I was just curious if anyone is going through the same predicament I am.

I get headaches from all artificial sweetners and regular sugar. Not from organic sugar, but that's not low carb. I'm pretty certain it's the chemical processes they go through that affect me.

What do you do about it? (Or am I the only one that goes through this?)

Also... curiously, we know Dr. S has warned us on Aspartame. That is understandable (even though the Equal company claims it's okay)

But what's up with Sugar Twin? I thought it was bad because of saccharin which tested to cause cancer. Is it not bad anymore?

As for the newbie Splenda... I'm just waiting... ten or so years ago Aspartame was the Saint of sweetners...

I think I may just be natural and enjoy my organic sugar. BUT, any thoughts, or suggestions I would just love to hear.

Thanks,

Bry

From a former Equal-addict, since I've been on TSP, I don't miss sweeteners at all, real or artifical. I'd recommend trying to go without and see how you do.

Good luck

I avoid artificial sweeteners (AS) completely. Other than fruit, I avoid sweet stuff b/c I don't care about it anymore--except for when making whole cream ice cream at home. I add a tablespoon of melted raw unfiltered honey in 2 pints of whipping cream. This gives it a lite sweet taste. Honey in ssmall amounts is admissable in the SP book.

Otherwise, the only thing I miss that I used to drink sweet is jasmine tea. And since I can't find any decaf jasmine tea, I just avoid it altogether.

I tried the stevia stuff (see thread here somewhere) and it was a huge disappointment, to the point where I returned the product for a refund. Your mileage may vary.

But since I'm not craving sweets anymore I have no desire to sweeten stuff, just an occassional thought about the tea. But I now drink herbal teas that taste great alone or with whipping cream in them.

Try to avoid the sweeteners for a month and see how you do. It's all about changing the old lifestyle for something healthier. Make sure you get some fresh berries once a day as a sweet treat, or fruit of choice. I suggest berries b/c they pack a great health benefit and are lower on the glycemic index than other fruits. You will be surprised after a few weeks or less on SP how SWEET those berries taste!

Best wishes!

Hey, thanks for the notes. Very good advice and I appreciate them greatly. I have enjoyed fruit a lot more on TSP and eat them for about half of my carbs.

I guess the chocoholic part of my mind insists that I have sugar in some form or another.

I have realized that I don't need the sweeteners, but you see so many recipes that have them in it's almost daunting.

Betty, do you mind if I ask how you whip up your ice cream? I would seriously like to try it.

Thanks again!

Bry

Hi Bry,

Here's a copy & paste from an entry on page 3 of my journal with the "recipe" to my ice cream. I'm not great at writing out recipes b/c I don't really measure when I cook, so it's difficult for me to translate that. But these are pretty close measurments. Anyway, enjoy!

~~~~~~~BEGIN COPY & PASTE~~~~~~~~

WHOLE FAT HONEY ICE CREAM

2 Pints Whipping Cream
1-2 Tablespoons Unfiltered Honey, melted for 20 seconds in microwave

Add some of the cream to the melted honey and stir to get it all one temperature and get all honey off sides of container it was melted in. Add as much to incorporate it as needed, then DUMP all ingredients into ice cream maker (the kind no salt required, just pour and wait) and freeze to soft serve consistency. Remove and freeze unused portion for harder ice cream the next day. Eat the soft serve today it's the BEST!

When you freeze leftovers, make sure you take it out of freezer at least 15 minutes to thaw before trying to serve it. It's hard as a rock because there's no sugar or lactose to give it that soft texture. This is why it's best eaten as fresh soft serve.

VARIATIONS

"RAW" BERRY ICE CREAM

If berries are particularly sweet, no honey needed. IF you need to sweeten, usually 1 Tablespoon will do it.

1 PINT of Whipping Cream
1 PINT of Fresh Berries
Honey optional

Smash berries into liquidy chunks and dump everything into ice cream maker. Follow above notes.

COOKED BERRY ICE CREAM
(use any fruit like berries or peaches, nectarines you like)
1 to 1.5 PINT(s) Whipping Cream
1/2 CUP or so of Cooked fruit & honey slurry

Prep is same as above 2 ice cream recipes, but this cooks the fruit to make it more tastey--the recommended way. Cook up a batch of fruit of your choice in a sauce pan by smashing fruit and adding a Tablespoon of unfiltered honey, bring to boil and then simmer about 15 mintues. Let cool down or overnight in fridge. That's it, follow the other recipes for prep.

I don't generally measure stuff when I cook, so you have to experiment with your fruit amounts. I just put enough to make it look yummy, therefore taste yummy.

I know some recipes add eggs, but I have found I don't care for it with eggs in it, just a personal taste issue. Plus it's more work. I like fast stuff, want it NOW. I highly recommend eating it as soft serve. And you can make smaller quantities to eat that day instead of making a larger batch like I do, since there are 2 of us eating here.

I have the Cuisinart Ice Cream and yogurt maker and it's a wonderful thing! Makes the stuff in less than 15 minutes, soft serve that is. And the best part is, you need not use salt! Just need to freeze the maker's thick container overnight, that's all the prep needed. About $50 on sale is the cheapest I've seen it. MAcy's regularly has them on sale for $49.95, with bonuses sometimes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks! I will definately try them out!

Read your post about headaches. I had gone for 8 weeks without sugar. On vacation had an ice cream cone and woke up in the middle of the night ready to die from a headache. Thought I'd give it another try the next week. Had a tiny bit of apple cobler with frozen yogurt after a good low carb dinner. Smaller headache followed. No sugar for me any more. Not worth the price. Diane