Sugars??

First of all, congrats on the 9 pounds!  That's fantastic.

In terms of sweeteners...stevia is a naturally sweet herb but I haven't had much personal experience with it other than tasting a leaf from the plant once. 

I was poking around a natural foods store last night while waiting to meet up with a friend for dinner...and in their sugar section, they had agave, maple syrup, organic sugar, stevia, and yacon syrup.  I'd never heard of yacon syrup before, but I just looked it up...

Live Superfoods describes their product as, "a natural low-calorie sweet treat that is positively good for you and one you can indulge in even if you're diabetic....Yacon syrup is a glucose-free sweetener that can improve digestive health as well as help reduce sugar intake. It is pressed from the root of the yacon, a distant relative of the sunflower. Yacon has been consumed in the Andean highlands of Peru for centuries."

According to the nutrition facts on the Navitas Naturals site, 2 tablespoons of their yacon syrup has 40 calories and 14g of sugar, while the jar of honey sitting on my desk at the moment has 120 calories and 32g of sugar in the same quantity.

It sounds like it tastes a little like caramel or molasses....and theoretically could be used to sweeten coffee but it might not taste exactly the way it would taste with sugar.

I'm not sure but maybe this can help you

http://www.wholesomesweeteners.com/catproduct/2/Wholesome_Sweeteners_Retail_Products.html

Sparkpeople.com rules!  A good solution is to switch to herbal tea :)  Especially Matcha Green Tea if you're on a diet.

Best of luck with the diet and the sweetner situation!

That's a great resource!  Thanks for sharing it.  It's nice that they offer a variety of products including sugar, agave, etc.

Interesting that they have corn syrup.  I guess I don't really know enough about the difference between high-fructose corn syrup or "light corn syrup" which is what they've got.

hi

check out this link on my website. it's a document all about sugar, I have gone off the deep end trying to figure it out. i think the real thing for you is to eat the most natural, unprocessed sugar as possible and use it where you really value it. Coffee is sacred, and although i drink mine black, I know there are some places where life is just too short to cut things out i love so much. but if you read my doc and understand all the "hidden sugar" companies sneak in, if you cut that you will lose weight and not have to skimp on what you really love.  http://thegoodonyabar.com/fat-vs-sugar.html

Hmm the Truvia sounds very interesting.  I wish we had a Whole Foods here, all we've got is an overpriced fancy mini mart owned by a complete scam artist.  Oh well.....one can hope (or move).

Glad to hear you found a good solution and you are well balanced with your beverages!

I have used several different stevia products including powder and liquid form.  Seems to be cheaper to buy it in a container than in the individual packets.  I'm on a no sugar diet right now, and it is the only sweetener I'm allowed to use. Straight from the plant seems to be a much healthier version than the processed type. I've never had the plant. I use the powder or liquid to make a rice pudding using brown rice, coconut milk (can't have dairy), stevia, and cinnamon.  It is absolutely delicious!! - and I usually like desserts that are bad for me : ) Another plug for Whole Foods: They have their own brand of it that is slightly cheaper.

Here is a website with a lot of information about all sweeteners: http://www.sweetsavvy.com/ List of sweeteners are on the left

I think I remember reading that agave is supposed to be sweeter than sugar, so you are supposed to be able to use a smaller amount...  GraciaKai, did you find this to be true?