cutting-out artificial sweeteners, who's with me?

i think i've finally realized why i always get hungry immediately after a big, protein-filed meal: diet soda. articificial sweeteners make me instantly hungry, and i think this is triggering me to binge, so i'm cutting out all artificial sweeteners cold turkey.

no more diet soda, no more fiber 1, no more sugar-free fudge bars from dairyqueen, etc.

who's with me on this? let's stick to natural products!

I did it 6 months ago and I haven't looked back. You can do it! Just be careful to read all labels, especially on drinks and flavoured yogurt. Look for natural sweetners like cane sugar, raw sugar, honey and agave nectar and use them sparingly.

I cut them out too! Its been like, 3 months, and I feel so much better without them. But..just yesterday I read the ingredients of my favorite granola bars and they have sorbitol in them! What is sorbitol? It sounds suspiciously like an artificial sweetner to me..

Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorbitol

I've cut back and I don't ever add any artificial sweeteners to anything, but I can't stop completely.  About twice a week, I've gotta have a Diet Pepsi. 

i just learned about aspartame in fiber one, and am switching to natural bran flakes :)

I don't eat anything with artificial sweeteners--it's a pale imitation of the real thing (i.e., sugar). For me, it's not particularly difficult to avoid artificial sweeteners because I think they taste like dreck. Of course, regular, white sugar has no nutritional value either, but I see it as the lesser of the two evils (the other evil being artificial sweetener).

That being said, I also try to aovid eating things containing added (regular) sugar--this cuts out a lot of processed food. But, if I want something sweet (and sometimes fruit just doesn't cut it), I'm going to have something with real sugar and plenty of fat--a brownie, creme brulee (my personal favorite!)--something decadent.  Of course, I don't eat those types of things every day, maybe once a month.  But a dessert containing artificial sweetners just doesn't cut it for me...I deserve better, and so do you!

I haven't eaten anything with artificial sweeteners in a couple of years. I've cut out all but trace amounts of refined sweeteners as well, but artificial sweeteners are out altogether.

Original Post by christinaa12:

I cut them out too! Its been like, 3 months, and I feel so much better without them. But..just yesterday I read the ingredients of my favorite granola bars and they have sorbitol in them! What is sorbitol? It sounds suspiciously like an artificial sweetner to me..

It is.

If you're going to eat sugar, just admit you're going to eat sugar! It's much healthier for you than artificial anyway, I'd say. (I could never get past the taste of artificial, anyway, so I only eat it in some ice creams.)

I also think artificial sweeteners leave you going back for more sweets because you're less satisfied then if you had a small hunk of brownie with real sugar in it.

I commend you! You really will be much happier cutting sodas out of your diet entirely, although the first month is a biotch. ;-P

Original Post by ewwxroflzz:

i just learned about aspartame in fiber one, and am switching to natural bran flakes :)

 ahaha i actually just picked up a box of those today :)

it has less fiber than fiber one, but it's natural.. plus, i get enough fiber anyways :|

Not just artificial sweeteners but also corn syrup! I made the switch from Fiber One 2 years ago, and just recently realized my rice krispies had corn syrup and switched to rice chex. And guess what? I'm much more satisfied with just one bowl. 

My regular cheat is a Starbuck's light frappachino in the summer. I have to give into the craving once my boyfriend has me in the store, and I just can't afford the absurd number of calories in a regular!

I never used to have artifical sweetner until I started counting calories...now I find myself having 3-4 artificial sweetner sodas a week (often when I'm tired and need energy - sugarfree redbull or something...). I really should just have coffee. I might set myself a limit, 2 a week or something. Or even if I let myself have one full real sugar drink a week. Hmm..

I cut out artificial sweeteners months and months ago and i'm so happy I did.  I can actually taste sugar again!  When I was eating and drinking artificial sweeteners I was so used to that super sweetness that real sugar was not sweet enough for me anymore.  I had to pile on spoonful after spoonful just to get the sweetness to match the level of sweetness found in my artificial sweeteners. But it only took about 2 weeks before my taste readjusted itself.  Now just a little sugar is all I need to make something sweet.  And sometimes I don't need any at all. :)

I had an interesting experience the other morning.  I was making my usual fruit smoothie.  I normally make them with a fruit nectar, yogurt, and frozen fruit.  I grabbed what I thought was just peach nectar from my fridge but when I had a sip of the smoothie I almost gagged from the sweetness.  It tasted like i'd dumped a cup of sugar in it!  I looked at the nectar and it was LO-CARB nectar, which of course means artificial sweeteners!  It was shocking how much difference it made.  I only used about 3/4 of a cup in a 2 cup smoothie but it was so sweet I couldn't even drink it.  I ended up throwing the whole thing away.

Your tastes WILL change.  You won't need the sugar you once did.  Don't worry about the calories, you won't be eating that much extra because you won't need that much sugar anymore.  The natural sweetness of foods will be enough.  And regular, full sugar drinks will be so satisfying you won't need to drink much of them.

do you guys still chew sugar-free gum?

I searched for a gum without artificial sweeteners... you won't find them in any store! I had to order gum sweetened with Xylitol (a natural sweetener) online (www.zappgum.com). When I bought it, I found I had cut down my gum use anyway.

I wish I could but 1. I dont find they make me any hungrier than sugar and 2. there's this stupid mentality stuck in my head that too much sugar = bad, but replacing it with sweetener when you can gives you variety,. Weird, I know :(
Also gum is like that cos if it had sugar it would rot your teeth, right?

Hmmmmm.. I can't say I agree.

I've lost a lot of weight and gotten my blood sugar under control with artificial sweeteners. It's when I eat sugar or pastries or anything sweetened with sugar that I fall off the wagon and go nuts and start craving again.

But I'm gradually cutting back on artificial sweeteners too because I want to limit artificial everything. Still, I have to say artificial sweeteners were a valuable weight loss tool for me, possibly because blood sugar swings are partly what cause my bingeing and weight gains.