Rant - Sneaky Splenda

stellarosa27 · 06-19-2009, 11:29 AM

So I recently started eating yogurt again - WW, 1 point for a yogurt, and I hardly finish the thing because I HATE YOGURT. I eat it because its filling, it gives me calcium and it helps my tummy. The WW is great because it is only 1 point, and its hard to find other yogurts that are that low in points. So anyway, I've noticed that I'm getting headaches in the afternoon. Nothing too terrible, they go away shortly, but they're there. I thought I was stressed out at work, or it was the humidity, whatever.

I was just looking at the ingredients on my yogurt and saw sucralose (which I then googled to find that it was Splenda). MUST IT BE IN EVERYTHING!? I avoid artificial sweeteners. They give me headaches (as evidenced above) and I just don't want to put those chemicals in my body. Yes, I drink alcohol, and that's a chemical, but at least I'm aware of what I'm doing.

I just get so frustrated at the whole "diet" industry, and I'm particularly annoyed at WW. They say you're not on a diet, you're changing your life style to be healthier and more aware of what's going in my body. Well, I'm trying to be aware, but it would help if you guys would be a little more honest on your labels.

Anyway, sorry, had to get that out. I think I'm just going to take calcium pills...

littlelion · 06-19-2009, 12:04 PM

I LOVE yogurt, so I feel your pain...I have eaten Yoplait almost my entire life, but just recently switched to Stonyfield Farm, which has no fake sugar/HFCS. It is a little more expensive, but I eat it 3 or 4 times per week. While the Yoplait contains HFCS in ALL of its products (whether it is fat-free, original, etc.), Stonyfield Farm does not have it in any of its yogurts.

I'm sure there must be other brands as well that do not contain Splenda!

Stella · 06-19-2009, 01:04 PM

I have now switched to plain yoghurt. It`s really not that plain at all.

zenor77 · 06-19-2009, 01:07 PM

I like plain Greek yogurt. Sometimes I'll add a drizzle of honey to it or some fruit (mmm... blueberries.) It's higher in calories than regular plain, but has more calcium.

I avoid HFCS and artificial sweeteners at all costs. I avoid regular sugar for the most part as well. Sweets are for rare special occasions.

If you don't like yogurt, why eat it? There are other ways to get calcium. I do love yogurt myself, but I don't think you need to torture yourself with foods you don't like just because they are "healthy."

Thighs Be Gone · 06-19-2009, 01:10 PM

I eat the Greek Gods plain and fat-free. I love it. Good for you to be looking at the labels.

Yogurt isn't at the top of my list but it has nutritional properties that are good for me so I usually eat 4 ounces every morning. Get creative with it. I like mine on my fresh fruit in my "summer oatmeal" cocktail.

stellarosa27 · 06-19-2009, 02:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zenor77

If you don't like yogurt, why eat it? There are other ways to get calcium. I do love yogurt myself, but I don't think you need to torture yourself with foods you don't like just because they are "healthy."

There are other ways to get calcium, but the added benefit of yogurt is that the bacteria really do help my digestion. I've always had a finicky stomach and it improved once I started eating healthy, but yogurt really helps in that department. I suffer the taste (tastes like sour milk to me) for the benefit of not having an upset stomach. I could switch to cheese, but that's a major migraine trigger for me.

I've tried greek yogurt (I substitute it for sour cream) but that's exactly what it tastes like to me - sour cream. Haven't tried it with honey, so maybe I'll do that next week.

I'm going to do one of my yogurt challenges again. A few years ago I went to the supermarket and bought 1 of each type of yogurt within a certain calorie range to see which was the best for me. Back to the drawing board.

My main annoyance is just that Splenda is in so much these days, and it just p****s me off. I weaned myself off "sugar" in so many forms (no longer put it in my tea, I use other sweet things when I bake, etc) but its like the general food world WANTS people to use Splenda, which I'm not all that comfortable with. I've avoided artificial sweeteners all my life, and its getting harder and harder.

