Cutting down sugar

[Williamsmith]

I want to learn more about artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes. Again, the propaganda was that they caused cancer in mice......but they didn't tell you that the amounts that were fed mice and rats were comparable to amounts a human couldn't possibly consume. So the sugar industry conspiracy raises its ugly head again. I am particularly curious about how to use stevia and I'm wondering about any dangers in aspartame as many of the diet drinks I like for mixing beverages with contain this.

[JaneV2.0]

I knew I'd hear from you, Jane! . I'm sure you would love my husband's cooking--I do, too, MOST of the time. And I do believe he needs fats. But I still think he uses way too much salt, mayo, oils, etc. I'm a plain and simple eater. I generally go for unadulterated food, and he's a big adulterer.

I'm a big adulterer, too!

I don't much like plain anything. I'm with Iris Apfel: "More is more, less is a bore." I have some simple tendencies, but they mostly involve work and social situations. The only reason I eat simple food is that I'm a desultory cook. Otherwise, I'd eat the most complicated Indian, Thai, and other Asian food possible.

[JaneV2.0]

My philosophy on non-nutritive sweeteners is the same as Dr. Stephen Phinney's: "Sugar is worse than the most "evil" of artificial sweeteners."

Every time a new sweetener is introduced, sugar manufacturers rush out a flurry of scare stories to combat it. I can tell that when I eat sugar, my insulin rises (hunger alert!) and my blood sugar quickly follows (nap alert!) When I have sucralose or Truvia or some other sweetener in my coffee or tea, I observe neither of those things. It's possible that they may affect my gut biome, but what doesn't. Surely, the packet of aspirin I take every morning is much worse for them than a few drops of whatever sweetener.

Rabbit starvation is a real thing. It's no wonder fatty pemmican was the ultimate survival food.

Calories are a poor measure of much of anything (See Sam Feltham's Smash the Fat experiments for fascinating proof of that), but I find that when I eat mainly protein and fat, I'm satisfied with much less food--the opposite of my experience with high-carb diets. That's why it's so easy to fast when you're fat adapted.

[Yppej]

I've grown stevia in my garden and recommend it.

[catherine]

I have to say, I don't like sugar substitutes--the taste of them--so I try to get by without them. I've long since abandoned sugar in coffee and tea. I don't drink soda, or any kind of flavored water with sweeteners of any kind.

Jane, wish you could come by for dinner--

DH's joke is "What's ma-ma-mo-deration??" I should be the Libra and he should be the Aries--but instead it's the other way around.

[Yppej]

Does anyone know about sugar content in alcoholic beverages? Is buying Skinny Girl worth the extra cost?

[JaneV2.0]

Does anyone know about sugar content in alcoholic beverages? Is buying Skinny Girl worth the extra cost?

Spirits with no added sugar are OK. I like brandy. I'm not familiar with Skinny Girl (what a retrograde brand name!), but there are quite a few sugar-free mixers out there, including Zevia and La Croix.

[Yppej]

Thanks Jane. They have wines and vodka and other drinks.

[Yppej]

I am so pleased to see new single ingredient products in the supermarket. Today I got zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice, and seaweed. I felt like yes! I can cut down the sugar and carbs. Thank you to all the boomers who are aging and focusing on their health. I feel like you are driving the market to a better place.

[rosarugosa]

I probably get most of my sugar from wine. I don't like sweet wines, but I think all alcohol has sugar in it.