I am thinking of trying out one of these to make tea that I used to have with 23 gm sugar.
I tried sweetleaf stevia in coffee today but that was pretty old stock, and the thing was clumps, and some it it ended up on the bottom. Those chunks of it tasted more like a slightly minty glucose to me.
I tried purevia as well, and it had a bitterish taste, and it also was old.

I will have to try these in more beverages, preferably tea and not coffee, sadly I have not got tea apparatus setup yet (moving).

I've tried Splenda in coffee as well as unsweet lemon tea courtesy of QT and the Splenda in the atkins shakes and bars and it tastes very very good as long as its just to the level of being under the sweet threshold.

That would be the level in my new tea. And will have been made with whipping cream instead of milk. Could people post their experience with these 2.

Thanks.
Srinath.

I find liquid stevia easier to measure out (2-4 drops, depending on the brand) in a cup of coffee or tea, but do use powdered for bigger amounts, like a pitcher of lemonade, where I use the amount of stevia equivalent to half of the sugar in standard recipes.

Stevia often tastes bitter when you use too much. My Herbal Select brand has a tiny 1/64 tsp spoon and I have to make sure I consistently use level spoons as slightly rounded spoonfuls give a bitter taste.

So definitely start with minimal amounts and add more by small increments until you find that not-too-sweet spot you are looking for. And if you try a different brand, the amounts will be different.

Oh this experiment has got another observation.

So, I had 3 packets of Splenda in lemon ice tea Friday night, and I had the last bit of that tea Saturday 12-1pm.

I had 7 packets of stevia Saturday between 9 am and 4pm in coffee. Today 6am-7:30 I had mild heartburn. One of these 2 is causing that. This was a bile and sort of hunger heartburn, not a over full and burping kind.

The rest of my diet has been the same, chicken breast, onions, avocado and cheese. Same as the last several days.

I think I'll keep away from the stevia for now, Splenda I'll experiment with. I can take the black coffee a few more months. I just need to not get into situations where I have to drive all night types.

Thanks.
Srinath.

Just a quick comment on Splenda. Powdered Splenda, the brand name contains as per the label: Dextrose, Maltodextrin, Sucralose. You're better off using a liquid form of Sucralose (which is what Splenda is without the added sugars). You can find liquid Sucralose at many places at reasonable prices.

Stevia varies as well regarding a bitter aftertaste. While I rarely use sweeteners, the one I've found to have the least amount of aftertaste with no bitterness is the Sweetleaf brand. It's a powder and comes in packets as well. It may come in liquid.

Sweetleaf - I have some 3yr old packets. Thanks to the little lady who worked for a food broker. Well, its clumping and settling in the bottom of the cup. And I fished it out and tasted it, very glucose like, with a wee minty taste. However I think its got my insulin or ghrelin or something. Splenda - the experiment is going on. I'll post back. If it doesn't give me any other reaction, I'll try it a few weeks and I'll see how I like it. The 23 hour fast is making me more finely tuned to the effects. I could do the bullet proof coffee after I am done moving, my move is getting in the way of my caffeine habit.

Thanks.
Srinath.

Splenda yesterday and more Splenda-ing today. No side effects so far. The destrose-maltodextrin may be less of a problem for me - but sweetleaf has stevia and inulin right ? could I be reacting to the inulin ? For tea I almost feel Stevia has to be better. And its closer to being a plant. I would really like to give it another shot.

Also the first sip with Splenda in coffee or tea, tastes really sweet. The rest of the cup essentially tastes like the bitter edge is off. Is that a normal thing ?

Thanks.
Srinath.

Remember that the powdered form of sweetners count as a carb each (because of the fillers). the liquid form (found in the same aisle) are zero carbs.

I am not that concerned by that, I basically am under 5 with the 23 hour fasting I do. However I'd like to not have an insulin reaction and not cause any other issues like hunger or acid reflux.
The idea is I can have tea with heavy cream and stevia without causing an insulin spike or ghrelin, that would help.
Thanks.
Srinath.

I've got a weird queasy stomach with possible hunger like feeling after 5 Splenda packets today and maybe 5 yesterday too.
I guess I am staying with bulletproof coffee - no sweetener for a few months.
No sense fasting and shooting yourself in the foot.
Thanks.
Srinath.

OMG - does French vanilla black coffee made courtesy Flavia espresso machine have any carbs ??? I seem to be tripping all over myself today. Looks like I should stay with Hazelnut, but the hazelnut was all gone (probably due to me drinking it 3X a day). So I tried French vanilla. Good, but not if it has carbs.

