Are there any artificial sweetners we can have with our compromised livers??

[Jkf1]

I have Nash F2. I am struggling to lose weight and keep it off and I have a very hard time with sugar. I was doing very well for a while but have since started gaining weight back. I am sure no artificial sweetener is good for us, but is there one that anyone is aware of that does not harm our livers? l I am thinking about using Stevia or Splenda. What does everyone here use to sweeten their foods? Thanks.

[nash2 Partner]

I don't know of any that are not processed by the liver and we don't really know the effect but it is certainly dose related. Best idea is to have a bit of fruit. The whole fruit not juice. Sugar is addictive and it takes time to get your body used to the idea that it doesn't need sugar. We love it but our body doesn't need it and dietary health starts with getting past that. You should replace those calories with unsaturated fat and we recommend olive oil if you have an inflamed liver.

fattyliverfoundation.org/li...

[lecc]

One thing that helps me with sugar cravings are strawberries. They are low in calories and also have a low glycemic index. If you are doing low carb, however, your palate gets more sensitive to sweet flavors (such as the one present in strawberries).

[Monicka]

Hi! I suggest to avoid sugar and all sweeteners altogether. They are poisons not only to liver but all your body! You can supplant it by fruit. I ate sugar all my life, I never believed I could get rid of it. Hence I DID! I don’t eat it for over 7 months now! IT’S POSSIBLE! You can do it too!

There are so many upsides to not eating sugar: your mood and vitality will improve, you will not have weight problems, your whole body organs will benefit!

[grapewizard]

Most people here are going to tell you to go cold turkey or go the fruit way. If you're looking for something to replace dessert or similar, well, sure, fruit works. But if you're just looking for something to put in your coffee because you can't stand it black, Stevia is the least insulting to the liver. Whole foods has a liquid option with an eye dropper. 5 drops will do it and it tastes better than the powder. Splenda is out. Forget it. The goal is to eliminate refined sugar. It's unrealistic to think you will spend the rest of your life never having anything sweet. I've managed my NASH and normalized my enzymes over the last year. I drink ONE cup of coffee with 5 drops of liquid Stevia and Almond milk in the morning. I drink naturally flavored seltzer or plain water or plain iced tea. I have a container of mixed berries here and there for when i just need dessert. And I minimize the hidden sugars by avoiding rice, bread, pasta and such. Collectively, it works. If you make it too hard, you will most likely fail. Find out the combination that works for you.

[Jkf1 in reply to grapewizard]

Thanks so much, very helpful.

[dave_tsda]

I struggle with lack of sugar as well. So I found a few go to items when I need something. One thing to note, I had a mild case of NAFLD, so there could be different dietary requirements vs NASH.

That being said, the 4 things I found that have been helpful in order I go to them:

1) Berries - Raspberries, blackberries and strawberries are all good choices. I try to do no more than 1 cup a day

2) Dark Chocolate dusted almonds - Specifically Blue diamond. They do have 3g of added sugar and 6g of total carbs. I track my sugar consumption pretty closely, so I went from eating 100g of sugar pre diet changes down to 5-10g. These help.

3) Stevia candy bars - Specific Lily brand. I've only found a few brands that are any good. And they do have some ingredients that I question. And they are crazy expensive. But I keep these around and try to eat no more than 1/4 of a bar per day when I need something more than almonds.

4) Home made keto cookies - I did a lot of research/trial and error to find a recipe that is workable. These can be a close approximation to real cookies but almond/coconut flours have different textures than regular flour. Based on the stuff I read, I decided to use Stevia. I also put a lot less than the recipe calls for.

But as others have said, long term effects are still not known. But the latest research on spiking insulin levels and blood sugar are good.

Hopefully this helps.

[Jkf1 in reply to dave_tsda]

Very helpful, thank you. Do you use the stevia packets or liquid drops?

[dave_tsda in reply to Jkf1]

I use the liquid

[MGB1964]

I have been using and loving Monk Fruit. There are several products out there, and it is an all natural sugar replacement. You can even get brown sugar.

[Jkf1]

Thank you

[gillianTS]

Another little tip with fresh fruit is to introduce a little heat it brings out the sugars, a few moments in a microwave and strawberries taste much sweeter, use softened pears to sweeten other foods especially if they need sweetening up a little especially some sour fruits, blueberries are great too, grapes have lots of sugar best to limit even though its natual sugar. Chia seeds are good to make into a dessert, quinoa instead of rice, it can also be used to make desserts sweetened with natural fruit...

Try playing around with food and a great way to help is put everything you want to include in your diet in the same cupboards and space in the fridge etc. Remove everything you do not want to be eating out of the way or simply do not replace when they have gone. Make a list of meals and snacks for a week or more and try to make sure you have them in the house if you can it helps.

Good luck.

[Jkf1]

Thank you all for your helpful information.

