Thanks everyone--that's a good run-down on all the sweeteners!
I didn't know about the coconut sugar, so I am glad I know now. I keep a container of stevia extract (from Trader Joe's), although I think it tastes terrible in coffee. I also have a plant outside. My chicken's killed the other one
. It's still small, but I'd like to try getting the sweetening effects out of it some day. I wouldn't say stevia tastes like licorice, but the extract does have a slightly bitter aftertaste that doesn't go with certain flavors. Some people might taste the bitterness more than others.
I sometimes get the diet soda that is sweetened with erythritol, but I recently accidentally got the sucralos one, which was actually splenda. It tasted good, but I do tend to be nervous about artificial sweeteners too--it might be neat, on phase 2 and 3, to experiment with flavoring things with fruit.
For example, I read one theory that sweet and sour Chinese food had it's origin with seasoning with apricots. Of course, Chinese food in America has tons of sugar and msg in it, but it would be fun to try to use fruit more in seasonings, later (in P2 or3). Also, some Native Indian tribes made pemmican--which seems to adhere to SBD in that the meat and fruit were mixed together--although I think it would have to be made with out so much animal fat.