I don't eat a lot of sugar. No cokes, cake, etc. Only ocaisionally. But I REFUSE to eat artificial sweetner. #1 I know what it does to you. #2 I know how it tricks your body into dumping insulin. #3 It is vile tasting. The aftertaste is even worse. #4 It gives me headaches. I looked at the diet for post op and was schocked at the amount of artificial sweetner in it. If I forego the artificial sweetner, there is almost nothing left for me to eat. I've met with my doctor and told him about this and he said it was wonderful that I didn't like it, but didn't give me any suggestions. I'm looking at having my band done the first week of September. He only requires 3 days of pre-op liquids, so that's not so bad, but I'm concerned with the post-op liquids and creams. Suggestions?:help:

Have you tried any alternative sweetners? Besides the usual (Splenda, NutraSweet, Sweet-N-Low) there's a product called Stevia which a lot of people seem to like. It's available at health food stores. I think there might be another one as well but I'm drawing a blank. Otherwise, you'll just have to limit your sugar and maybe use honey every once in a while.

gadgetlady,

I've never heard of Stevia. I'll have to look into that. thank you. What are most of these shakes and protien drinks made with?

I don't eat artificial sweetener, either. I've been getting most of my protein drinks and powders from Whole Foods and I've been drinking a lot of water. You don't have to eat jello or crystal light if you don't want to. I'm eating some sugar, but not a lot, and not really worrying about it. I exercise and the amount of sugar that I'm eating is very small.

Usually, if I want something sweet, I enjoy a piece of fresh fruit. I've been reading some of these posts and many are cutting fruit out of thier diet for calorie counting and carb control. is this necessary to be successful?

There is no real reason to avoid sugar if you don't want to. Noncaloric sweeteners are obviously a staple of many dieters' lives, but only because they want to avoid the extra calories. If that's not an issue for you, then do what works. Banding is not just about cutting as many calories out of our lives as humanly possible, it's about living comfortably on fewer calories than we've been taking in--and thus losing weight.

Just as no diet works for everyone, there is no one way to live with the band. Many people find that fresh fruit is too bulky and fibrous to eat when they have good restriction, while others keep their bands looser specifically because they want to be able to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. You find the balance you want and make it work for you. That's how the band works.

alexandra,

that sounds so much better for me. Thank you. I am a fresh fruit and veggie nut, and also try to do organic as much as possible. I actually feel bad when I don't eat my veggies and fruit. I don't mind throwing them in a blender, but still will want them. so the flexibility of the band is nice to know.

I wont eat anything artificially sweetened, if I want something sweet, then I realise that I am going to be eating sugar. Sugar isnt that highly calorific anyway if its kept to a reasonable proportion of your diet - ie. not a huge feature in your everyday eating.

Artificial sweeteners taste awful to me and I fear what they will do to my health.

Hi!

I was wondering, would brown sugar be a better replacement for artificial sweetners / regular white sugar?

Hope everyone is well.

Paty:clap2:

Brown sugar is no different to your body than white sugar. It's less refined, is all.

I can't use the artificial sweetners, so I just use regular sugar. I have tried them all and I have a bad reaction to all of them. I just watch how much I use and it works just fine.

I truly believe too that artificial sweeteners only encourage people to eat foods every day that should be saved for a very occasional treat - like soft drinks. Diet coke may not make you fat but its still truly awful for you. Artificially sweetened low fat yogurts are pretty worthless foods too since without the animal fat your body just doenst make optimum use of the fat soluble Vitamins and Calcium in dairy anyway. Full fat natural yogurt isnt sugary and is healthy for you!

I think if you use real sugar, then you consider more carefully what you should be eating on a daily basis - and sweet foods are not really suitable to eat daily.

As to coffee and tea - giving up sugar in those is one of the easier dietary challenges - honestly, it takes 2 weeks, tops.

I have done some research, and drinking or eating a food with an artificial sweetner is doing to your body the same as sugar. As soon as the sweetner hits your toungue, your brain registers that you ate something sweet, regardless if it has calories or not, and you still get an insulin dump. Your body behaves just like if you ate sugar. You're basically tricking your body and messing with the natural chemical reactions. I've also read that some sweetners actually turn to something similar to formaldyhide in the blood. that sounds just awful to me. If OB/GYNs are now warning against it due to birth defects, then it's not for me either. I can't stand the headache I get. I just drink good ole fashioned water, and go ahead with a very occasional sweet treat.

I don't use artificial sweeteners. I love local wildflower honey in very small amounts - like drizzled over strawberries with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

I also don't eat fat free cheese or sour cream - they taste horrid to me. I just use a smaller amount of the real stuff.

i cannot do artificial sweetners either. I have IBS and the dr told me that some of it had to do with the sweetners. I have tried different ones but always had the same effects. I drink regular carnation instant breakfast and Stonyfield yogurt. The yogurt only has 10 more calories than the non sugar yogurts. I think the 10 extra calories is better than a sweetner that might do more harm than good.

Hazelbunny, I'm with you on that. Fat free cheese is disgusting.