Does Stevia Count As A Natural Sweetener
Stevia comes from the stevia plant, which is not artificial. However, just like with many natural products you buy at the grocery store, you need to be careful loads of companies add in other sugars, such as sucrose and sugar alcohols) to their stevia products. Using these products would break your fast and could even cause gastrointestinal disturbances.
In addition, those who suffer from small intestine bacterial overgrowth should avoid these sugar alcohols entirely. So, if you are planning to buy some stevia, look for organic leaf stevia or purified stevia extracts that dont contain any added sugar.
Are There Any Downsides
For starters, there’s the taste. Stevia has a slightly bitter flavor that some people don’t like. Stevia products made with sugar alcohols can also cause bloating, diarrhea and other stomach troubles for some people.
And there are other possible problems. Some research suggests stevia could make you gain weight. A 2017 review published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal looked at nearly 40 observational studies that followed people for periods ranging from six months to 10 years. The review found that people who regularly used stevia and other non-nutritive sweeteners had some weight gain, along with a higher average BMI and a higher risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome and heart disease.
Other research suggests stevia may interfere with the growth of certain probiotic bacteria, which are important for a healthy gut.
Finally, keep in mind that some studies promoting stevia are funded by food companies, so it’s wise to take the results with a grain of salt.
Related:How to Cut Back on Sneaky Added Sugars
What Are The Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting For Diabetes
When done safely, intermittent fasting may provide some benefits for people with diabetes. If the eating plan leads to weight loss, people may be able to reduce the amount of diabetes medication they take.
Some people have been able to stop using insulin after fasting intermittently for a month or so, according to the small study on three people mentioned earlier.
More research is needed to determine if intermittent fasting can help most people with diabetes stop using insulin.
Other potential benefits include:
- reduced appetite
- increased fat oxidation
More research is needed to determine the long-term benefits of intermittent fasting on glucose control and diabetes complications, according to the ADA.
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Does Stevia Break A Fast
Intermittent fasting is one of the most popular diet trends of the last few years.
There are several styles of intermittent fasting, each with its own rules and protocols. These differences can sometimes make the practice confusing for people who are just getting started.
Stevia is a popular sugar substitute thats often used to reduce sugar intake or promote more balanced blood sugar levels.
Many people wonder whether its OK to consume stevia while theyre fasting, or if it should be saved for times when youre allowed to eat.
This article reviews how stevia affects fasting and whether its OK to consume it during a fasting window.
1 ).
Weight loss and improved blood sugar regulation are some of the most popular reasons people choose to adopt an intermittent fasting practice.
Early research indicates that stevia does not significantly raise insulin or blood sugar levels and because it doesnt contain calories it may help people who are trying to reduce their calorie intake to lose weight .
Autophagy is a natural bodily process that recycles damaged components within your cells. Some research suggests that short-term fasting may be a good way to stimulate your bodys autophagy processes, although research in humans is limited .
Some people adopt intermittent fasting in hopes of obtaining health benefits associated with autophagy, such as increased energy levels and improved brain health .
What Breaks A Fast
Before we delve further into which sweeteners break a fast, you may want to know about the process of fasting and what happens when you break it.
Going for hours without nutrition in the form of food and liquids causes the body to use up its primary energy source, glucose, forcing the cells to use other substrates instead a process called gluconeogenesis. Ketosis or keto is a prime example of this where fat-made ketones in the blood become the primary fuel source when carbs are not sufficient.
In other words, fasting forces cells to adapt to metabolic changes that take place and this is when you can experience many of the potential benefits.
Watch:
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Watch Your Calorie Intake
Depending on the plan that you have chosen for your fasting and the purpose you have for this practice, choose among foods that are rich in healthy fats, fibre, and protein. Meals composed of things like avocado, nuts, fish, lentils, beans and eggs will be right for you. Certain fruits that are low in calories and contain a high volume of water like melon and grapes are good choices. Raw vegetables and air-popped popcorn are also functional in proper usage.
Does Erythritol Break A Fast
Erythritol is a common sugar alcohol. Generally, sugar alcohols present a chemical structure similar to sugar and alcohol, but because they are neither, your body will metabolize it differently.
Erythritol itself provides only 0.24 calories/gram, which is very minimal. However, stevia has 0 calories per gram, which might make it a better choice.
Since erythritol has very low calories, it might not affect the bodys ability to stay in ketosis or burn fat. However, it will stimulate your digestive tract, because about 90% of it is absorbed in your gut.
Various studies have shown that consuming erythritol causes the body to secret two gut peptides for nutrient intake. Thus, if you consume erythritol, your gut will need to work to absorb it, even if it doesnt significantly add to your calorie intake.
Research remains limited on erythirtols impact on longevity. However, because erythritol is a protein-free substance and provides the body little in the way of energy, it is generally safe to assume that it doesnt affect autophagy.
In summary, erythritol will not break a fast for metabolic health or for longevity, but it will break a fast if youre fasting for gut rest. Overall, the gut rest aspect of fasting is a great benefit, so its best to play it safe with stevia.