KatieV · 06-19-2009, 02:19 PM

...I hear you! Want to hear something even worse? I was at Wal-Mart with my sister and we were looking for canned fruit IN ITS OWN JUICE and started noticing that all the "kids" snack kind say Sweetened with Splenda! Can you believe it? Who would give their kids chemical added to their fruit? Its horrible.

Shannon in ATL · 06-19-2009, 02:38 PM

Diet sodas, candies, fruit in sweetened juice, protein bars, yogurts, sugar free coffee syrups, microwave kettle corn, protein powder, Orbitz chewing gum, the diet lemonade at Chick Fil-A... it is everywhere... It gives me headaches (and nausea) too, so I have to be super careful to read every single label now.

I eat the Rachel's Organic yogurt, a little expensive, 150-160 cals for 6 oz, absolutely delicious. I also do the Stoneyfield Farms - I do the lowfat vanilla, but I've taken the plain and added in a drop of real vanilla flavoring and it was pretty darn good.

stellarosa27 · 06-19-2009, 03:43 PM

I'll look into this Stoneyfield farm brand - thanks!

Yes, and why are you sweetening fruit anyway!?

melwolfe · 06-19-2009, 04:15 PM

I just make my own yogurt. I do use Splenda as it doesn't bother me, but my neighbor makes hers plain and just adds fruit. It's also cheaper to make your own.

SavingServo · 06-19-2009, 04:41 PM

You can also try regular Breyer's yogurts. Their YoCrunch is my favorite. They have different candy (and some not candy) mix-ins. I LOVE the cheesecake one.

Their light versions do use fake sugar, but the regular ones use the real stuff.

Might make eating yogurt less of chore.

Good luck!

stellarosa27 · 06-19-2009, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SavingServo

You can also try regular Breyer's yogurts. Their YoCrunch is my favorite. They have different candy (and some not candy) mix-ins. I LOVE the cheesecake one.

Their light versions do use fake sugar, but the regular ones use the real stuff.

Might make eating yogurt less of chore.

Good luck!

While these do make my mouth water, it would defeat the purpose of a low-point snack.

How do you make your own yogurt?

SavingServo · 06-19-2009, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stellarosa27

While these do make my mouth water, it would defeat the purpose of a low-point snack.

How do you make your own yogurt?

They actually make 100 calorie cups and most of the yogurts are less than 200 calories. While I don't know the points on them exactly I think 100 calories = 1 point (not counting fiber) so it's 2 points. I'm not sure about the fiber in them.

KnitALisa · 06-19-2009, 06:15 PM

I just wanted to second (third? fourth?) that Stoneyfield yogurt is AWESOME! When I first bought it, I thought it tasted a little different from regular yogurt; now I'm addicted to that taste. I really like the low-fat plain yogurt; I agree with Stella, it's not plain at all. Somedays I do jazz it up with some Kashi and strawberries, but I really appreciate the fact that the yogurt itself is not super sweet.

I hear ya'll on the artificial sweetners though. I can't drink Crystal Light as it causes my digestive system to hate me. I'm weird though, some things my system tolerates just fine, others cause horrible ... well, if you suffer from it too, you know what I'm talking about

.

melwolfe · 06-19-2009, 06:26 PM

If you google it there are all kinds of different sites that tell you how to do it without a machine, but I bought a yogurt machine that makes 7 6oz. jars at a time.

All you do is heat your milk to 180 degrees then let it cool back down to 110 - 113 degrees, add your yogurt starter (any yogurt that has live active cultures or you can buy powder yogurt starter) pour into the container(s) put the lid on and let it incubate for 5 - 12 hours depending on your taste mine usually goes around 7 - 8 hours. I add vanilla flavoring and 1 cup splenda (I tried using fruit and it just didn't do well, that batch of yogurt was lumpy) while the milk is still 180 and it turns out great. All the machine does is keep a consistent temp, but that seemed better to me than the methods others use without a machine as I would always worry that the temp wasn't really regulated if I used a different method. Here's the machine I bought and the starter I use

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

http://www.amazon.com/Euro-Cuisine-Y...d_bxgy_k_img_b