I’m going home for Thanksgiving with my mother in a couple weeks.

She’s a diabetic and I’m a low carber, hoping to not become a diabetic.

Every year, during the holidays, we have a very hard time avoiding sweets.

I’d like to take her home some LC cookies and LC pie, so she can focus
on enjoying the season, rather than focusing on her struggle.

Plus, I’d like to find something that actually tastes good to both of us.

My problem is with alternative sweeteners – taste and fear of glycemic impact.

Here are the ones I’ve tried along with my reaction:

Aspartame – don’t use it – scared by negative health reports

Fructose – haven’t used, scared off by negative health reports

Granular Splenda – total yuck factor

Liquid Splenda (locarber.com) and DaVinci syrups – I use these sparingly in beverages, I find that too much produces the yuck factor.

Maltitol – I like this one the best, but have concerns about glycemic impact and stalling, it does seem to stall me, at least from the couple times I used it.

Erythritol – No aftertaste, but it does have a pronounced cooling taste in baked goods. The cooling effect is offputting. No glycemic impact.

Diabetisweet (Ace K and Isomalt)– This product has a very cloying aftertaste, but is low on glycemic scale.

Xylitol – I like the taste, although too much in any recipe produces a throat irritation for some reason. I have some concerns about glycemic impact – it is higher than Diabetisweet and Erythritol, but lower than Maltitol.

I would love to know if anyone has any other recommendations? Also, I’ve heard
That some combination of the above may/will cancel out the negatives of each.

It may take me the entire two weeks and my entire bank account, but it looks like I should try.

If anyone has read of or heard of or personally tried and liked any combination thereof, please let me know. I would sincerely appreciate it and in return, promise to post any
Recipes with good results.


Thanks a bunch and wishing you all a happy Thanksgiving in advance 

NoSox

Nosox, welcome to the forum. Your commitment to finding the best sweetener for you and your mother is very admirable. I'm very impressed by the number of sweeteners you've sampled in search of the right one.

First of all, I can't stress enough the importance of combining. When you combine certain sweeteners, a synergistic boost occurs, giving you more sweetening power than if you used the sweeteners separately.

In other words,

1 part of sweetener A + 1 part sweetener B

doesn't equal 2 parts sweetening. It's 2.5 to 3 parts sweetening (some will even say 4). Because of the sweetening boost you get, less quantities of each can be used, resulting in less yuck factor. Combining magnifies the sugary taste of the mix and minimizes the other qualities.

Which to combine?

Well, it depends on what you're making. If you're making something where the textural/bulking qualities of sugar are needed, that's going to require a completely different mix from a dessert that just requires sweetness. If you require caramelization, that's an entirely different playing field. Humectant or crystallization qualities of sugar or corn syrup - everything requires a different approach.

With that in mind, there are a couple of popular combinations that seem to work fairly well in most baked goods.

Liquid Splenda

Liquid Splenda is the top of the heap. As you've noticed from putting it in beverages, in small amounts it's one the least offensive sweeteners out there. It's also relatively cheap and easy to obtain. For this reason, when people combine sweeteners, this is usually the lion's share of the mix. I recommend the Sweetzfree brand rather than locarber, as it's cheaper, faster turnaround and, being undiluted, less likely to be contaminated. And no, I'm not saying this to get the free ounce

The biggest problem with liquid splenda is that it provides no sugary bulk/texture to baked goods.

Erythritol

Erythritol is number two in my book. Besides providing the bulking textural qualities of sugar, it's has almost no blood sugar impact and very few carbs (12 net carbs per cup). It also has no digestive issues associated with it like the other sugar alcohols, as it travels a different pathway through the body. There are also reports that it caramelizes.

It does have the cooling effect which puts off a few people and is very expensive. Combining it with liquid splenda helps to offset the cooling effect quite a bit, though. The two have an excellent synergy as well.

Ace K (Acesulfame Potassium)

Ace K is tricky stuff. It doesn't have a completely clean bill of health, and has an aftertaste that offends a great deal of people. It has a phenomenal synergy with splenda, though, so extremely small amounts can be used with great results. A lot of popular products are based on the ace k/splenda combo- diet rite soda, waist watchers, and carb countdown milk, just to name a few. Unfortunately, pure Ace K is extremely expensive and almost impossible to find. So, to utilize ace k in your mix, you have to go the diabetisweet route, which brings isomalt into the picture, which, in turn, brings up the topic of sugar alchols.

