Holly IN Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 Right now I am reading on Atkins. We have been doing a Modified Nourishing Traditions via Sally Fallon and Eat Fat Lose Fat by Enig. The more I read about Atkins it seems Atkins is the way to go....BUT Atkins is big on sweeteners where NT/EFLF is not. They recommend raw sugar if you really want them. My question is how do you do Atkins without the sweeteners? Is it doable? Also we do not use white flour except for cookies (I use King Arthur Unbleached All Purpose for cookies and some food....I use WW flour freshly ground for majority of the foods). I am not sure what to do at this point other than say HELP. If you do Atkins but avoid sweeteners....what do you do? Just use Sucanant, raw sugar, Stevia (not sure if this is even safe on fertility) or Agave ?? :001_huh::001_huh: Not sure what else to say or ask. Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in KS Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I like low carb (but more of the South Beach model). I DON'T use sweeteners or artificial sweeteners whenever possible. Actually, what helped me the most was eliminating diet pop from my diet. Artificial sweeteners actually stimulate your cravings for sugar more than sugar does!!! It's tough at first, but if you combine it with exercise you'd be surprised how quickly you can kick the sweet habit! I do still have sweets very rarely (both real and artificial), but now I'm in control and I don't CRAVE it. Another great book to read is Master Your Metabolism. It's a wealth of information about healthy and unhealthy foods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted June 7, 2009 Author Share Posted June 7, 2009 bump... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I think it would depend on what you are trying to sweeten. If it's tea or coffee, have you tried Splenda/sucralose (comes from sugar, so it's not considered "artificial"--also, people with allergies to artificial sweeteners do not react to sucralose, in my experience)? If it's baked goods, you might want to try 1/2 sucralose (Splenda) and 1/2 sugar. But then, baked goods will have a lot of carbs because of the flour, so you'd try to avoid or decrease consumption of those anyway. I know people who add sugar to fresh fruit salad--I don't see the point in that. What else might you add sugar to that you don't really need to? I guess I'd need to know more about what kind of things you want to sweeten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted June 7, 2009 Share Posted June 7, 2009 I pulled out my Atkins book, and they do call Splenda/sucralose an "artificial" sweetener. But having someone in my family with a severe allergy to artificial sweeteners who doesn't react to sucralose (probably because it's made from sugar) is what makes me OK with it. The book does say it's allowed, although it says natural sweeteners ending in "-ose" should be avoided. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Actually Splenda is a no no in my house. :) Nourishing Traditions says no on this too. Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I try to follow a combination of Nourishing Traditions and Life Without Bread (another low-to-moderate carb diet). When I must have something sweet, I usually go for a very small amount of a natural sugar like recommended in NT, or stevia, which I believe is both NT and Atkins approved. But I try to simply avoid sweets as much as possible for two reasons. First of all, for me personally, the more sweet stuff I eat, the more sweet stuff I crave. Secondly, even the taste of something sweet, whether it's real sugar or not, creates an insulin response, and that's exactly what you're trying to avoid by going low-carb in the first place. Make sure you eat plenty of healthy fats (which it sounds like you're already doing) and your sweet cravings will subside. You'll find an optimum range of carb intake for you. It takes some experimenting. I find personally that if I go lower than 50 grams per day I feel awful. But if I go higher than 75, I start craving sweets and starches again. Unfortunately that's a pretty narrow range. Maybe you'll have more flexibility! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I would wean yourself off sweeteners of any kind, and things like biscuits. The more you stay away from them, the better you will feel, and the less you will crave them. An apple will taste very sweet. Sometimes I do crave something very sweet, and I will have a date. Its not often though. I do put stevia in my tea. Agave is an NT no no, although I havent read the article on why that is, yet- something to do with the processing of it, and the fact it is high in fructose. Still, I use it at times. Recently I decided to go back to some honey in my morning 2 cups of tea- only 1/4 tsp- and I found by the end of the day I was craving sugar again, so I dropped it. Its true- eat enough healthy fat, and the craving for sweet things will drop away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 I used Stevia. As I increased carbs I mostly used fruits to sweeten. When you have not had anything sweet for awhile, a strawberry tastes like candy (and is fairly low carb). Have you looked into Barry Groves? I like his approach a little better than Atkins. The only thing I know of Barry Groves is his book that was mentioned in an article that was "interview with Barry" style. The title was something like " Trick or Treat:??" I can't remember the rest. (I do not care to go back and re-read it...the article was on a site with a lot of porn of elderly people much to my shock) Does he have another other articles or books? I really do need to buckle down on this. We still buy chips but decided to limit to 2 bags of chips per trip to the store which means 2 bags a week. Still we need to cut it down to one bag a month or so. sigh Thanks! Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 I used Stevia. As I increased carbs I mostly used fruits to sweeten. When you have not had anything sweet for awhile, a strawberry tastes like candy (and is fairly low carb). Have you looked into Barry Groves? I like his approach a little better than Atkins. Wendy, I forgot to ask you.... What about the Stevia usage causing infertility? Anybody find out if this is really true? I really do not want my children to use this if this is the case. It doesn't matter with me as my tube is blocked (I have only one as I lost my other tube through ectopic pregnancy which is the tube I have been getting pregnant with) The other tube is blocked. Thanks! Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 I would wean yourself off sweeteners of any kind, and things like biscuits. The more you stay away from them, the better you will feel, and the less you will crave them. Its true- eat enough healthy fat, and the craving for sweet things will drop away. Peela What do you do for Biscuit and gravy? My kids crave these so I make them homemade. However I have yet to find a really good biscuit recipe that uses WW flour. I tried two different WW recipes for biscuits and they both turned out too dry. I figured that it was better to have white flour homemade biscuits (using King Arthur Unbleached all purpose), or am I wrong?? Thanks! Holly (who is trying to wrap her head around this whole thing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 What about Coconut Oil? My supplier went out of business. Are there any decent places to buy them besides Mercola (his price is way out of my range). Thanks! Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I would wean yourself off sweeteners of any kind, and things like biscuits. The more you stay away from them, the better you will feel, and the less you will crave them. An apple will taste very sweet. Peela What do you do for Biscuit and gravy? My kids crave these so I make them homemade. First, you want to stay away from having biscuits, as the flour (whether it's white or whole wheat) has lots of carbs. Or at least try to really cut back on how much or how often you have them. Your kids can still have them--yeah, I know, it's hard to resist when someone else in the house is eating it! Second, Peela might be referring to cookies. I know in England, biscuits usually = cookies. Is it the same in Australia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 What about Coconut Oil? My supplier went out of business. Are there any decent places to buy them besides Mercola (his price is way out of my range). Thanks! Holly I honestly don't know how the prices compare to Mercola, but you might take a look at Tropical Traditions. Very high quality stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunflowerlady Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 I have been following Atkins for a year now and I do use artificial sweeteners like Splenda, Equal and others. However, I do know of people who do low carb who use stevia. There are definitely options out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted June 9, 2009 Share Posted June 9, 2009 Second, Peela might be referring to cookies. I know in England, biscuits usually = cookies. Is it the same in Australia? Lol, yes, biscuits are cookies in Australia. And I have never heard of biscuits and gravy :). Sounds positively revolting to me :) I agree with gardening momma, it might be a good idea to stay away from most starchy foods like that. I don't buy or make biscuits. For snacks, my kids eat fruit, meusli, toast, nuts, cheese, sometimes microwave popcorn :). Not that they are sugar free- they are not by any means- but I don't keep sugary snacks in the house- more for myself than them. On a low point of a low day, I could be tempted :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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