What are your thoughts about artificial sweeteners?

I just read an article on maltitol and how it's high on the glycemic index and raises blood sugar? So I am on the fence about what to do with sweeteners.

And then there are the other sugar alcohols.

Then there is aspartame and sucralose.

And, last but not least, stevia.

And--oh yeah--agave nectar.

Which one's do you use and why?

I use either splenda or truvia most of the time. I dislike the taste of aspartame and saccharin. I've heard that stevia has a black licorice after taste to it so I've been opposed to trying it, but I have a friend that uses it and doesn't notice the licorice taste. I use those in my coffee and some baking. I also like agave nectar with things that are fruit and dairy based, like smoothies or with something with peanut butter because it had a honey-luke texture to it. However if I put cocoa in a shake or smoothie I prefer splenda. I stayed away from agave in phase 1....

I use splenda all the time.

I use splenda, in small amounts. Asperatame gives me a raging headache.

I sometimes use truvia. I raise stevia plants and I like to use the leaves to sweeten tea. It is also really good sweetener when I steep it into syrup, store in a jar in the fridge and add to drinks. Almost no aftertaste! You can purchase the seeds at online garden centers.

I wish I could get over stevia's aftertaste. Heck I learned to like Tab a long time ago
After lots of research I use erythritol most often, coconut palm sugar (similar numbers & GL to agave but sustainable and available in granular form) or agave on rare occasions. They are both 50 cal/T so I rarely want to spend calories that way. More often I just use some fruit to sweeten my smoothies and I've learned to eat my yogurt plain.

My pastor swore up and down about Truvia, preaching one day about how it took away his back pain, his arthritis, etc. etc..

I used it for awhile, but didn't experience the same miracles, but I did like the taste.

Cyndi, how funny. I love the taste of original TAB, probably because of the saccarine. It's unique.

Generally I don't use any artificial sweeteners at all. I don't keep any in our house and I don't use anything in my coffee, etc. outside of our home. I am very worried about the side affects of aspartame. My mom has Parkinson's, and any time I hear of something with potential neurological side effects I freak. About once a year at the Cheesecake Factory I get a low carb slice and then spend the next 2 days worrying about what the splenda will do to me. Anytime I eat something artificially sweetened, I get the same cravings I get when I eat sugar, so when I need something sweet I just cheat and eat sugar and make sure I eat something that also contains fat to slow down the impact. Fat free foods loaded with sugar are the worst for you in terms of glycemic load and cravings.

I'm now at the point where I eat fruit and it feels extremely sugary to me, so I know I've lost my taste for sugar for the most part. I don't recommend artificial sweeteners.

I tried giving them up but really missed them. I use splenda a lot since it comes in many foods/drinks. I use that and stevia and truvia in my tea. I don't think they make me crave sweets but some say it can.

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.

I have a book on how to do a Daniel Fast, and in it they have a recipe to make "date syrup" that is used to sweeten items. I wonder how that would fit into phase 2. I am still on Phase 1 now, so I haven't read ahead yet.

Dates have a lot of sugar--I know SB isn't about counting carbs or sugar, but I wonder how Phase 2 or 3 handles dates. I am still in phase 1, and clueless about the other phases.

Dates could definitely be used as a substitute for cane sugar, though. They are super sweet. I love the taste too--good thing I don't have a big sweet tooth or I'd be drooling right now. Phase 1 is so great. (I actually have a bowl of dates on my table, for my husband, that I have to walk past every time I go through the house.)