I have been rating my mood for the past week (mood.247.com) to work on evening it out. Today I started out about a 5-6. A cup of coffee and now I'm about 7 and have the motivation to stay there. My partner tells me how much better I do with a cup or two of coffee during the day. Can anyone suggest a sugar substitute for coffee I might tolerate? I'm really sensitive to the taste of artificial sweetners but I need to cut down my sugar intake.


Note: For some people too much coffee/sugar can contribute to depression/anxiety.

There have been studies that bear this out.

that was invented from other caffeinated beverages that proceeded it ;)

Anxiety attacks may however become a bit worse, but nothing a good cardiac workout, like running or cycling, can't fix! :-)

I have no artificial sweetners to recommend. I don't like the taste and I am leery of them for other reasons too.

I was successful at cutting back on the sugar in my coffee little by little, because I didn't want the calories. I'm to the point now that I actually prefer my coffee black, but it has to be really good coffee.

Stevia. It ain't as good as sugar but it helps.

It's definitely my favorite for coffee but to me it seems a little sweeter than other artificial sweeteners so you may have to experiment to get it exactly right.

Coffee for some reason relaxes me. I've noticed I get tired after I drink a Coke or Dr. Pepper. With coffee, I'm more alert but less wound up. Weird but definitely better.

I use Sun Crystals. It is cane sugar and Stevia mixed. I like it better than plain stevia and has less calories than just sugar alone.

I started off with very sweet coffee drinks. Now I don't use sugar. I prefer it with half and half or frothed milk



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2011 04:21PM by bona dea.

I think splenda is decent for an artificial sweetener- I drink my coffee black, however, so what the hell do I know?

It *is* sugar that has had a molecule or two taken out of it. Some people can't tolerate it, but it's worth a try.

I just put half-and-half into my coffee. No sweetener at all!

I want to lose weight and get my sugar intake down. I'm not diabetic but I'm into the upper limits of normal on blood sugar. I also am working on rearranging my head. The Mormon stuff is cleared out and as been pretty much that way for a good while except for an occasional pocket. The Mormon stuff that gets stuck coincides with the early (non-Mormon) stuff I am still clearing up. I was a convert. I sometimes wonder how BIC ex-Mormons cope with all the stuff. Very brave.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2011 04:58PM by robertb.

you can drink your coffee black, even with sugarless baking cocoa & milk or half and half- as a latte . . . if you chose a mast cell inhibitor spray as an antihistimine (it contains sucralose) so has a sweet taste

We like Splenda, Stevia is good too.

Stevia (use only a teeny tiny bitO, Xylitol, Erythritol.
These are the ones that work the best if sugar levels are creeping up. They are the first choice of diabetic (insulin dependent) hubby.

Experiment, see what works for you.Xylitol and Erythritol usage is similar to regular sugar.
Stevia seems to work best in hot liquid like tea or coffee.



Xylitol

Xylitol has become quite popular in recent years and has the exact 1 for 1 intensity as normal sucrose, making it them very good sugar alternatives for cooking. However, as Xylitol is not well absorbed by the body, a low number of users have reported laxative and bloating effects.

Erythritol
If you find you need sugar substitutes which have no side effects, then try Erythritol, which is the latest of the sugar alcohols. These have zero GI, taste exactly like sucrose (although it only has a small fraction of the energy density), and is well absorbed by the small intestine, so there is no laxative or bloating effects. Just note that it is about 30% less sweet than sucrose. So if you use 1 tablespoon normally for your tea, coffee or recipe, then you will need to use 1.5 tablespoons instead.

Erythritol and Xylitol both have the FDA approval of GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and can be found in most health food stores. They make a great addition to create low sugar cereals and also can be used in recipes for reduced carbohydrate foods.
http://sugarsubstitutes.org/

I tried stevia and I did not like how it flavored the coffee at all. The only sweetener I can stand besides sugar is agave nectar. It has a lower glycemic index and tastes more like real sugar than stevia, splenda, or equal/sweet n' low in my opinion. If you don't like stevia, give agave a try!

Xylitol is infamous for making you spend hours on the toilet, even in small quantities. Stevia is totally decent, but I second the vote for agave nectar. You might also want to try honey, depending on if that fits into your dietary restrictions. Local honey will have the added benefit of knocking out your allergies if you have any, so it's extra great. I'm not on a diet or watching my sugar intake, but I always put honey in my coffee. I think it tastes better.

When I started drinking coffee I put tons of sugar and cream in it. The more I drank, the sweeter it seemed to get with the same amount added. I don't know if it works for everyone, but try decreasing the amount of sugar you put in by a small amount every day until it gets too bitter. Stay at that amount for s couple weeks, then reduce it a bit more until you eventually drink it black or close to it.

Use a kitchen scale in grams - it'll help quantify the sugar you usually use.

Black coffee definitely does not cause a crash. People throw around the term "caffeine crash" all the time, but I honestly think it's actually a sugar crash expounded by extra energy spent from the caffeine. Coming off of caffeine simply reduces me to the same effect as before I ingested it in my experience.

I have experimented with brown sugar and honey.

Lately, I've been drinking more green tea and occasionally regular tea with vanilla soy milk. Lots of choices out there!!!

That's what I use in my coffee. Its glycemic index is about 1/3 that of honey and about 1/5 that of sugar. It's more expensive than honey, but you can get it for a decent price at Costco.