splenda

[ladysinger68]

So how many carbs does Splenda really have. Label saying less than one carb per serving does not do me any good if I plan on having more than one serving. How do you count if you are planning on having 3 servings in one day? Also, how can coke with splenda say it has 0 carbs when it taste so sweet?

Lay it on me.

[not2late]

Re: splenda

So how many carbs does Splenda really have. Label saying less than one carb per serving does not do me any good if I plan on having more than one serving. How do you count if you are planning on having 3 servings in one day? Also, how can coke with splenda say it has 0 carbs when it taste so sweet?

Lay it on me.

Splenda has carbs only if it comes in the powdered form. The carbs come from the dextrose or maltdextrin that is added for its bulking property. Splenda is something like 300 times sweeter than sugar so if they didn't bulk the Splenda with these things, a 1 teaspoon amount would be very tiny and very hard to measure.

The Splenda packet contains something like 0.8 or 0.9 net carbs per packet. The pourable or scoopable Splenda (the stuff that comes in the bag in the grocery store) has about 0.8-0.9 net carbs per teaspoon. So count them both as 1 net carb per serving (either 1 packet or 1 teaspoon)

Splenda in the liquid form doesn't have carbs because it's diluted in a water solution. Liquid splenda is used to sweeten beverages like sodas. Technically you don't need to count the carbs but each serving of this beverage or food has to count as one of the 3 sweetener servings we are allowed to have.

For example:

Breakfast: a decaf coffee with 2 packets of Splenda
Lunch: A Splenda sweetened diet soda
Mid-afternoon snack: a decaf green tea with 2 packets of Splenda
Dinner: a Splenda sweetened gelatin dessert

Splenda carbs: 4 (from the 2 packets at breakfast and the snack)
Splenda servings: 6 (each packet of Splenda = 1 serving. Each serving of an artifically sweetened food = 1 serving)

If you don't want to mess with this dual counting, then you can do what I did: count each serving of artificial sweetener as 1 net carb and limit them to 3 servings. This way, you don't have to try to figure out if it was liquid Splenda or not. Furthermore it will help you limit the sweetener usage because 3 servings is 3 of the 20 net carbs you can have daily. Believe me, it kind of makes you carb-stingy when you figure out that you are wasting 3 net carbs on a cup of decaf coffee with 1 packet of Splenda and a tablespoon of heavy cream. So you begin to make other food choices, instead.

Just a note about the US Labelling laws for carbohydrates---they don't really exist. In the US any food with 0.0-0.49999999 grams carb can be labeled as "0" carbs. Play it safe and count these foods as 0.5 carbs because it's better to overestimate your carbs alittle than it is to underestimate them.

Any food with 0.5-0.99999 grams carb can be labeled as "less than 1 carb". Again, be safe and count these foods as 1 carb.

[ladysinger68]

Re: splenda

Once again, "You Rock!"
Do they market the liquid variety? Or is there something comparable that is 0 carbs?

[LCKay]

Re: splenda

You can get liquid splenda at www.pureliquidsweetness.com

[dream]

Re: splenda

Also at www.sweetzfree.com

[LCKay]

Re: splenda

from what I can gather sweetzfree and pure liquid sweetness are very similar if not the same ingredients but you can only get sweetzfree 3 times per month, you can get pure liquid sweetness any time you want. does anyone know why sweetzfree only sells 3 times per month ?