View Full Version : Splenda or Sugar
Phoenixdadeadhead
06-02-2009, 18:13
So i have decided to hike with Splenda this year. I have a killer sweet tooth, and normally carry a few pounds of Sugar on every hike a week or longer. This year though I am taking splenda, which weighs 9 ounces for 5 pounds worth of sweetener.
My worry though is about the carbs I am losing by not using real sugar. Have others switched to Splenda, and how do you like it on the trail?
flemdawg1
06-02-2009, 18:56
What are you sweetening?
I carry Splenda instead of sugar - no problems here.
MintakaCat
06-02-2009, 19:10
Splenda and my gut just don't get along. :(
It took me awhile to figure that out, but now that I don't consume anything with Splenda, my body is much happier. Most people can consume it with no problem, but a few like me can't.
flemdawg1
06-02-2009, 19:14
Neither I use drinks and Oatmeal that's prepackaged/sweetened. Drink coffee black.
Mrs Baggins
06-02-2009, 19:14
Try Stevia. A tiny bit is as sweet as sugar - and it's not fake like Splenda. You'll carry far less weight for a sweetner and have the flavor of real sugar. All of the grocery stores carry it now but it's also available in places like Whole Foods and in bulk at some health food/grocery store markets.
Blissful
06-02-2009, 19:20
Splenda gives me headaches. That stuff is junk.
TIDE-HSV
06-02-2009, 19:21
There's a recent study - I'm sure you can google it up - which found that all artificial sweeteners lead to weight gain. I forget the physical hypothesis. I do think that most of the people I know who habitually down mega quantities of diet drinks are fat...
take-a-knee
06-02-2009, 20:04
There's a recent study - I'm sure you can google it up - which found that all artificial sweeteners lead to weight gain. I forget the physical hypothesis. I do think that most of the people I know who habitually down mega quantities of diet drinks are fat...
Stevia is not an artificial sweetener, it is an herb that happens to taste sweet. It isn't diet sodas that make people fat, it is the huge amounts of refined carbohydrates they use the sodas to wash down.
TIDE-HSV
06-02-2009, 20:09
Actually, I think I'll try to google the study. It has nothing to do with the carbs. It does have to do with an errant feedback loop in the brain, with the brain expecting calories when sweet is detected and the metabolism reacting faultily. Made all kinds of sense...
TIDE-HSV
06-02-2009, 20:12
Here's one link. There're a bunch out there...
MASH (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080210183902.htm)
Wise Old Owl
06-02-2009, 20:16
There's a recent study - I'm sure you can google it up - which found that all artificial sweeteners lead to weight gain. I forget the physical hypothesis. I do think that most of the people I know who habitually down mega quantities of diet drinks are fat...
....and have heath problems - stick with sugar - ask any 90 year old,
The issue may be more complicated on the trail where there is little access to additional food. If non-nutritive sweetener upsets the body's signals, you can't go to the fridge. On the other side, sugar is not a great source of calories when you are working hard. Fats and starchy carbs last longer and don't drop you suddenly. So maybe, just maybe, non-nutritive sweeters are ok for aesthetic reasons as long as you are getting enough calories from other sources.
Why would you waste energy carrying food (if you call splenda food - I don't) with no calories? If you have that much of a sweet, go ahead and carry a few pounds of sugar, at least it has evergy value. Then talk to your doctor about your eating habits:eek:
johnnybgood
06-02-2009, 20:31
Splenda gives me headaches. That stuff is junk.
Same here . I trying sugar again. There no need to feel lousy over fake sweetner.;)
TIDE-HSV
06-02-2009, 20:32
The Splenda is much lighter than sugar for the same sweetening power. That's about all I can give it...
fiddlehead
06-02-2009, 20:49
....and have heath problems - stick with sugar - ask any 90 year old,
I agree.
My mom is only 86 but sugar is probably her no. 1 craving (and way too much of her diet IMO)
But, i see people in their 90's doing the same. Who can fault that?
I also agree that diet sodas are fattening.
Kevin Trudeau likes to ask his audience "How many drink diet coke or pepsi?"
"How many of those would like to lose weight" (practically all of them say yes)
"Simple, switch to regular coke and you will lose weight!"
