Sweetners

[Becky85]

I am on my 2nd day of VLCD and I was wondering if anyone else is still using Splenda or Sweet n Low. I can probably get Stevia from the health food store but have gotten mixed reviews on the taste (satisfaction of it).  I am also having a big problem getting down 64 oz of water.  Can I count my tea and one cup of coffee toward this goal.  Any advice would be appreciated. 

[Wanda Woman]

I found this sweetener called: Slimsweet by TriMedica.  It is made from a natrual plant called Lo Han.  There is NO after taste and it is very delicious.

[cpayne]

Hi, where did you get the TriMedica, is it available at Whole Foods?

[Wanda Woman]

I found it online at VITACOST.COM.  It was the cheapest website that carried it.  The price ranged for $3.23 to $18.00 depending on what form you buy it. If you buy it in packets, I believe the price is $4.49, 3oz bottle is $3.23, and 1 lb bottle is $18.00.  The exact link for these products is: http://www.vitacost.com/productResults.aspx?ss=1&Ntk=products&Ntt=SLimsweet

Hope this helps...I love it!     

[cpayne]

I am going to try it, thank you so much for the information.

[shannonk70]

I am not a big water drinker either. But I came up with a plan that is working out well for me.

I set my cell phone up to go off at 9:30, 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30 & 7:30 when the alarm goes off I know that I need to drink 24 oz of water.  It take two minutes to drink it all down.  Its been working out great and I am getting plenty of water.

[kathy in California]

I do count about half of my tea as water intake. I like the idea of using the cell phone as an alarm though.

[Sunsea]

Stevia is the best sweetner....it is a natural plant derivitive and order it from vitacost.com

[Montanagrandmom]

Where does Agave nector fit on the sweetner scale?  I will look at the label when I get home. I'm not using it right now but have in baking as my husband is diabetic.  Makes the moistest and best tasting banana bread that he can actually eat in small quantities.

[Sunsea]

not sure about agave syrup....I'd love to have your BB bread recipe with the agave syrup tho!

[Montanagrandmom]

Recipe for Moist Agave Nectar Banana Bread

1/2 cup Agave nectar
1/3 cup grape seed oil(you can use vegetable or olive oil as a substitute)
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup Mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 Cup all purpose flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Optional: A pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, and/or ground ginger

Preheat oven to 325
In a large bowl, beat oil, agave. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in banana's, vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Blend in chopped nuts. Spread into greased 9x5 loaf pan.
Back 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack 1/2 hour before slicing.

To give credit where credit is due....I found it at http://www.greenthistown.com/2008/08/green-this-pantry-agave-nectar-banana.html][url]http://www.greenthistown.com/2008/08/green-this-pantry-agave-nectar-banana.html  (http://[url)[/url] I think it would still be yummy using all whole wheat flour.  I actually used unbleached flour for the all purpose flour and it turned out fine.  The other thing I do is bake it in my 'Perfect Brownie Pan' that my son got me for Christmas. That way you get nice, pre-measured portions!

[Sunsea]

great!...thank you for that...on P4 I am gonna make this...a great way to make a sweet bread without sugar...

[BFx]

I believe that the recomendation for Stevia is based around the fact that it is a natural sweetner derived from sugar and it's significantly easier for one's metabolism to identify it and to "break it down", so to say.

As for water intake, I've found the Yerba Mate tea to be a great appetite suppresant and also, making "lemonade" with the juice from 1 lemon each day plus drops of flavored Stevia ( like raspberry, strawberry, etc.) makes it easier to drink all that water.

[Montanagrandmom]

Stevia is NOT made from sugar. From Wikipedia:"Stevia is a genus of about 240 species of herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family (Asteraceae), native to subtropical and tropical regions from western North America to South America. The species Stevia rebaudiana, commonly known as sweetleaf, sweet leaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia, is widely grown for its sweet leaves. As a sweetener and sugar substitute, stevia's taste has a slower onset and longer duration than that of sugar, although some of its extracts may have a bitter or licorice-like aftertaste at high concentrations.

With its extracts having up to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, stevia has garnered attention with the rise in demand for low-carbohydrate, low-sugar food alternatives. Medical research has also shown possible benefits of stevia in treating obesity and high blood pressure. Because stevia has a negligible effect on blood glucose, it is attractive as a natural sweetener to people on carbohydrate-controlled diets."

[Montanagrandmom]

I've found some mixed news about Agave Nectar/syrup:

From Wikipedia:

"Agave nectar (also called agave syrup) is a sweetener commercially produced in Mexico from several species of agave, including the Blue Agave (Agave tequilana), Salmiana Agave (Agave salmiana), Green Agave, Grey Agave, Thorny Agave, and Rainbow Agave.[1][2] Agave nectar is sweeter than honey, though less viscous."

and

"To produce agave nectar from the Agave tequiliana plant, juice is expressed from the core of the agave, called the piña.[2] The juice is filtered, then heated to hydrolyze polysaccharides into simple sugars. The main polysaccharide is called inulin or fructosan and comprises mostly fructose units. The filtered, hydrolyzed juice is concentrated to a syrup-like liquid a little thinner than honey that ranges in color from light to dark depending on the degree of processing. The syrup contains iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium which contribute to the resulting color."

and

"Agave nectar consists primarily of fructose and glucose. One source[6] gives 92% fructose and 8% glucose; another[7] gives 56% fructose and 20% glucose. These differences presumably reflect variation from one vendor of agave nectar to another. Agave nectar's glycemic index and glycemic load are comparable to fructose, which in turn has a much lower glycemic index and glycemic load [8]than table sugar (sucrose).[9]


However, the extremely high percentage of fructose can be deleterious and can trigger fructose malabsorption, metabolic syndrome[10], hypertriglyceridemia, decreased glucose tolerance, hyperinsulinemia, and accelerated uric acid formation.[11][12][13]"