Hello.
My coaches are very anti artificial sweetner - i have been researching and i see how NutraSweet makes you crave sweets, but i dont see how it affects weight loss directly. Will a glass of crystal light every couple of days pull me out of ketosis?
Thanks!

Looking forward to the feedback.

I have a glass of crystal lite or mio every day and haven't had any problem but I do drink over 100 ounces of water daily.

I have one packet of Crystal lite a day (split into two water bottles). My coach is OK with that ... but wants me to drink my plain water first. I actually drink the crystal lite first because it gets me started drinking but anyway ..... I occasionally get very OCD and check the ketostix like crazy and have never been out of ketosis. I think crystal lite is one of the divided issues amongst the coaches from what I gather.

My coach could not give me a straight answer on aspartame. He just said "well, it makes some people crave sweets.". Nothing scientific. I occasionally have some sugar free jello or a glass of Crystal Light. I don't know that it causes the cravings. I actually have it to "satisfy" sweet cravings.

I believe that it doesn't effect ketosis, but can cause cravings & therefore you may binge and then go out of ketosis. Aspartame itself will not throw you out... hope I explained it correctly.

This is good to know! I have a big jug in my fridge that holds 128oz. I use a packet that has 20 calories and fill it up, drink several glasses a day. It's very dilute, but it helps me drink more water. I may try to cut down if I don't see losses on the scale.

I drink crystal light and I use artificial sweetener in my coffee regularly. I haven't seen a difference in weight loss when I have used more of less of this. I have switched to using Truvia (made from the stevia leaf) more since it's better for you but it's also much more expensive

My coach told me not to use Truvia since the 'carrier' in the packet has carbs in it. She told me I could only have Xylitol and sucralose...I am not a fan of either.

From what I have read on here, aspartame processed through the pancreas can react like it's processing sugar and increase insulin production...which is what then increases cravings, and can waken the carb monster! One of the major keystones of this diet is 'resting' the pancreas allowing it to process through the minimum amount of insulin, so when we introduce carbs in Phase 3 we can awaken it gradually and avoid the pendulum insulin production swing that got us in trouble to begin with.

FinnSteven has posted on the 'Truvia Controversy' before...
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/4369722-post389.html

I saw someone post that we shouldnt use Truvia as a sweetener. According to my coaches and many other resources, thats not true. Here's the story and the science why its ok...(but still only use in moderation! I have never used more than 3 packets MAX per day, with 1 packet being average.)

When I looked on the Truvia box, it said that it contained 3 carbs. So why is that allowed? Here is the why...

One of the most frequently asked questions by carb conscious consumers is whether they should count the 3 grams of carbohydrate on the label. The answer is NO. Here's why…

The carbohydrate in TruviaŽ natural sweetener comes from erythritol – a natural sugar alcohol that is also found in grapes and pears – that also has zero calories. Erythritol passes through the body without being broken down for calories. As a result, it has no effect on blood sugar. Erythritol is used in TruviaŽ natural sweetener to evenly disperse rebiana to achieve uniform sweetness, similar to how dextrose and other suitable ingredients are used by other high intensity sweeteners to evenly disperse the sweetener.

Erythritol is a natural sugar alcohol that is different from other sugar alcohols in two ways.

1. Erythritol is not broken down by the body, so it cannot provide calories or affect blood sugar. Other sugar alcohols can be broken down by the body to varying degrees. This means that the body can use them for calories. Erythritol is different, it provides zero calories.

2. Erythritol has excellent gastrointestinal tolerance. This is because most of the erythritol that is consumed (up to 90%) is absorbed from the small intestine. Once it is absorbed, it is no longer available to cause problems in the gut.

"At www.TRUVIA.com our recipes include total calories, grams carbohydrate, grams erythritol, grams fiber, grams sugar. This practice allows you to subtract the grams of erythritol from the grams of total carbohydrate when you are count ing your grams of carbohydrate."

My coach told me today that I can have up to 5 artificial sweeteners/crystal light/sugar free jello a day.

I usually have 2 -3 cups of tea with 1/2 packet of splenda per cups and/or a cup or two of crystal light. I also use a splenda packet or two per day in salad dressings or in recipes like unrestricted cereal pancakes or unrestricted pudding/jello cookies. So I do use up to 5 packets of splenda/crystal light in a day. I monitor my ketosis status daily and have stayed in ketosis.