Better yet, switch to fruit drinks (real ones) and/or water.
Phoenixdadeadhead
06-02-2009, 20:50
I have a major sweet tooth. Lots of sweet in my coffee, lots of sweet in my tea, lots of sweet in my oatmeal. Last year my nephew and I went through 5 pound of sugar in 10 days, 100 miles. This year I am hiking alone 200 miles around 20 days. So my choice is carry 5 pounds and get the carbs of a few scoops of sugar in my coffee, tea and oatmeal, or carry 9 ounces and get no carbs but still enjoy the taste of my drinks and breakfast. This year i have decided to save the weight. Been subbing Splenda for Sugar now for about 5 months with no ill effects, but like Deadeye said it does bother me some that I have a half a pound of food with no value other than taste.
2nding the Stevia. It is an artificial sweetener (but not legally, there were 2 studies found to be inconclusive but claimed steviosides were harmful, 13 studies rebuked that fact... still, the FDA considers it an herb... i blame "big sugar.")
1tsp = 1cup sugar... but you have to be a fan of the taste. i am. if you want to PM me i'll let you know where I buy mine for like $5 an Oz online.
fiddlehead
06-02-2009, 21:34
You have one (obvious) choice that you forgot to mention: Give up the sweet tooth.
Just try it for a month and i guarantee you, you will not put as much sugar in all that stuff after that month.
I used to be the same and did this. I now still enjoy a small candy after a big meal but stopped putting it in my coffee, tea and i try to eat plain doughnuts now (notice the try part)
Good luck.
Honey is another good substitute that's good for you although of course heavy.
Too much Splenda can upset the GI tract wich could lead to frequent trips off to the side of the trail. Just a word to the wise.
Stevia is being marketed by the big kids these days....Truvia is one brand out now.
bikebum1975
06-03-2009, 00:13
Me personally I like the taste of brown sugar to white sugar these days plus I love honey on anything even in coffee but tea especially
mister krabs
06-03-2009, 06:29
Me personally I like the taste of brown sugar to white sugar these days plus I love honey on anything even in coffee but tea especially
Yup, turbinado is the stuff. It's all I use now. I bring the sugar in the raw packets in my pack.
Just hike in the early spring in the Northeast with a knife, cut a V notch in the maple trees, and drink maple sap like the Indians did. :D
My votes for stevia which is a plant whos sweet taste has been turned into an easily accesible alternative to sugar. Splenda is a chlorinated sugar molecule....
....and have heath problems - stick with sugar - ask any 90 year old,
I doubt we'll have many of those 90 year-old sugar addicts in the future. When that 90 y.o. was growing up, the average consumption was less than 10 lbs a year. Of all the bad things in our modern diets, sugar has to be at the top of that list....or is it HFCS....or 'heart healthy' vegetable oils...or artificial sweeteners....or soy products....or....it may be tough to pick out the worst of the worst.
From the internets:
In the last 20 years, we have increased sugar consumption in the U.S. to 135 lbs. of sugar per person per year! Prior to the turn of this century (1887-1890), the average consumption was only 5 lbs. per person per year!
Today, the average American consumes 38 gallons of soft drinks per year.(and many of us don't drink any, that means someone is doubling up on the cola/HFCS)
According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, in 2003 the United States consumed 8,614,460 tonnes of refined sugar
TW
LaurieAnn
06-03-2009, 11:36
100 years ago sugar was an occasional treat and not a daily indulgence like it is now. Also keep in mind that people were working the lands by hand and such. People in general are a lot less active.
I have to disagree with the person who said to drink regular Coke if you want to lose weight. Do you realize just how much sugar is in that? Soda with Splenda doesn't make you fat - it's the other bad choices combined with a sedentary lifestyle that does that. Trust me when I say I am an expert on that as I have lost more weight than most of you probably even weight.
The North American sugar consumption has also lead to higher rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Don't even get me started on sodium... lol.
Well, yeah, a Diet Coke doesn't make up for the Double Cheeseburger and extra large fries at McD's :D That one does make me laugh when I see a person do it.
And Laurie is quite accurate on the sugar thing - 100 years ago sugar was a pricey treat. Candy was a treat not something you shoveled into ones maw in 2 lb bags......