Non Erythritol Sugar Alcohols

It looks like you've done your homework on sugar alcohols so I'll refrain from writing a book Sugar alcohols have a tendency to be big question marks when it comes to carb impact, caloric impact, as well as laxation threshold. Laxation threshold is serious business, especially when you're baking for others. It's one thing to make something for yourself that could give you diarrea, but making that decision for someone else is a tricky area. Although I've seen charts on laxation thresholds that seem to correspond to how I react to them, response can be a very individual thing. That's the biggest problem with sugar alcohols - you can have all the charts/figures in the world but until you consume them, you really don't know what they're going to do. Everyone seems to react differently.

If you're able to test your mother's reactions to different sugar alcohols (glycemically/digestively), that would probably be the most prudent route. If not, well, I would avoid non erthritol sugar alcohols altogether in the desserts you bake for her. That may be overly cautious, but until the fog surrounding these things clears a bit, I think cautious remains the way to go (when baking for others).

For yourself, since you haven't mentioned any digestive issues from SAs and you aren't diabetic, then I think you have a little more leeway to work with them in very small amounts. I would stay away from using Maltitol, especially since you've noticed that it's stalling you. Other than that, I would rely on the sketchy charts/figures that I mentioned earlier to guide you. Some people don't respond according to the stats, but many do (I personally do). So, work with the SAs with lower glycemic 'stats' as well as keeping an eye on the laxation threshold numbers. In other words, no maltitol, and definitely no maltitol syrup (glycemic). No mannitol or lactitol (laxation). Other than that, it's up to you. Some people attribute wonderous health benefits to xylitol, which I have yet to see substantiated. It is a good sweetener, though, and seems to be a popular addition to a splenda/erythritol combo. Isomalt appears to be in the same general realm and provides some sugar like qualities that the other SAs lack, such as 'glassing' for candymaking. The other aspect of isomalt is that it's in diabetisweet, which, as I mentioned is the only known source for Ace K. Sorbitol is another of those middle of the road SAs. When I started on this WOE, I purchased sorbitol since it was cheap and available locally. It's been producing great results when combined with splenda, although, from a stalling perspective, I'm not really sure. Whatever you choose, keep the SA content as far down as you can, since they all have the potential to stall.

The throat irritation, btw, will go away. It happend to me when I had maltitol for the first time (sorbitol too).

Fructose/Fructose Containing Products

I have heard the same negative health reports regarding fructose. The stuff is bad news for the general population and even worse for diabetics. Whey Low (a fructose based sweetener) is popular with quite a few people, since it acts/taste 'just like sugar.' I've wholeheartedly tried to understand the claims whey low makes regarding the safety of fructose and I just can't connect the dots. I've even spoken to the president of the company on the subject and I still can't come to terms with their claims. The burden of proof regarding the safety of a company's products lies on the company, not on the customer. Fructose is dangerous stuff. Until whey low can prove without a shadow of doubt that their product is safe, I say buyer beware.

Stevia

Lastly, if you are truly committed to finding the best sweetener for you and your mother, I would recommend spending the big bucks and trying some stevia. Everyone seems to have their favorites, but I seem to notice that three brands get mentioned the most:

Nunaturals sooolite
Now White Stevia powder
Sweetleaf

At the moment I'm not going anywhere near stevia. I was in love with sooolite for a while only to find it inconsistent. Having encountered too many thoroughly vile brands of stevia and getting unreliable feedback online and from friends, I just can't gamble any more money on the stuff. The one huge downside to stevia is that even though it has synergy, a bad brand will ruin your baked good, even in a small amount. If sooolite resolves their consistency issues or another brand develops a strong following, I may give stevia another shot. Until then, no stevia for me. Stevia seems to be a very personal thing, so you might want to give it a try. It might be okay for you.