[KMT123]

When I was diagnosed with Cirrhosis in November of 2020, I immediately started looking up everything I could find since I wasn't able to see a gastroenterologist until a couple of months later and didn't want to wait to start making changes. One article I found was about a study (done on mice, not humans - & done, I believe, in 2017. Not positive about that date.) that indicated possible benefits of stevia for NAFLD. At that point it was only the one study, and hadn't been taken any further. But I just did another search and found another article from last year (medicalnewstoday.com/articl... referencing what appears to be the same study on mice, and it mentions that a human study is being conducted. It has a link to info on the new human study and that info states it began in Dec. 2019 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2022. At any rate, I've been using (purely at my own risk, and also sparingly - only for oatmeal or baked oats in the mornings, and in plain greek yogurt for snacks) a "pure stevia" product I get online (Amazon) that has no fillers for bulk (which would make it measure out the same as sugar and also as preservatives, etc) and found in pretty much all of the stevia sweeteners you'll find locally in stores - even some of the liquid varieties have additives. Having no bulk makes it a bit trickier to use because it only takes a small amount & it's easy to shake out too much (resulting in a bitter taste), but you get used to how much you need. Baking with it is possible, but tricky - you'd likely need to include something else in the recipe to make up for that bulk - the only thing I've baked with it is the baked oatmeal, which I really like - makes breakfast more like a muffin verses gloppy oatmeal and you can also sweeten it with berries as well.

[Jkf1 in reply to KMT123]

Thank you for that info! Can you tell me what brand you buy off of Amazon and give me that baked oatmeal recipe?

[KMT123 in reply to Jkf1]

Here's a link to the Stevia I use - please keep in mind that I have no doctor's advice backing up the use of this sweetener; I just decided to try it on my own and make no claims as to whether it will help with any liver issues. But, having said that, I believe it has aided in my weight loss (76 lbs since November of 2020-yay!) and my liver enzyme numbers have improved quite a bit, as well as my platelet count. Of course my entire diet has changed - I'm not just attributing the improvements only to Stevia. It's just one tool in the box. Oh, and don't get too scared off by the price, it lasts a LONG time.

smile.amazon.com/gp/product...

And this is a link to the brand's website where you can buy it as well - it also has a conversion chart that will help you see how much to use vs. sugar. nunaturals.com/products/ste...

As for the baked oatmeal, there are several recipes out there online - you might want to do a search for them - all sorts of varieties/flavors - just be careful of which ingredients you choose to incorporate. Lots call for chocolate chips (I wouldn't use) or some type of "natural" sweetener like maple syrup or honey (again, I wouldn't use). But here's the one I'm using... (this is only 2 servings, but you can double/triple/quadruple/etc. to make as many as you want. I usually make about 7 or 8 days worth and just keep them in a zip-lock baggy in the fridge.) So you know, these don't taste like a traditional muffin; they're not as sweet (you'll get used to it, just give it time) and they're more dense as well. But filling and more fun to eat than regular oatmeal, at least for me...

1/2 Banana

1 Egg

2 T unsweetened Applesauce

2 T nonfat plain Greek Yogurt

1/4 C milk (I use skim milk, but plant based milks would work as well)

3/4 cup of whole oats

Pure Stevia Extract "to taste" - I'm sorry I can't give you the exact amount I use; as I said, it's difficult to measure. I just sprinkle in as much as I think I need for the amount of servings I'm mixing up...it's very much an individual preference and takes some trial and error. I sort of based the amount on how much I use in regular oatmeal - that, along with the conversion chart on the brand's website - might help you judge how much as well. Try making oatmeal and adding the Stevia to that (start with just a very, very little!) - that way you can adjust the amount "on the fly" and all you've wasted if you get too much is one serving of oats vs. this entire recipe. Take note of how much you add to a serving and multiply that by the amount of servings you're making of the muffins.

Optional: 4 T (or 8T if you'd like a stronger peanut butter flavor) Peanut Butter Powder (like PB2, but there are lots of other brands, Walmart even has their own - I'm sure you could use unsalted peanut butter as well, but because I'm trying to lose weight I use this instead - lots less calories. This is purely for flavoring and is optional, but I really love it.)

Optional: 1/2 C to a full cup of frozen berries...blue, black, straw - whatever you prefer.

Mash the banana up first, then add the rest of the wet ingredients and then the dry. Bake at 400° until "set" (I use an air fryer and it only takes about 10-11 minutes - sorry, I haven't baked them in a regular oven.)

You can bake them in ramekins, but they'll usually stick to the sides - I've started using silicone cupcake molds and they work perfectly, although they're small and I end up doing several batches - but they pop right out after they've cooled. To serve, I usually put some frozen berries in a bowl and heat them up to get their juices flowing, then add the "muffins" on top and heat them. That might seem like a lot of berries, but there aren't that many in each individual muffin.

One other thing I recommend is using an app like MyFitnessPal - it's helped me enormously in the weight loss. You just don't realize what or how much you put in your mouth until you keep track of it. Good Luck!!

[Maxy6 in reply to KMT123]

I love this recipe and yes, My Fitness Pal is great!

[Jkf1 in reply to KMT123]

Wow, thanks for all the info!