On a related note - My wife found pure stevia ~ Walmart, and I will give it another whirl tomorrow.

PS: Flavia's site says 0 calories, 0 carbs and 0 sugar. Weird - cos regular coffee is 2 calories mostly from the oils. I cant imagine they would lie, but I am possibly still wondering if it had carbs. How many carbs can I have before the fast is "broken"

Thanks.
Srinath.

I'm off Splenda and not got to stevia yet. Having a much better day today, in fact even had a decent evening yesterday. I believe I had 4-5 carbs for dinner, but 5 in Splenda during the day yesterday.

Anyway, I seem to be having diarrhea pretty much every day since last Saturday when I started bulletproof coffee. I tried stevia and Splenda a week later, so that didn't cause it.

Yesterday was pretty bad for diarrhea. 5 splenda's 3 bulletproof coffees and 6 runs to the bathroom.

I don't seem to have dropped out of ketosis, though I am inordinately cold which is unusual in a 72 degree room for me. But its getting cooler outside as well, maybe I am getting affected with the cooling of weather too.

Hope the few days of Splenda doesn't bite me. I did have it in the atkins shakes till last weekend.

Thanks.
Srinath.

Many years ago, I used to drink a lot of coffee and had 2 teaspoons of sugar in each one. My roommate pointed out that we were going through a pound of sugar every couple of weeks, and I was the only one who used it. So I stopped. It wasn't easy -- my taste buds hated the bitter flavor of unsweetened coffee, but gradually I got used to it (I might also have cut down gradually). The same thing happened to me when I went on low carb -- I had to change from 2 percent milk in my coffee to cream, and at first I hated it. The cream was all oily, and had a different taste. So I did it gradually -- 2 percent, then whole milk, then half and half, then light cream. And now I am used to it. Why not try to wean yourself? Your taste buds may adapt. And then you won't have to deal with all of this.

I have adapted to cream, cos ocassionally I used to have heavy cream. I now drink coffee black, especially the hazelnut or harvest spice or French vanilla.
However I cant drink tea without sweetener. I have tried, it tastes like ... well nothing.
My tea palate is so sharply tuned, I cant make tea with tea bags because I taste the paper. I cant fool these taste buds. I doubt I'll adapt, but I did drop from ~30gm sugar per cup to ~23. Maybe after the 45 days I have not drank tea I'd be fine with stevia.

Let me try that, pity is, I have to tune the sweetener on coffee because I cant experiment with tea for fear of de-sensitizing it to whatever I am putting in it. The tea of 3 months ago needs to stay forgotten.

Thanks.
Srinath.

Hello Splenda Users
I found out the hard way that Splenda wipes out the good bacteria in the gut.
Here's my story...I was in the West Indies at a family home half way up a mountain. I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to go ultra low carb with the intention of getting into Ketosis. Packed lots of Atkins and other Splenda added health food. Was looking forward to going sugar and wheat free. My weight loss goal was loosing another 3lbs in a 3 week wellness retreat that I had planned for myself. I was swimming a mile every other day and doing high intensity interval training up the mountain
Long story cut short, I didn't go to the bathroom for two weeks and my scales rusted out. I went into town to buy some yogurt and fibre. The only kind they had was the regular yogurt at 30carbs a serving and the only flax I could find was baked into a bread at 13carbs a slice. My bloated stomach looked like I had a basketball under my teeshirt. I ate all the yogurt and the bread and finally went to the bathroom After I got home to the suburbs I weighed myself. I had gained 3lbs

I will second what Locarber16 said about Splenda and gut flora. I was a big Splenda/sucralose user. I used the liquid kind, so no carbs in it. I did not think I had any adverse reaction to Splenda. Love it in my coffee, and iced tea. I lost weight, got my blood sugars under control.

However, my cholesterol was and still is terrible even after 20 months low carb. Dr. Davis' Cureality website (formerly Track Your Plaqu), says that poor gut flora is implicted in high cholesterol if one has already cut sugar, grains and starches. And, Splenda is implicated as being harmful to gut flora. So, I cut the Splenda and switched to Stevia. My blood glucose is generally a bit lower now and the scale is now 1-2lbs lower too. So for me, turns out Splenda was not so good.

Sadly, I don't really like the Stevia (using liquid only) as much as the Splenda. Liquid Stevia comes in a water-base, a glycerin base or an alcohol base. I have found that using the alcohol- free version is better, but it's still not Splenda. I keep hoping I will adjust as I do not like my coffee without a sweetener.