12:08pm

Of course, you could test it youself to see. There is controversy on the safety of artificial sweeteners depending on much a person ingests.

This is from the Harvard School of Public Health:

What About Diet Soft Drinks?
Using artificial sweeteners in soft drinks instead of sugar or high-fructose corn syrup seems like it would sidestep any problems with weight or diabetes. Artificial sweeteners deliver zero carbohydrates, fat, and protein, so they can't directly influence calorie intake or blood sugar. Over the short term, switching from sugar-sweetened soft drinks to diet drinks cuts calories and leads to weight loss. Long-term use, though, may be a different story.

To date, the FDA has approved the use of five artificial sweeteners. Gram for gram, each one is far sweeter than sugar. (12) They include:

aspartame (Equal®, NutraSweet®, others), 180 times sweeter than sugar
acesulfame-K (Sunett®, Sweet One®), 200 times sweeter than sugar
saccharin (Sweet'N Low®, Necta Sweet®, others), 300 times sweeter than sugar
sucralose (Splenda®), 600 times sweeter than sugar
neotame (no brand names), 7,000 to 13,000 times sweeter than sugar
Some long-term studies show that regular consumption of artificially sweetened beverages reduces the intake of calories and promotes weight loss or maintenance. Others show no effect, while some show weight gain. (12)

One worry about artificial sweeteners is that they uncouple sweetness and energy. Until recently, sweet taste meant sugar, and thus energy. The human brain responds to sweetness with signals to, at first, eat more and then with signals to slow down and stop eating. By providing a sweet taste without any calories, artificial sweeteners could confuse these intricate feedback loops that involve the brain, stomach, nerves, and hormones. If this happens, it could throw off the body's ability to accurately gauge how many calories are being taken in.

Studies in rats support this idea. Purdue University researchers have shown that rats eating food sweetened with saccharin took in more calories and gained more weight than rats fed sugar-sweetened food. (14) A long-term study of nearly 3,700 residents of San Antonio, Texas, showed that those who averaged three or more artificially sweetened beverages a day were more likely to have gained weight over an eight-year period than those who didn't drink artificially sweetened beverages. (15) Although this finding is suggestive, keep in mind that it doesn't prove that artificially sweetened soft drinks caused the weight gain.



Q. Are sweeteners like erythritol and xylitol good alternatives to sugar?

Erythritol and xylitol are sugar alcohols, a class of compounds that have been used for decades to sweeten chewing gum, candy, fruit spreads, toothpaste, cough syrup, and other products. Newer, cheaper ways to make sugar alcohols from corn, wood, and other plant materials, along with their sugar-like taste, are fueling their use in a growing array of foods. Read more about sugar alcohols.
Imaging studies support the idea that sugar and artificial sweeteners affect the brain in different ways. Some parts of the brain become activated when we experience a "food reward." At the University of California-San Diego, researchers performed functional MRI scans as volunteers took small sips of water sweetened with sugar or sucralose. Sugar activated regions of the brain involved in food rewards, while sucralose didn't. (16) So it is possible, the authors say, that sucralose "may not fully satisfy a desire for natural caloric sweet ingestion." More research is needed to tease out the implications of these findings for weight control.

Although the scientific findings are mixed and not conclusive, there is worrisome evidence that regular use of artificial sweeteners may promote weight gain. Because of these mixed findings about artificial sweeteners, drinking diet soda may not be the best replacement for drinking sugary soda.

The Bottom Line: Skip Sugary Drinks and Go Easy on Diet Drinks
So what's the best choice for your health? For adults and children, the evidence is strong that cutting back on sugary drinks—or eliminating them altogether—may help with weight control and will almost surely lower the risk of diabetes. There's emerging evidence that sugary drinks increase the risk of heart disease. The evidence is less clear-cut for artificially sweetened drinks. For adults trying to wean themselves from sugary soda, diet soda may be the beverage equivalent of a nicotine patch: something to be used in small amounts, for a short time, just until you kick the habit. For children, the long-term effects of consuming artificially-sweetened beverages are unknown, so it's best for kids to avoid them.

Healthier drinking is not just an individual problem. Beverage makers have flooded the market with drinks that offer gobs of sugar, or an unpronounceable list of artificial sweeteners. What's sorely lacking in the beverage marketplace is a middle ground—a drink for people who want just a little bit of sweetness, but don't want too much sugar, and want to shy away from artificial sweeteners or stevia because of health concerns.

There are very few beverages on the market that have no more than 1 gram of sugar per ounce, without any other type of sweetener—sweet enough to please the palate but, at 50 calories per 12-ounce can, not so hard on the waistline, as long as they are drunk in moderation. That's why researchers at Harvard School of Public Health have suggested that beverage manufacturers introduce more of these lightly sweetened drinks to the market, to help Americans retrain their palates away from sweet drinks.

Even these lightly sweetened beverages don't get a green light—they should be occasional treats, rather than your daily source of hydration. The Nutrition Source has created a handy guide to the calories and teaspoons of sugar in popular beverages. You can also find ideas for what to drink instead of sugary drinks, as well as a guide to the best beverages for health, based on advice from an independent panel of experts.

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Permalink Reply by Lucile K. on May 12, 2009 at 1:16pm

Gerri,
As always, thanks for the input--from the Harvard School of Public Health about the safety of using artificial sweeteners, Lucy

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Permalink Reply by Anthony Holko on May 12, 2009 at 2:42pm

Dear Gerri.

I have always wondered about the artificially sweetened pop. some of the points above may be true. that is interesting that the artificial pop may screw up the feedback loop between calories and sweetness.

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