Also Check: Can You Drink While Intermittent Fasting
Artificial Sweeteners And Fasting
FIRST, lets look at regular sweeteners vs artificial ones:
Why are regular sweeteners ruled out?
Artificial sweeteners
Now, which artificial sweeteners can you have while fasting?
fasting safe.
Here are some artificial sweeteners that won’t break your fast:
Stevia
Monk Fruit
Erythritol
Splenda
Caffeine And Sleep Disturbance
Intermittent fasting improves the quality of your sleep, yet too much coffee can interfere with this. Doctors suggest limiting your coffee consumption to 4 cups per day. If youre sensitive to caffeine, avoid drinking coffee in the afternoon and evening. The general rule of thumb is to keep a space of six hours between your last dose of caffeine and the time you go to sleep for the night.
Sleep is crucial, and if you get too little sleep youll feel miserable, and it will reduce the impact of your intermittent fasting regimen, which could cause you to gain weight.
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Which Sweeteners Can You Consume While Fasting
As intermittent fasting continues to grow more in popularity, many people are left wondering “will this break my fast?”. Everyone agrees that a water-only fast is the absolute best way to capitalize on the benefits of fasting, but it’s pretty hard to stick with. The second best type of fast is one you can stick with.
Low-calorie sweeteners are a pretty important part of a healthy lifestyle. They allow us to enjoy many of the indulgent things in life without sugar messing up our business. Not all sweeteners are created equally, so before using them during a fast, it’s best to know how they impact your body.
There is some controversy on the topic because it hasn’t been closely studied. What we do know is that some sweeteners spike insulin and may disrupt the benefits of fasting such as gut health, fat loss, and autophagy. To make matters even more confusing, individual responses to certain sweeteners can vary.
Whether or not you decide to include sweeteners into your daily life or fasting regimen is up to you. However, if you want to capitalize on the benefits of fasting it’s best to know which sweeteners may break your fast and which ones are fast-friendly.
Ways Artificial Sweeteners Can Break A Fast
ONE: There is a metabolic response by increasing either blood sugar or insulin .
Sweeteners that cause a release of insulin, or result in increase blood sugar, will break a fast for metabolic health.
Though many artificial sweeteners are designed specifically to be much sweeter than sugar and not affect blood sugar levels, this isnt always the case. There is some evidence to suggest that the sweet taste of sweeteners might be enough to trigger an insulin response in people. This is the case for some people with Sucralose and other artificial sweeteners such as saccharin and aspartame.
TWO: It stimulates the digestive system.
A sweetener that stimulates the gut and digestive system will break a fast for gut health. Nearly all sweeteners, with the exception of stevia will break a fast for gut health.
Artificial sweeteners contain negligible amount of calories, consuming them during a fast can elicit a digestive response. If the goal of your fast is total gut rest, I still recommend avoiding all sweeteners until after the fast.
THREE: Triggers a pathway that turns off autophagy.
Fasting for longevity looks to optimize autophagy, a cellular cleaning process. A sweetener that turns off autophagy will break a fast for longevity.
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Does Saccharin Break A Fast
Saccharin is a calorie-free sweetener. It is also one of the oldest artificial sweeteners. It wont break a fast as it contains no calories. It has been a sugar substitute for many foods and beverages for over 100 years. Saccharin is said to help people with diabetes and those who want to lose weight and avoid dental problems.
This sugar substitute is classified as a non-nutritive sweetener or artificial sweetener. It looks like sugar, and white crystalline powder, with a more delicate texture than table sugar. Saccharin is up to 400 times sweeter than regular sugar thus, you only need a small amount to sweeten food.
Keiths Glucose Results: Stevia
My glucose started at 94 mg/dL, it went up a little bit to 99 mg/dL at 30 minutes, it went down a little bit to 89 mg/dL at 60 minutes, and then at the 120 mark I was at 93 mg/dL.
Almost the same glucose as I started with.
Again, I did not seem to have a big glucose change with this, but it did drop me out of ketosis.
Overall, the results of our stevia test were not major numbers. They were kind of major for me, but not major in the long run.
However, if we compare that to my findings with just black coffee, the black coffee did not do anything to my ketones.
So, that is kind of a thing, but it is especially interesting when you look at black coffees effect on my glucose.
My blood glucose dropped 29 points with only black coffee and nothing else over a two-hour period.
So again, if you just look at this data, it does not seem to have done too much, right?
Becky:
However, when we compare our results from black coffee with stevia to our results from black coffee by itself, I had a better ketone response with black coffee alone.
You had a better glucose response from coffee alone.
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Does Xylitol Break A Fast
Xylitol is a natural sugar substitute that can replace sugars but has fewer calories and will not affect your calorie intake. This sugar substitute will not break a fast. Some people eat Xylitol gum while fasting to ward off thirst and hunger.
This natural sugar is like Erythritol. Sugar alcohols have the traits of sugar and alcohol molecules. The structure of sugar alcohols allows them to stimulate the sweet receptors on your tongue.