So, where are we? Out of your current sweetener collection, I'd play around with the following proportions (for your own use):

Liquid Splenda (40%)
Erythritol (20%)
Xylitol (20%)
Diabetisweet (20%)

Remember this is all based on sugar equivalents. You don't want 40% liquid splenda by volume. You want to convert everything to it's sugar equivalent and then calculate percentages. And don't forget that there is a lot of synergy going on. Whatever recipe you make I'd always start with 75% of the recommend amount of sweetener and taste as you go.

Also keep in mind that this is only a rough sketch. Different recipes will require their own unique approach. As recipe specific issues arise, feel free to post your questions on this forum.

You'll be dirtying a lot of measuring spoons/cups, but the synergy going on should give you a nice pure quality of sweetness.

For your mother, well, hopefully you can talk to her about the potentialities of xylitol and isomalt and do some testing, as liquid splenda combined with erythritol is good but not as superb as with the other two.

I look forward to hearing your results.

oh great Scott!!!

Thanks for your oh-so-helpful reply!!

I will try that combination in a pumpkin pie recipe I have and see how it comes out.

Do you think I need to add any gums like guar gum to make up for the lost bulk when using liquid Splenda?

I will also order the stevia too. I'd read so many reports of a bitter taste.

Hopefully one of these will work.

Again, thank you so much for your time and sharing your knowledge.

NoSox

Guar and xanthan gum don't really provide the same bulking/ texture providing properties as sugar.

Alternative bulking is a whole other area. You will get some bulking qualities from the erythritol/xylitol/isomalt. Beyond that, though, texture providing options become a little obscure. If you have the money to spend, I thik Not Sugar ThickNthin might be a good product. It's sugary texture comes not from the guar/xanthan gums, but from it's primary ingredient, acacia gum (gum arabic). Acacia is what's used to give the sugary consistency to Diet Rite Soda. Acacia by itself is hard to find and expensive, though.

Polydextrose is another really exciting alternative bulking agent. It's basically sugar without the sweetness with only a fraction of the carbs. I've been working with that a little bit and have been amazed by the results.

A lot of recipes seem to do well with just the sweetening added (and the bulking from SAs). For some recipes, though, the texture of sugar is as important as the taste.

As far as your pumpkin pie is concerned, you should be fine. Although I should add that I've been making splenda/sacharrin pumpkin bread lately with very dissapointing results. I get a burning sensation on my tongue when I eat it, almost like the dessert contains alcohol. I'm 99.99% positive it's bitterness from baking with sacharrin, though. Needless to say my days of baking with sacharrin are over.

Please let us know how your pumpkin pie turns out.

I've forgotten all about saccharrin!

I haven't had saccharrin since they removed it from the only diet soda
I ever really liked - Tab!

When I arrived at college in the early 80s, Tab was our diet soda of choice.

We weren't allowed soda at home as kids, so I was thrilled to be able to drink all I wanted. Of course, calories were a problem for us since we were all striving to be stick thin back then, so my dorm mates taught me to add a squeeze of lemon juice to cut the off taste of saccharrin. It worked, I was hooked and never looked back. Eventually, I liked it well enough to not even need the lemon squeeze. Too bad I never developed a taste for Splenda that way, LOL.

It's amazing that Coke (I think they own Tab) gave in to Aspartame.

Anyway, I digress.......

I think I've seen polydextrose on some product labels. I'd like to know more about it - do you have a link?

Where do you purchase it as a solo item? I'm curious what it's made from.

Anyway, thanks again Scott!

NoSox

Polydextrose has been discussed a bit on another forum I frequent:

http://www.atkinsalltheway.com/viewtopic.php?t=1292

So far I've made brownies with it and a gooey sauce for Chinese spare ribs. It's a dead ringer for the texture of sugar.

The only source I've been able to found for polydextrose is Honeyville Grain. I buy my WPI and corn bran from them as well since they seem to have the best price on just about everything.

<<Liquid Splenda (40%)
Erythritol (20%)
Xylitol (20%)
Diabetisweet (20%)>>

Hey Scott!

My best AS combo so far in approx. measure:

xylitol 20%
Diabetisweet 35%
erythritol 25%
maltitol 15%
NuNaturals powdered stevia 5%

This combo was based strictly on what I had on hand to use up - I wish I could claim some lengthy testing!

