Natreen vs. brown sugar vs. honey

Maria Clark said:I started drooling like crazy—totally abnormal—and had this weird, plastic-y sweet taste lingering in my mouth for half the day

Oh, goodness... I've experienced the exact same thing—even if I just have a Gatorade. And honestly? The absolute worst sensation I've ever dealt with was trying to dissolve some Tylenol Cold & Flu in warm water. 🤮

People following macrobiotic diets often go for barley syrup. It looks just like honey and has this rich, caramel-like flavor profile. I actually really enjoy it, though it tends to thicken up and get pretty solid if you leave it out too long.👎

Stevia comes straight from the plant itself.
You won't find it sitting on the shelves of your local CVS or Walgreens—mostly because they claim there isn't enough research on potential side effects yet.
If you ask me, the whole massive industry built on junk artificial sweeteners would go belly up overnight if stevia actually took over their market share.
And honestly? I get why. Your body doesn't even register stevia as a carb—so no weight gain, and it's a total win for diabetics—plus it’s completely natural.
Sure, it has a slightly weird aftertaste that I'm still trying to get used to, but it works just fine in coffee, tea, cocoa, fruit salad, or pudding 👍
A little bottle runs you about $15. You measure it out drop by drop 🙂

Equal or maybe Splenda if you prefer... or just honey? I drink my tea like a saint, using just a tiny bit of sweetener, but I never touch white sugar.☕

coppergardener said:Everyone I know loses their mind over it—honestly, it’s like I’m offering them a gourmet steak when I suggest adding honey to their coffee, chicory, or lemonade!

Coffee and honey... definitely going to give that a shot!🙂

Stevia comes from the plant of the same name.
You won't find it in standard pharmacies since there's this supposed lack of research regarding its potential side effects.
If you ask me, the entire unhealthy artificial sweetener industry would just collapse if stevia actually took over their market share.
And honestly? There's a good reason for that. Your body doesn't even register stevia as a carbohydrate—so it won't make you gain weight, which is great for diabetics—and it’s completely natural.

And what exactly makes you conclude it isn't harmful? I mean, there is a whole pile of plants out there that are toxic or carcinogenic, right? But I guess stevia is fine simply because it's "natural," while Natrue is considered poison just because it was synthesized...

Stevia is just as controversial regarding safety as artificial sweeteners are, and it's even been banned in certain countries.

Personally, I use Natrue in my coffee because I refuse to buy into the propaganda claiming artificial sweeteners are responsible for almost every evil in the world—from tumors to Alzheimer's—all without any actual evidence. Diabetics consume them in doses exceeding 50g, far beyond the average person, yet we don't see the catastrophic results those internet charlatans scream about in their circular emails, calling things "the most carcinogenic additive ever" or claiming some specific bacteria is being "extracted from corpses!!!"

Look, I usually test stuff out on myself first before I bother sharing what I've figured out. 😁

I just went with stevia—it fits perfectly since I mostly stick to the Zone diet anyway.
Cutting back on sugar and artificial sweeteners finally stopped all that water retention issues I was having. Though, honestly, the Zone diet probably does a lot of the heavy lifting there too.
Stevia works great for me. 🙂

Don't get me wrong, I still eat regular chocolate—I'm not some kind of fanatic.

Can you actually confirm that thing about the stevia ban? Like, do you have articles or something?
I'm genuinely curious.

Nicholas Chavez70 said:honey, you're the healthiest thing about this whole mess...

If you're dealing with gastritis, this stuff is absolute murder on your stomach.😲

quietpilot87 said:Can you confirm this stuff about the stevia ban (articles, etc.)?
I'm actually curious.

It’s pretty much the same story as any other sweetener. There’s this controversy floating around that isn't exactly rooted in hard facts.

Although unresolved questions remain concerning whether metabolic processes can produce a mutagen from stevia in animals, let alone in humans, the early studies prompted the FDA to ban stevia's use in food in the US pending further research.[11] Singapore and Hong Kong have banned it also.[12] However, more recent data compiled in the safety evaluation released by the World Health Organization in 2006[28] suggest that these policies may be obsolete.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia#Health_controversy

I don't put sugar in my tea, coffee, or any of my drinks.

As for Natrue, I wouldn't touch it even if my life depended on it. 🙂

Joseph Watson3 said:I personally stick to Natrue (cyclamate) for my coffee! I just don't buy into all that fear-mongering that blames artificial sweeteners for every single health issue under the sun—from tumors to Alzheimer's—without any actual proof. !!!

Well, there isn't definitive proof that it's safe either 😉
I know neurologists are shouting "absolutely not!"
And honestly, I always feel a little bit guilty whenever I eat something containing an artificial sweetener

At the end of the day, it's a personal choice

briskeagle51 said:Around here, brown sugar is pretty much just white sugar with some coloring added.
It's all junk!

How does that even make sense? I mean, brown sugar isn't just a different color than white sugar—it actually has its own distinct aroma and a totally different texture because it's more moist. Honestly, anyone with half a brain could tell if they were just looking at "dyed white sugar."