Youll find Xylitol in many fruits and vegetables but in minute amounts only. And aside from chewing gum, Xylitol is also found in candies, oral-care products, diabetes-friendly foods, and mints. Xylitol is safe, but some people may experience side effects like bloating, diarrhea, gas, and abdominal discomfort.
Does Monk Fruit Break A Fast
According to experts, monk fruit is a natural sweetener and will not affect fasting because it contains zero calories. Monk fruit is sweet not because of its sugar content but from its antioxidants called mogrosides.
Monk fruit positively affects animals and humans and is specifically effective in keeping the digestive tract healthy. This natural sweetener is recommended for people trying to lose weight as using it to sweeten food and beverages will not add to your calorie intake.
Monk fruit is available in many forms, but the most common one is in dried form. This dry form is how the monk fruit sweetener started the fruit is dried and then turned into powdered natural sweetener. The problem with monk fruit is that it is scarce and, thus, expensive.
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Intermittent Fasting And Herbal Tea With Stevia
Apart from taking water and coffee while on intermittent fasting, another liquid you may drink is a herbal tea. You may combine it with stevia if you want to meet your craving for sweetness. Interestingly, herbal teas have lots of health benefits to enjoy while you are fasting. For instance, based on a study carried out in 2016, it was found out that drinking an herbal tea like chamomile could offer protective effects against mortality . Research carried out on elderly adult women of Mexican descent revealed that those who drank chamomile tea had their risk of death reduced by 29%.
Ginger tea, another well-known herbal tea, has benefits in relieving stomach issues. Based on the chemical, medicinal, and pharmacological properties of ginger, it helps treat different sorts of ailments, including migraines, nausea, colds, hypertension, and arthritis . Pregnant women with early pregnancy symptoms and those suffering from seasickness have enjoyed the natural benefits of ginger. For those experiencing bloating due to excess gas from eating the wrong thing or overeating, ginger can break up gasses in the digestive tract and bring comfort.
Is It Safe To Consume During A Fast
Monk fruit doesnt break your fast if you dont experience an insulin response to it. Therefore, it is safe to consume for all those without an insulin response. Research shows that monk fruit and other sweeteners like stevia can lead to an insulin response in some people, although theres no such response for most of us.
Since it varies from one person to another, test it out to learn how your body responds to it before determining it is safe for you to consume.
Generally, monk fruit is a safe sweetener without side effects, unlike artificial sweeteners. However, since it has no calories, it doesnt break your fast if youre fasting to lose weight.
The effects during a fast vary depending on why you have a sugar craving. For example, if your blood sugar is dropping, it might be best to have some sugar, as monk fruit has minimal to no effect on your blood sugar level.
As a rule, make sure to read the label before buying monk fruit sweeteners – some options may contain other sweeteners that could affect your blood sugar. At Hydrant, were committed to keeping our products free of artificial sweeteners, stevia, and synthetic colors. So when we launched our No Added Sugar line, we turned to monk fruit to help craft the right flavor profile and light sweetness for our Lemonade and Watermelonade flavors. Our No Added Sugar line still has the same taste and hydration benefits as our other products, but can support those who follow a reduced or no-sugar lifestyle and diet.
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How Much Stevia Can I Use
The acceptable daily serving of stevia is 4mg of stevia per kilogram of body weight. This means that if you weigh 150 pounds, you could very easily eat 10 packets of stevia a day without any adverse effects.
Of course, you probably dont want to do that, if only because stevia has such an intensely sweet taste!
What Sources Of Fat Are Good And Bad For Diabetes
Fat is not the enemy! In truth, getting enough of the right kind of fat can ultimately help you lower insulin resistance and attain better control over your blood sugar, according to a meta-analysis published July 2016 in PLoS Medicine. The key is knowing how to tell good fat from bad fat.
The monounsaturated fats found in avocados, almonds, and pecans or the polyunsaturated fats found in walnuts and sunflower oil, which can help lower LDL cholesterol, are great picks when eating for type 2 diabetes, according to the ADA.
Meanwhile, saturated fats and trans fats can harm your heart and overall health, according to the AHA. To spot trans fats, look for the term hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated oils on labels of processed foods, such as packaged snacks, baked goods, and crackers. I always tell my clients to double-check the ingredient list to make sure they dont see any partially hydrogenated oil in their food products, Massey says.
Best options, per the ADA:
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Certain Stevia Products May Be More Fasting
Stevia is commercially available in a variety of forms, many of which have fillers and added ingredients that may be inappropriate to consume during your fast.
For instance, some stevia products contain small amounts of dextrose or maltodextrin, both of which are carbs and contain calories.
To avoid accidentally breaking your fast with these added ingredients, many people prefer sticking to stevia products made exclusively with pure stevia extract.
If youre unsure whether your favorite stevia product only contains pure stevia, you can simply check the ingredient list on the package to verify.
Summary
Some stevia-based products include carb-containing additives. To err on the side of caution, you may want to opt for stevia products that only contain pure stevia extract while youre fasting.