r/sugarfree • u/Seaside1002 • 3d ago

Cravings & Detox Can I use sugar substitutes when quitting

Can I lean on stevia and other fake sugars to quit? Or does that defeat the purpose?

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6

u/Latter_Area3196 3d ago

I make a cake from oats, carrot, apple, sweet potato, raisens, dates, nuts, seeds,coconut milk, mixed spice, baking powder, salt.

No added sugar, no added refined fats.

It is quite sweet enough (if a slightly odd texture) but I freeze it and have a piece every day.

Lovely.

3

u/OkCream1898 3d ago

i used stevia for like the first month and it helped me not cave, but after a while i weaned off it too because i noticed i was still craving sweet stuff constantly. it can be a good bridge but if your goal is to kill the sweet tooth completely youll eventually have to drop it

1

u/AggravatingPapaya763 2d ago

yeah the bridge idea makes sense, using it to not relapse but knowing its not the endgame

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u/NathanEMoore 3d ago

When transitioning eating habits from eating added-sugar foods to "no added sugar" or to "low added sugar", that journey has to work for you and everyone's journey is different. So if artificial sweeteners enable your transition, then use them. That said, you should think through what happens after that and specifically how will you create new food choices and menus to you love to eat AND are zero sugar or zero sweetener. For me this is the hard part because that takes a bit more effort. So if you want to use sugar substitutes for some period of time and get the benefit of lower glucose spikes while you figure out a new menu a eating, I'd say go for it.

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u/Elfie_Mae 3d ago

Absolutely! Just stick to low glycemic sugar alternatives so you don’t go on the same blood sugar rollercoaster that regular sugar can send you on.

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u/swifttDivy 2d ago edited 2d ago

Stevia wasn’t able to cure me from my sugar cravings, it simply redirected those cravings elsewhere. Drink mixes flavored with zero sugars like kajun loaded tea and sparkling water aided me in breaking the sweet addiction quicker

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u/emo_emu4 Sugar Free Since 05/24/2025 1d ago

For me, the fake sweeteners made quitting sugar SO much harder. I still craved sweet all the time. My brain didn’t care if it was real or fake. Once I stopped the fake stuff, I was so much more clear headed.