Metallic muffins? Nope just saccharin again!

Ever noticed that bitter, metallic taste after you enjoy a sip of your favorite sugar free drink?  Well more than likely you're tasting the SACCHARIN used in combination with other ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS.

Might as well eat this

Saccharin has no food energy and like many other food sweeteners is much sweeter then sugar.  This sweetener is not very popular but because of the fact that it has no reaction to other foods, it is used more than it should be.

So you may not of heard of saccharin, but I am sure you have heard of its other name, Sweet'n'low.  To this day you can still find it on your table in many little restaurants along side the packets of equal and sugar.  Some still prefer the taste and will argue that it has no aftertaste and that's their opinion, everybody's taste buds are different!

Yay for choices!

As with many other sugar substitutes you have to be careful when using this as it can taint the flavor of many foods.  If you're lucky it wont have any effect and your food will turn out perfectly, which I hope is true.  I personally do not like the aftertaste and cannot seem to disguise it no matter what I try.

Like other artificial sweeteners it does not effect glucose levels and is safe for diabetics.  This is because it goes directly into the digestive system.  It does trigger a release of insulin, believed to be because of the taste, but not significantly.  

So, saccharin, aftertaste is a big possibility but the plus side is you can enjoy sweetness.  Is it worth it or not, you decide!

Stevia you sweet thing you!

Ah yes today we are discussing stevia and the sweet plant it is.  If you don't know this, stevia is acutally a plant from the sunflower family.  I thought that was an interesting fact even if it does not pertain to sweeteners.

Stevia is considered a novel sweetener.  It is put in this category because of where it comes from and how it is made.  Stevia naturally is sweeter than sugar, but after its processed it becomes less sweet.  Because it has a negligible affect on blood sugar, it became very popular.

Originally stevia was banned in 1990 unless it was labeled as a dietary supplement.  Europe didn't allow the use of stevia until 2011.

If you have used stevia, you noticed that some can have a bitter taste if used in excess.  Keep in mind that this isn't true with all stevia extracts.  Try to substitute this very carefully because of this fact.  Just because you have used one doesn't mean they will all be the same.

I'll be back tomorrow with more info to keep you sugar free and loving it!

Sucralose, A Breath of SWEET Air?

Just another day in the land of sugar free gum drops and lollipops! Smell the fresh SWEET air....wait say what?  Well I don't know about you but it seems every time I use a product with sucralose there comes a real sweet bite to the air around me.

Wrong kind of SWEET air!

If you haven't tried it, you'll know when you first use it.  This real fine powdery (also comes granulated) sugar substitute seems to get scrambled in the air around it whenever I use it. Why is this?  To explain it the easy way, it is an artificial sweetener.  As some of us know artificial sweeteners are about 10 times sweeter then sugar.

Talk about a sugar free high!

So this brings me to the next point about sucralose.  When using it in a recipe, you may notice that some packages state that you can use this product as an equal substitute for sugar.  For example, 1 cup sugar = 1 cup sucralose.  Do not use the same amount in every recipe.  Some recipes will turn out so much sweeter than you like.

bittersweet!

Well there goes another day in the land of sugar free.  Join me again tomorrow and see what we can learn next!