Joseph Watson3 said:It’s the same deal with most sweeteners. There's this whole controversy swirling around that isn't even really based on facts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia#Health_controversy

Well, I guess that just leaves it up to personal preference then. 🙂
As far as I'm concerned, Natrue is total garbage. 🙂
And let's be real—Wikipedia is a pretty shaky source, way less reliable than most other decent sites out there.

jadesailor14 said:well, there's no proof either way that it's harmful 😉

😂 This is getting ridiculous. It’s not like anyone has actually proven that any substance is perfectly safe—science doesn't work that way. By definition, you can't prove a hypothesis true; you can only fail to disprove it.

A substance gets flagged as carcinogenic if there are enough red flags—basically, if animal or human studies suggest it might be. Sweeteners like aspartame and cyclamate have probably undergone more testing than almost anything else on the market. And yet, there's no evidence. If we followed this line of logic, we could just claim brown sugar is a carcinogen too—I doubt there are enough studies on it to satisfy the skeptics, so why not just label it a carcinogen until someone proves otherwise?

quietpilot87 said:Well, I guess we’re down to individual choices then. 🙂
Personally, I think Natreen is total garbage. 🙂
Wikipedia is pretty unreliable—honestly, more so than most other decent sites out there.

Don't start making things up now. Wikipedia isn't some definitive source, because all those claims about harmful effects actually include links to legitimate sources. For example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia#_note-EC

I rarely bother with Wikipedia when I'm digging for info—I've been burned too many times before.
The internet is just a massive dump of everything under the sun, most of it total garbage and half-truths.

And why the hell are you getting so worked up?

Did the woman even ask for an opinion? Did she ask for mine? You're using Natalie. Fine. Keep using it if you want, I don't care. I'm not about to jump into some pointless fight of Nate vs. Stevie.

quietpilot87 said:Honestly, I rarely bother with Wikipedia—I’ve been burned by it more than a few times.
The internet is just a massive, chaotic mess of facts and total nonsense.

So, why are you getting so worked up about it?

Did she even ask for an opinion? Did I offer mine? You’re out here using Nature vs. Fine. Go ahead, keep at it; I don't have a problem with it. I’m really not interested in getting dragged into some ridiculous battle of Nature vs. Stevie.

Look, when you try to claim I used Wikipedia as my primary source when the actual source was the European Commission, that isn't exactly a fair way to debate. At least Wikipedia—unlike most of the garbage sites out there—actually provides citations for its claims (since it isn't meant to be an authoritative source) or uses a [citation needed] tag. If you got burned, maybe it's because you didn't use it correctly.

Joseph Watson3 said:😂 This is getting ridiculous.

Don't push it.
You mentioned you have a background in chemistry or biology or something similar, right?
So, I’m assuming you actually know what you're talking about here.
The thing is, nobody has definitively proven that artificial sweeteners are totally safe to use,
nor has anyone actually funded enough research to prove they're harmful once and for all.
I already mentioned that I know some neurologists advise against using them.

I eat so little sugar that a bit of white sugar certainly isn't going to kill me!😁
Plus, I still treat myself to those high-quality, organic dark chocolates because they just taste so much better.
As for the rest of the world, they can do whatever they want!

jadesailor14 said:Don't get all defensive
You mentioned having some background in chemistry? Or biology? Something along those lines?
So, I’m assuming you actually know what you're talking about here.
Nobody has definitively proven that artificial sweeteners are safe to use.
And, conversely, nobody has funded enough research to prove they're actually harmful.
I already noted that neurologists recommend avoiding them.

And what exactly counts as "clear proof" of safety to you? By that logic, half the other stuff we eat hasn't been subjected to nearly as many studies as sweeteners—so are you suggesting brown sugar or baking soda are also "unproven"?

As for the neurology bit, I assume you're referring to aspartame and aspartic acid, which can be neurotoxic in massive doses? But we're talking about concentrations that are incomparably higher than anything anyone actually consumes.

Look, I'm not claiming sweeteners are perfectly safe—I didn't say that. But given the lack of correlations found in any major human studies involving high sweetener intake, the risk for someone sticking to recommended doses is negligible. It's maybe comparable to the risk of getting cancer from walking into a smoky bar once in a while, and it's certainly lower than the risk of skin cancer from wearing a T-shirt out in the sun. Yet, the media loves to drone on about this being the greatest evil on Earth.

jadesailor14 said:no one has actually proven artificial sweeteners are safe to eat
and nobody's footed the bill for research to prove they're toxic either
i mentioned that I know neurologists advise staying away from them

Yeah, so basically just like Stevia 👍
Except the big players making artificial sweeteners have way more pull in the market.
I’d go as far as saying they’re practically in bed with Big Pharma—the guys pumping out insulin for diabetics.
It's not some wild conspiracy theory, either. I'm not diabetic, but I can't handle carbs well, and I've felt the effects firsthand by switching up my diet, cutting out artificial sweeteners, and telling all those trendy "diet" products to shove it.

But hey, that's just me 🙂
I'm stoked I finally found an eating plan that actually works for me.
I'm sure there are people out there for whom neither sugar nor Natreen causes any issues at all 😉