I didn't go with Splenda, because all I have is liquid Splenda.

Based on all my unsuccessful results with lquid Splenda, I think I'll just stick to using it in my homemade lemonade. I really find no other use for it except in liquids - too much potential for an off taste - to me anyway.

The above combo works well - tastes just like sugar to me - but I'm still working on the sugar equivalency so it can be subbed one for one in recipes.

Until then, I am adding, then tasting, adding, then tasting as I go.

Appreciate all your help - here and elsewhere!

Barefoot

Nosox, I'm happy that you are finding a sweetener combo that pleases you.

I know you have some issues with liquid splenda, but you really should give it a try, even if it's just a small amount. I promise you that it won't ruin your mix. I hated liquid splenda when I first started using it on it's own and now that I'm combining it, I love the stuff. Other than the trace amount of ace K in the diabetisweet, the small amount of stevia and the erythritol, you're mix is mostly sugar alcohols. Sugar alcohols are dead ringers for sugar, but, as I said previously, they have their shortcomings (laxative effect, stalling, cravings). Sugar alcohols also don't have any synergy with each other, so without the liquid splenda, you aren't utilizing your synergy to it's fullest. Lastly, I don't know if this is a concern to you, but the price per cup of sugar equivalent of your mix is very high. Liquid splenda is the best candidate for lowering that.

It's your mix and you can put anything you want in it, but I think you might really be missing out by omitting the liquid splenda.

Is the NuNaturals stevia the sooolite? What do you think of it?

Yes, the NuNaturals stevia is the Sooolite brand. Hope I spelled that correctly!

I definitely see your point about the liquid Splenda vis a vis the sugar alcohols.

Maybe now that I have this mix somewhat down pat, I can try some mixing with the liquid Splenda.

My earlier problems with liquid Splenda may stem from the fact that I was only combining it with one other sugar alcohol.

Further, I wonder if this liquid Splenda may be off. It's over a year old and I purchased it from the locarber.com site.

I've never tried Sweetzfree or Fiberfit.

Do you have any idea how they might compare?

I also see your point about the expense - I guess the good news here is that since low carbing, I've cut way back on sweet foods in general and my taste buds have changed - so my dessert servings are fewer in between these days.

The bad news, if you will, is that I was a picky eater before beginning a low carb lifestyle - a distinct preference for whole foods over junk foods - so I'm guessing my trouble with Splenda may have something to do with the fact that my palate wasn't used to artificial ingredients to begin with.

It's kind of ironic - I have a kitchen and pantry of whole foods - with a tupperware container over on one counter containing a fine white powder of the AS combo - .

My drug of choice I guess


Thanks again, Barefoot

I came from the same whole foods background myself. If someone would have told me 5 years ago that I'd be using an artificial sweetener on a weekly basis, I would have laughed in their face.

The liquid splenda may very well be off. My biggest problem with Trish's liquid splenda is that she dilutes it with water, thus potentially contaminating it with micro-organisms. Sweetzfree takes the liquid splenda from the manufacturer and only repackages it, which to me is preferable.

Fiberfit, besides having too much water for many baking applications, is about 3.5 times the cost of sweetzfree.

Sweetzfree = .66 per cup of sugar equivalent (including shipping costs)
Fiberfit = 2.50 per cup of sugar equivalent (including shipping costs)

Fiberfit, technically, can be called liquid splenda, but it's not the liquid splenda that the vast majority of people refer to in recipes. The manufacturers are just trying to cash in on a popular name. Technically, Davinci could call their simple syrup liquid splenda, but you don't see them pulling that garbage.

I gave a few seconds thought to your mix and considered how it might match up to sugar for measuring purposes. This is just a wild guess, but I'd say about 1/2 - 2/3 C. = 1 C. sugar. I'd start with half the sugar/splenda stated in the recipe and then adjust, if possible, to taste.

Your wild guess is a good one.

A scant half cup = one cup regular sugar seems to be about right!

I could probably get away with even less if not feeding those whose taste buds haven't been as sugar deprived as mine!


MG