Cereal with sweetener question - British Heart Fou...

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Cereal with sweetener question

GABaracus profile image
24 Replies

I’ve been previously having Special K every morning which has close to 5g of sugar per 30g bowl.

Would I be able to have a no added sugar cereal alternative and simply add a teaspoon of sweetener style sugar instead?

I’m still not sure and confident enough in my knowledge with whether I should be including sweeteners in my new vegan diet.

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GABaracus profile image
GABaracus
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24 Replies
MichaelJH profile image
MichaelJHHeart Star

Best cereals are Shredded Wheat, Wheetabix and porridge. But avoid ones with added fruit and chocolate...

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to MichaelJH

I have had shredded wheat but found it to be entirely bland without any sort of sweetness. I don’t like fruit with my cereal at all, nor chocolate.

You can try a little bit of xylitol which is made from plant fibre

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to

Can you get that textured in a way so that I could basically put it on how I would actual sugar?

I prefer that to tablet sweeteners. I would only be using a teaspoons worth.

Jack2019 profile image
Jack2019 in reply to GABaracus

It doesn't matter the source of the sweetener, glucose is glucose. It's not about the calories it's about the insulin response. Try to retrain your palette to whole foods with no sweetness added. Vegans can run into trouble with processed foods ,eg. Cereal, 'cause they metabolise very quickly into sugar causing a huge insulin spike , and adding sweetener to the cereal compounds the hit.

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to Jack2019

I’ve tried some cereals without any sugar and to say they were tasteless is a huge understatement.

I’m not a breakfast guy, so it’s either going to be a cereal (I actually want to eat) or nothing at all, basically.

Jack2019 profile image
Jack2019 in reply to GABaracus

That, tasteless food, is the reason why you'd be hard pressed to find processed foods that do not have added sugar. To be successful in controlling your insulin response you need to eat whole foods, one ingredient, as much as possible. You're right it is a big change and not easy.

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to Jack2019

I can eat whole foods and still eat some sugar though, right? I’m not even eating close to a high amount. There’s less than 5g in my cereal (30g) with unsweetened oat milk adding nothing further.

I never intended on cutting out sugar entirely, just like I never intended on cutting out saturated fat entirely. I’m simply reducing how much of it I have and by a wide margin.

It’s about finding a healthy balance for me. I’ve already given up things like crisps, chocolate etc, completely.

I’ve even been told to eat a portion of fruit a day, which I have been doing, and that also counts as sugar.

Jack2019 profile image
Jack2019 in reply to GABaracus

Well 5 grams of ADDED sugar equals to slightly more than a teaspoon, so 30 grams of cereal is two tablespoons(seven teaspoons) of cereal, if my understanding is correct, so if you are measuring out your portion of cereal, I guess it is not that detrimental, however whole food will always be better, even fruit because of the fibre, cereal has no nutritional value except it provides readily available glucose.

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to Jack2019

It’s around 5g for the entire 30g portion, so basically nothing to write home about I think.

It does claim to have high fibre.

I have also recently gotten a vegan cereal which uses ingredients that all equate to healthy from what I have been reading, minus the added sugar which is 3.1g per 30g portion.

in reply to GABaracus

Yep be careful though you might get arrested for carrying a non essential item in your shopping

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to

Oh don’t worry, that’s not going to happen where I go, fortunately.

I haven’t even seen police around my local, even once.

They are probably too busy already at somewhere like Morrisons with all the blockbusting queues.

Inamoment profile image
Inamoment

Special k isn't vegan I've just found. Weetabix is and is low in sugar, i have it every morning with a spoonful of ordinary sugar. Beet sugar is vegan, cane sugar is purified using bones although the final product is bone free. British Sugar process beet but i don't know which brands or if they only do beet sugar

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to Inamoment

Thanks for the information! I have Weetabix so that’s handy.

I need to research this “Beet sugar”.

Sounds interesting.

Inamoment profile image
Inamoment in reply to GABaracus

I actually have Lidlabix which is the same but much cheaper. All the own brands are

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to Inamoment

Do you think it would be better to use this Beet sugar? Or a small amount on a teaspoon of a good sweetener?

MichaelJH profile image
MichaelJHHeart Star in reply to GABaracus

Try Stevia - it is a zero calorie plant based sweetener.

For myself I tend to put some berries on Wheetabix or Shredded Wheat.

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to MichaelJH

I will do, thanks!

I’ve tried things like berries with my current cereals and honestly? Too weird for me, but again I’ve never been one to like fruit with my cereal.

I prefer to simply eat fruit on its own.

Janma123 profile image
Janma123

Silver spoon sugar is made from sugar beet here in the UK and is entirely plant.

You can also buy granulated artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, and Candarel which can be sprinkled on cereal and used in baking instead of sugar. They are made so that a teaspoon of sweetener replaces a teaspoon of sugar.

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to Janma123

I settled on three different kinds.... a bag of PURE VIA 100% ERYTHRITOL, an additional bag of TOTAL SWEET XYLITOL and a pot of TRUVIA from Silver Spoon.

Are these options good choices?

The only other Silver Spoon they had at the place where I went had a purple top and was granulated. It also had aspartame in it, which I don’t wish to consume.

Janma123 profile image
Janma123 in reply to GABaracus

I assume so. I haven’t tried them as they weren’t around when I was first looking for sugar substitutes for my hubby. There are several new non-sugar sweeteners available now. Enjoy!

Ecki profile image
Ecki

How about trying porridge Scottish style, with a bit of salt, no sugar?

GABaracus profile image
GABaracus in reply to Ecki

Possibly? But I've mostly found the whole salt and sweet together or switching them up with an otherwise popular "sugar" beverage to be a little not of my tastes.

EMBoy profile image
EMBoy

Your body can only use carbohydrate if it is in the form of glucose. Complex carbohydrates like starch and sucrose have to be broken down into glucose before they can be used. Hence, it doesn't really matter what form the carbohydrate you eat takes. If you are on a low calorie diet, you can still enjoy a small amount of sugar as long as you cut down on other types of carbohydrate. If you are diabetic, check with your GP.

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