South Beach Diet, Day 5: Zero Calorie Sweeteners

So I'm feeling pretty good, but this morning I was craving sugary tea for some reason. I don't normally have sweetener in my tea, but this morning I decided to try some zero calorie sweetener that is permitted on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet: Stevia. I put some powdered Stevia in my tea, stirred, and tasted--ick. Not the taste I was looking for.

So I went to the store and bought xylitol and erythritol. The former I am familiar with. We've been chewing xylitol gum for years and I believe it has helped my cavity prone daughter avoid getting any more cavities. The erythritol is a tooth decay preventing sugar alcohol like xylitol, and the kind I bought looks like granulated sugar. I added some of the erythritol to one of the South Beach Diet's more interesting dessert recipes: Espresso Custard Cups. Not bad. I will try it in my tea next time I'm craving sweet tea.

Meanwhile, my friend Mel (who lost 40 lbs on the Atkins Diet) turned me on to sugar free chocolate. So I bought some of that, too. The kind I got was Vosges Sugar-Free Red Fire Chocolate, which contains maltitol. Not bad, not bad.

In the old days of my youth, all artificial sweeteners were demon spawn. Saccharin was (and still is) rumored to cause cancer. Now there's aspartame/Nutrasweet which I've heard causes migraines in some people. Then there's sucralose/Splenda, which I also feel wary of.

But the maltitol, xylitol and erythritol...all I've heard bad about them is potential digestive issues---a "laxative effect." I haven't experienced any ill effects myself, and I think as long as I don't overdo it, I should be fine consuming these sweeteners during the sugar-avoidance phase of this diet.