I think a great example might be reading Little House on the Prairie books - the girls were excited at Christmas when they got a few pieces of candy that were savored.
A bit different these days when most stores have an entire aisle dedicated to candy!
leeki pole
06-03-2009, 15:49
Gave up the coffee, soft drinks and exchanged for good old orange juice every morning and tap water all day. Never felt better. I don't eat any sweets any more either. Get your sugar from your honey, as in significant other (it's a Southern thing.):D:banana
In the last 20 years, we have increased sugar consumption in the U.S. to 135 lbs. of sugar per person per year! Prior to the turn of this century (1887-1890), the average consumption was only 5 lbs. per person per year!
.36lbs of sugar a day!!!! yah right
Mrs Baggins
06-03-2009, 16:07
2nding the Stevia. It is an artificial sweetener (but not legally, there were 2 studies found to be inconclusive but claimed steviosides were harmful, 13 studies rebuked that fact... still, the FDA considers it an herb... i blame "big sugar.")
1tsp = 1cup sugar... but you have to be a fan of the taste. i am. if you want to PM me i'll let you know where I buy mine for like $5 an Oz online.
It's an herb - not artificial. http://www.stevia.net/
Thanks for the correction, I meant to write Alternative Sweetener
MintakaCat
06-03-2009, 16:36
There is no way I could consume 135 lbs of sugar a year, not with the diet of salads I eat. If I did I would be as round as I am tall, LOL!!!
LaurieAnn
06-03-2009, 17:20
Sarbar mentions the Little House books. Sugar was scarce. In Little House in the Big Woods they made winter candy using a pan of snow and molasses. When I was in grade school our teacher showed us how to make it and it was that memory that inspired the Maple version in my book.
Back in those times it was a huge thing when the aboriginal peoples taught the pioneers about maple syrup and maple sugar.
Orange and other juices are as bad as some sodas for sugar. You are better off to eat the piece of fruit because you get the fibre as well.
There is no way I could consume 135 lbs of sugar a year, not with the diet of salads I eat. If I did I would be as round as I am tall, LOL!!!
You would be surprised what sugar (or one its many forms) is hidden in. Salad dressing, meat, bread, ketchup, etc.
There are two things food companies love to use to make food taste better and are cheap: Sodium and Sweeteners!
take-a-knee
06-03-2009, 19:06
.36lbs of sugar a day!!!! yah right
Refined carbohydrate in the form of white bread is almost metabolically identical to table sugar (surcrose). Just about everything on the shelf other than the stuff you should be eating (lean meat and fresh veggies) has a shocking amount of high-fructose corn syrup, which is WORSE than sugar metabolically. The average american is a lard a$$ because of all the junk carbs they eat.
0.36 lbs is likely a conservative figure.
MintakaCat
06-03-2009, 19:33
You would be surprised what sugar (or one its many forms) is hidden in. Salad dressing, meat, bread, ketchup, etc.
There are two things food companies love to use to make food taste better and are cheap: Sodium and Sweeteners!
Oh, I agree. But I guess my point should have been that my metabolism has slowed so much at my age that it's highly unlikely I could cosume that much sugar. It's amazing to me even how little food I eat in an average day.
.36lbs of sugar a day!!!! yah right
That isn't at all out of the realm of reality, if you drink fruit juice, soft drinks, or just about any processed food or dessert. Pretty much anything that comes packaged from a food factory.
Or take a look here and see how much sugar is in our food.
It's a lot.
http://www.sugarindia.com/popular.htm
TW
LaurieAnn
06-03-2009, 21:54
As a diabetic I am often surprised at what contains sugar under the various other names for it. It has been an enlightening experience for sure.
superman
06-03-2009, 22:55
What do you think of Truvia?
LaurieAnn
06-03-2009, 23:14
Superman... not sure if you were directing this at me or the person who actually mentioned Truvia.
I've never used Truvia - I use a brand of Stevia by a company called SweetLeaf - their website is http://www.stevia.com.
What do you think of Truvia?
I like it...but and a big but!, it is super sweet. One little packet is way too much for say a glass of ice tea. I might add 1/4 of a packet, just to take the edge off the tannins :)
I have not had good luck with using it in prepared food. But as a table sweetener it is nice.