Addiction

[Jayney61]

Hi me again, is anyone one else addicted to sweeteners???? I used to take three but post stroke this has now gone up to 6 per cup of tea/coffee. I have tried reducing down one by one, but end back up to 6. I know how bad these are for me ,but really do not want to go back to sugar, especially as the taste is not as good as the sweetener. I cannot give up my cups of tea so wondered if there was an alternative

[JiminyCricket 7lbs]

I know what you mean! I have 2 in a cup of tea, but I drink A LOT of tea - going back to sugar is unthinkable due to calories and teeth-rotting! I am going to try switching to stevia for a while - it does taste different, but its just as sweet and better than all the chemicals which i worry about. i noticed Aldi sold it so hopefully wont break the bank.

[Jayney61 in reply to JiminyCricket]

Thank you for responding will check out Stevia

[IndigoBlue61]

It's a question of balance, OK artificial sweeteners are possibly not the best but if it saves calories and therefore help weight loss then in my opinion it's worth it. However, 6 per cup does seem quite a lot 😕

Long term it is better to try to wean yourself off if you can, I found having artificial sweeteners made my sugar craving worse. It's been tough but worth it, my taste buds are changing ☺

Also because sleep is a problem I'm trying to reduce caffeine ( I was shocked by how much caffeine is in tea!!) but watch this space as it's only week one ☺

[JiminyCricket 7lbs in reply to IndigoBlue61]

good to read. and good luck for caffeine - thats a hard one!

[Jayney61 in reply to IndigoBlue61]

Thank you Anna yu are right my taste buds are getting sweeter, no idea why? will try again

[IndigoBlue61 in reply to Jayney61]

I'm not an expert but know that i get sugar cravings when I'm tired or have low-ish blood sugar. Previous 'crash ' diets would often lead to crazy craving late afternoon for example. Others crave sugar when they're upset or angry. Finding the cause will be useful for you. Do you have any idea what is causing this? Is it connected to the stroke? Could you speak to your stroke nurse?

If it's a question of taste then you can wean yourself off ☺ With limited calories available to me, I choose not to eat sweet things in favour of food with higher satiety, butter on my toast instead of honey (are you hearing this Hidden lol ☺). My taste buds have definitely changed but it takes time. (Over a year to get used to coffee without sweetener)

I hope you get this sorted ☺

[Hidden]

What if you forced yourself to go a week without any sweetener? You won't enjoy it but it might reset your tolerance for sweeteners and you might go back and find the one (compared with non at all) is really sweet enough.

Six is a lot! I often think one is too sweet compared with sugar lol. I imagine you're not just having one or two cups of tea a day? Which means you're having a lot of sweetener! I don't know the science behind it really but does sweetener impact on hormones? :/ might be making it up! I'm sure someone said it can have a negative impact on weight loss if you have too much. Just something to consider

[Jayney61 in reply to Hidden]

thank you I am sure you are right

[Hidden in reply to Jayney61]

Sorry to have given you a bit of a lecture by the way! I didn't mean to.

[Jayney61 in reply to Hidden]

hey no problems you were just stating the obvious no offence taken

[DartmoorDumpling Restart Feb 2024]

I would rather have a tspn of honey than those chemically produced sweeteners; you really don't know what they are doing to your insides.

I used to take sugar in Tea and Coffee when much younger but have got used to the taste without now, so it it just a habit, and one that can with determination be retrained.

[happyhealthyjane]

Understand your struggle. Sugar is certainly addictive. Do you believe addictive personality? I do, cause some people can just take it and leave it, and others have to have something, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, you name it, everyone is different. I start having tea/coffee with no sugar or sweetener, and stopped drinking juice as a regular thing. And never missed it, occasionally still want a glass of juice, but that's rare. However, I know I'm lucky on this (my biggest enemy is fat and overeating, I like spam unfortunately).

Here are a few things I find to be healthy alternatives, see if they work for you

1. Red bush tea, I like it, but aware not everyone's taste, no caffeine

2. Decaf tea/coffee

3. Green tea, personally i love Jasmine flavour, but you get plenty of different flavours, has less caffeine than coffee, but still give a boost

4. flowering tea, looks beautiful, again, not everyone's taste, but worth trying

5. Coconut water, most healthy juice possibly

Good luck!

[Jayney61 in reply to happyhealthyjane]

Thanks for the info unfortunately tried them and hate them lol am going to give giving up gradually already started

[Jayney61]

Thank you for your input