Mariah

Yes, I use Stevia, and like it better than Splenda.
I discovered not long ago that I can use 1/2 the usual amt. of sugar and it doesn't alter the taste that much
My DH is Diabetic and it works well for him.
Mariah

Onebyone

Here is a little known fact: 1 part regular sugar and 1 part artificial sweetener doubles the sweetness. So 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of artificial sweetener equals 4 teaspoons of sweetness. Doing this eliminates the taste of the artificial sweetener and drastically reduces the calories.

I use saccharin. New studies show it is not bad as once thought.

sharin'Sharon

My husband is a Type 2 diabetic so I have been using Splenda Blend (using half amount of sugar in a recipe) for our baked items. I don't have good luck using the regular 1/1 Splenda. While using the Splenda Blend, I find that a drop cookie usually won't flatten, just stays in a ball, so I flatten with a fork or the bottom of a glass before baking. He has a regular 3 month doctor visit and his blood sugar is always good (& he likes his cookies!). I even used it in coconut brittle (peanut brittle with raw coconut). By the time it reaches hard crack stage, it sometimes 'smells' like the mixture is burning, but rather than rely on the candy thermometer, I do what my mom used to do, drop the mixture into a cup of cold water to check for the hard crack stage and it is never burnt.

nlgh

I wish I could use Splenda. I like the taste as well as I do Sweet & Low, but Splenda gives me stomach problems. I used it for 2 years with symptoms increasingly getting worse. Then I decided it must be the Splenda, so started reading the labels more carefully and stopped my intake of it. At the end of 2 years, I was 99% back to my old self. I can now eat one serving of something made it occasionally, but not every day, and I do okay. I am a Type 2 diabetic, so I don't buy candies or sweet pastries made with it. I buy the miniature versions of regular candy that I like and limit my intake to one of those per day, provided my blood sugar readings are not higher than my doctor wants to see them.

moonrise

Splenda causes problems for me, too. Horrible, sickening headaches that OTC medicine won't touch, dizziness, nausea, rapid heartbeat, and feeling like I'm going to pass out. It very nearly sent me to the E/R once. Luckily the effects went away in a few hours, but I was still unsure what caused it. Splenda was a suspect, though. A few weeks later, I accidentally drank part of a glass of Kool Aid that had Splenda in it, and started having the same problems. That's when I figured out what was causing it. You really have to read ALL the labels. They put Splenda (aka sucralose) in everything these days, seems like ... even some medicines!

I stick to Stevia whenever I can, with aspartame as a second choice. Aspartame causes reactions in some people too, but so far it's never bothered me.

Yooper32

Any artificial sweetener is "poison" to my system, as a friend could attest to. She thought it was all in my head and did a jello whipped cream dessert for one of our luncheons. After two bites, I had to leave the table, abruptly and the reaction was bad. When I recovered enough to go back to the table, I asked her if she had used sugarless jello and she shamefacedly admitted it and how sorry she was that she doubted my word. I have on any occasion where I do not want to use sugar, used Stevia which is a blessing, as it is not a chemical concoction, but from a real leaf and no bad reaction, ever. I have used the drops, which were the first thing to come out and then later, the powdered version that is usable as sugar in any recipe. I would seriously warn people not to use chemical substitutes. You have no idea what they are made from, or what they might do to your system. Stevia is also called Truvia. PS, Aspartame also causes a drastic reaction on my innards.

misspriss

I like Stevia, it is a natural. . My Dr. said not to use the other substitutes.

Stitchnripper

Here's what the Mayo clinic has to say about artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-li...-20046936?pg=1

Just because something is natural doesn't mean it is for everybody. For example, Mr. Stitchnripper gets severe migraines from cow dairy. So obviously if something bothers us, we shouldn't ingest it.

Sewnoma

Stevia is pretty cool stuff - I used to grow it in my garden (when I had one) along with several varieties of mint and make my own home-grown mint teas with the stevia leaves blended right in with the mint. I'd make ice water with bruised fresh mint and stevia leaves too and that was really refreshing on a hot day - just a touch of flavor.

You can pick a leaf right off of the plant and nibble on it, the sweetness is immediately evident - no processing needed.