# Sweet freedom



## Rosiecarmel (Feb 6, 2016)

There was a thread about this when I was newly diagnosed but I have no idea where it would be so thought I'd start a new one. Does anyone use sweet freedom? I must admit, I quite like the taste of artificial sweeteners and happily use them in my tea/coffee. I used to have an ex partner that worked in a high street coffee shop and would bring back carrier bags full of sweetener sachets. This was probably two years before my diagnosis anyway. So it's just a habit to me. Recently I've seen a few people on my precious placement using sweet freedom as a sugar substitute when they started Slimming World. It does say suitable for diabetics but it's made from fruit so it does have fructose. What's everyones opinions on it? What does it taste of? I've looked and it is rather expensive so im not sure if it's worth it?


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## Carolg (Feb 6, 2016)

Sorry no idea.i don'tend to use sugar or sweerners


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## Annette (Feb 6, 2016)

I've only tried a few times but my feelings were that although it had a slightly less chemically taste than the other sweeteners, it wasnt a nice taste (I dont like fructose). It has pretty much as much carbs as sugar (just as fructose not sucrose) and hence affected my bgs as much as sugar. Its another 'YDMV' situation - if fructose doesnt affect you its fine, if it does, avoid.


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## JamesAM (Feb 7, 2016)

Hi Rosie - never heard of this sweetener, but to explain, fructose is glucose, and glucose is fructose. They have exactly the same number, and type, of molecules, it is just that they are arranged differently. Fructose naturally tastes sweeter to humans, hence its use as a sweetener. The plot thickens however when you look at how we humans digest fructose.

Fructose is not a fuel we can readily use. In order to turn it in to fuel, firstly the liver processes it into fat. Whilst it would be wrong to call it a toxin, when you look at the effects it has....you could be forgiven. Amongst other things, high levels of fructose in the diet can cause:

Insulin resistance
Leptin resistance (Leptin makes you feel full, so dulling the effects can cause overeating)
There is now a whole stream of studies coming out of the US, where consumption of High Fructose Corn Syrup is getting out of control, which have shown the above effects and a few others. Some dietitians now believe it is the number one cause of type 2 diabetes in the US, as well as contributing to obesity. They have it in pretty much everything over there, but the effects above are believed to be highest when 50g+ of fructose is consumed per day. Fruit has roughly 50/50 split between glucose and fructose. If you eat a couple of pieces per day, plus this sweetener, you may be pushing on this limit (obviously depending on the amount you need to consume).

Better to stick to other sweeteners if you have to. They are generally much sweeter (up to 200x sweeter than cane sugar) therefore you need far less and ultimately lower the risk of any side effects.


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## HOBIE (Feb 7, 2016)

Have used Swetex for years. I have not got a sweet tooth


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## Vicsetter (Feb 7, 2016)

If you use the 'search forum' with 'sweet freedom' you will find a load of postings for it.
I can't say I understand their website - it says it contains 16g fructose, and is low GI, but if you look at the nutritional analysis it says 66g sugar per 100g!
As James has sort of said, fructose (or natural sugar, ha ha) is converted by the liver to glucose so doesn't raise blood glucose quite as fast as glucose.  However glucose is not fructose.  Ordinary table sugar is glucose and fructose together.

You would do better to make a real attempt to omit sugar from your tea/coffee, it isn't that hard and once achieved you will dislike tea/coffee with sweetener.


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## robert@fm (Feb 7, 2016)

JamesAM said:


> fructose is glucose, and glucose is fructose


Not really; fructose (aka levulose) is the left-handed form of the basic sugar, glucose (aka dextrose) is the right-handed form. Fructose is slightly more sweet than sucrose (which consists of fructose and sucrose joined together), glucose slightly less sweet. It is well known that asymmetric molecules affect people differently according to which "hand" they are (e.g. the smells of cinnamon and of spearmint are the two forms of the same molecule), which is why some people can tolerate fructose better than glucose.


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## robert@fm (Feb 7, 2016)

Rosiecarmel said:


> There was a thread about this when I was newly diagnosed but I have no idea where it would be


The forum search is your friend. 

As I posted in that thread, Sweet Freedom is promoted with the usual unscientifc (bordering on pseudoscientific) claims, "100% natural" (like uranium or deadly nightshade) and "produced using a water process without chemicals" (a flat contradiction in terms).


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## Rosiecarmel (Feb 7, 2016)

Sorry - I didn't know how to use the forum search!! I have figured it out now


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