Does anyone use any real sweetners? I can't use splenda or anything else artificial. I have one of those tongues that rejects all artifical sweetners...they quite literally make me gag. So, other than the occasional sneaking of a cookie or other goodie, I have been sweet free. The oatmeal post got me thinking of how we ate our oatmeal when I was a kid...the take forever to cook variety with tons of real butter and HONEY. I know honey is high in carbs, but would it be better than sugar, since it's natural? Any comments, or advice on other ways to add sweetness to my life would be wonderful!

Like you, I love oatmeal. We ate it with either honey or a little bit of brown sugar.

If you aren't diabetic, it's probably fine to use things like honey and agave in moderation. I really can't tolerate artificial sweeteners either (intestinal distress), and since I spend so much #~!$% money on organic and free range food, why would I want to screw that up putting unnatural crap in my body? Sort of defeats the purpose. I think the Drs. Eades (Protein Power) eat honey on occasion.

I use Stevia, which is natural and very, very sweet. Have you tried it?

Big Stevia fan here! I also use Agave syrup, I find that it doesn't cause my blood glucose to spike like honey does. And of course the Stevia actually seems to help keep my blood sugar lower after a meal.

Dr. Eades addresses Agave here. A reader asked a question, and he responded:

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/?p=948#comments

Hi Dr. Mike.
It is timely that you should post about fructose today. Just yesterday I had a request to develop and demonstrate recipes using agave nector. I did some quick research and found it to be almost pure fructose, as I expected. I found drastically different opinions about it, ranging from Dr. Oz (Oprah’s doc) who said it is the ONLY sweetener that anyone should ever use, to others who disputed the claims made by the producers that it was very low glycemic, healthful, raw, and natural.

The only scientific information that I found required a fee, and I feared that I would not understand it anyway. What is your opinion of agave?

Hi Judy–

Agave nectar contains anywhere from about 60% fructose to 90% fructose depending upon the strain of plant. Both of these amounts are higher than the amount of fructose in the most commonly used high-fructose corn syrup, which is 55% fructose and 45% glucose. The agave nectar does contain a few antioxidants and other healthful plant-based chemicals, but, in my opinion, they do not compensate for the very large amount of fructose.

Many people who should know better recommend fructose because it has a low glycemic index, in other words it doesn’t run blood sugar up to the same extent glucose does. But fructose doesn’t run blood sugar up because it is metabolized differently than glucose. It is dumped directly into the liver where it is converted to fat and often stored in the liver. It is a driving force behind the development of insulin resistance and all attendant problems. When researchers want to give lab animals insulin resistance, they feed the animals high doses of fructose.

Fructose, despite its ‘fruity’ sounding name, is better avoided irrespective of how attractively it is packaged, i.e., as the healthful sounding agave nectar.

Hope this helps.

Cheers–

MRE

Thanks for the input. I've tried Stevia, but to me it too tasted artificial. I think I'll go ahead and try honey (maybe not in oatmeal right away, that may be too much for my bod all at once), just to see how I react.

Heres a thought for you.....I never even ate oatmeal as a kid....so I don't have that as a memory to recall. But I do eat oatmeal now and put berries in it...blueberries, strawberries....they do sweeten it nicely.

I love berries. I whip cream, and put pureed berries (no sugar added) into it. I freeze it, and eat it like ice cream when the rest of my family eats their Cherry Garcia. Berries ARE terrific for sweetening things up. I guess I just want to "have my cake and eat it too", and am looking for ways to eat sweets without having to go artificial. I know...it may just be a little too much to ask

Bert--you might checkout xylitol or erythritol. Both are more naturally occuring and don't have the effect of sugar alcohols. I think they are both probiotics. Check them out and see if you might find them helpful

KB