Saccharine. Who knew?

I am trying to get away from aspartame; said to be bad stuff and I drink too much of it. I keep trying different Stevias without luck.

Sugar is of course fattening ... then, a memory came to me. I remembered staying in Scotland with some family friends- these people drank Yorkshire Gold tea all day long (from an electric kettle) and had a neat little tablet dispenser for sweetening. Pour a cup and plook, plook - sweetener dispensed. It tasted great; what was it?

Saccharin. I vaguely recalled the stuff caused cancer in rats; after more recent studies, it turns out that is NOT so- it's completely safe. They even allow it in California.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharin

Bought a bottle of 1000 tabs for $3.88 yesterday. As with all things, the key is moderation - perhaps a little of this stuff is better than a ton of aspartame - or diabetes-inducing sugar. Is it, of course, also known as Sweet N Low - if you want to pay more for a brand name.

(BTW, the little dispenser/product I saw in Scotland was apparently called Sweetex):

https://www.amazon.com/42-73-621-Sweetex-Dispenser-800-Tablets/dp/B001E976Y4

Thoughts?


AA

Splenda.

I stay away from the artificial sweeteners and sugar. I don't mind stevia and if I want to sweeten my tea I use one that comes in a tiny squeeze bottle like the sports drinks, I believe the brand is Skinnygirl. Have you tried that one yet?

I would vote for sugar. AN all natural product and how much can you consume in tea, really?

My grand mother used saccharine in her coffee and tea back in the 160's when I was little. Haven't seen any of it in decades after the 1970's puffed-up cancer scares. She also used the tiny tablets. Only person that I can remember doing that.

I just go with plain ol' sugar. There are only 9 calories in a sugar cube.

ouch said:

Splenda.

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Sucralose is the No.2 option.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucralose

Does taste gross in some diet sodas, though.


AA

elswood said:

I stay away from the artificial sweeteners and sugar. I don't mind stevia and if I want to sweeten my tea I use one that comes in a tiny squeeze bottle like the sports drinks, I believe the brand is Skinnygirl. Have you tried that one yet?

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Skinnygirl uses two: Agave and Stevia.

Agave can be $; and the only Stevia I liked so far ... turned out to be a mix of Stevia and aspartame. Arrgh.


AA

I too have gone back to sugar. I use raw sugar! Moderation is the key to everything. Now, I just need to practice what I preach.

BSAGuy said:

I would vote for sugar. AN all natural product and how much can you consume in tea, really?

My grand mother used saccharine in her coffee and tea back in the 160's when I was little. Haven't seen any of it in decades after the 1970's puffed-up cancer scares. She also used the tiny tablets. Only person that I can remember doing that.

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SUgar's best, but fighting a family history of diabetes.

I drink a lot of tea / diet soda - need the caffeine for work, unfortunately.

Well if I'm gonna use G'paws razor, may as take Nana's sugar pills.


AA

Going to a higher and fresher grade of coffee and tea has allowed me to do away with all sweeteners.

Apraently stevia is real bad for diabetics.
Personally I have stopped drinking soft drink and add sugar to my coffee and serial etc. and I am loosing weight

Left handed sugar.

I'm type 2 and I just use regular sugar if anything. I don't use much and I only have 2 cups a day.

turtle said:

Going to a higher and fresher grade of coffee and tea has allowed me to do away with all sweeteners.

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+1 on the coffee, never touch tea - since I found out I was intolerant to cow's milk, all black tea did for me was stimulate my gag reflex !!
(I used to drink strong tea with a splash of milk and no sweetener, I used to love it until I quit milk when I was in my early 20s)

When I was a kid.......
I used to drink strong, but milky coffee with 2x saccharine tablets, occasionally Sweetex, but usually Co-op supermarket's own label - Dad was the Manager of the local branch of Co-op, which carried a lot of fringe benefits - we virtually lived on dented tins and packets of various food items (did they fall or did they get knocked off off the shelf) as well as out of date bread and cakes that were "written off"
One day I forgot to put saccharine in my coffee and preferred it that way
When I gave up milk, I started off on weak black coffee and slowly built up a tolerance to stronger and stronger coffees until I started enjoying an occasional espresso

Once when I was at Gatwick, I had a coffee to kill time before my flight to Malta - it was so bland and insipid that it was basically coloured water, so I added some sugar to give it a bit of flavour, liked it and tried an espresso with sugar when I was in Malta and got hooked on strong, black, tarry coffee with plenty of sugar
At one stage, when I was Night Manager of a 4* hotel, I used to drink 4 shots of espresso with 3 sugar cubes per cup at work - usually 3 or 4 cups in an 8 hour shift !!
When I moved to Mallorca in April 2006 and got let loose on Espresso made with Torrefacto coffee (beans coated in sugar water before roasting) it was like a red rag to a bull.....
After an all night drinking session, I regularly sat in a bar at 6am drinking espressos with sugar and brandy chasers with a bottled coke on ice on the side - My record for coffee was 13 in the space of 4 hours !!
(The coffee, sugar and coke kept me awake until I'd drank myself sober, and alcohol in my system ensured I had no problem sleeping it all off during the day)

I got a wake up call that not only gave me the shock of my life, but also put me off the idea of putting sugar in coffee, or anything else, and even put me off drinking fizzy drinks full stop.........
Around 8 months after I finally decided I'd rather have the money than spend it on 50 cigarettes per day and quit smoking in 2011.....
I cracked a wisdom tooth on a pistachio nut and including the x-rays, extraction, dental hygienist, fillings and more visits to the dental hygienist, I had to pay €700 for all the dental work
The Dentist and the dental hygienist (who by coincidence was his wife) both told me that it was all due to extensive sugar damage to my teeth !!

I gave up drinking Coke and tried Pepsi Light, Pepsi Max, Coke Light and Coke Zero, but hated them all and just went cold turkey on the fizzy drinks - except for a very occasional Vodka & Tonic Light
I switched from Edpresso with sugar to Americano almost overnight

Quitting smoking improved my sense of taste anyway, but quitting sugar made me appreciate the taste of the coffee a lot more

Now I enjoy drinking Americano when I'm in a bar and I enjoy a Moka Pot of freshly brewed coffee every morning at home
The Torrefacto gives the coffee a much stronger flavour without any bitterness and now I too prefer my coffee without sugar

I could​ use artificial sweeteners again as a substitute - But as my Grandad used to say "It's good enough to drink without"

I use about half a teaspoon per cup of tea. Since I drink about 2 1/2 cups a day (the size of my pot) I don't think that's excessive. Of course I get more than that from other sources.

Try to wean yourself from the sweetener altogether. Good quality coffee is excellent alone or with a bit of dairy of your choice.

If that's not possible, then my vote is in the raw sugar camp. Sugar in moderation is safer and healthier over time than any artificial sweetener IMO.

I use raw local honey.

Yep, honey.

Love local honey, allergic to the stuff.

Just finished a second cup of good oolong, saccharin wasn't affecting the taste in any but a good way.


AA

Raw sugar, is way I roll..