No Sweetener

Photo: C. Drying

Experiment: Give Up All Sweeteners for a Month

Ok, so why…

Here’s the (sweet) T. I currently use stevia or monk fruit extracts 3-5 times every day. In the past, I’ve given up alcohol and caffeine for long enough stretches to prove to myself that I can at any point. Sweeteners are the one other extraneous thing I consume daily that I wince at the thought of giving up. This is how I know it’s the right choice for an experiment.
Stevia and monk fruit are both natural extracts that have been used for centuries, originating from South America and Southeast Asia, respectively. However, while generally considered safe for consumption, little research currently exists about the long-term usage and side effects of commercial sweeteners containing these plant-based extracts. So even though I plan to continue using them after this period, I like the idea of reducing my consumption until more research about them emerges.
Like some of my past challenges, especially giving up caffeine and starting keto, this one is daunting. I’m a kinda nervous about it. But I’ve found that when I am scared about doing something, it’s usually worthwhile.
Little challenges like this over time help me strengthen my discipline muscles. When I return to using sweeteners, you know what else I’m expecting to find in my beverages?Gratitude… and relief.

Uh oh…

I’m betting my creamy keto coffee* will be fine, but my regular coffee in the afternoon with no sweetener is gon’ be rough.
My afternoon apple cider vinegar drink will be rough.
My evening keto hot chocolate may be rough.
My potassium citrate supplement—a powder electrolyte supplement I take while doing keto—will be nose-plug-and-chug bad.
No more using monk fruit to make tasty, sugar-free cocktails like my naturally sweetened versions of the Old Fashioned and Margarita.

About that…

*Keto coffee is a rich, high-fat concoction that helps you become a fat-burning machine as part of the ketogenic diet. It’s also an uber decadent morning indulgence with coconut cream (thicker than coconut milk), coconut oil, and ghee (clarified butter). I also add collagen powder, cinnamon, a lil sea salt, and some stevia. Needless to say, it’ll be nice to cut one ingredient out of this list for a while.
While I can enjoy things that already contain a small amount of sugar/sweetener, e.g. White Claw, I won’t go crazy with these.
- I’m trying to build willpower and reduce dependency on sweeteners—particularly in beverages—not trying to be a total asshole to myself.
- We tried Trader Joe’s Kyla hard kombucha this month and dare I say that just may be our new replacement for White Claw! Sorry, girl.

I betcha…

Like coffee and alcohol, I’m 99.9% sure I will want to resume using sweeteners after this month.

My hopeful expectation is that I will adapt and need not dump small truckloads of stevia into my coffee anymore.

Week 1-2: The Struggle is Real…

The coffee tastes flat—even my beloved keto coffee. It’s like what I imagine fries without any salt taste like. Flat and meh.
My joyless plain afternoon coffee almost makes me want to just take caffeine pills instead, a la Jessie Spano. But we all know how that worked out (yikes)…

Almond or coconut milk, natural flavor extracts (e.g. peppermint, orange, rum), pumpkin spice seasoning, and sea salt all help make this a bit more tolerable.
While my daily beverages don’t taste wonderful, the implementation could not be simpler. As I do whenever I’m giving something up for a period, I say to myself, “Self, I am not a person who uses sweetener right now” at the beginning of the month. This simple internalization is all it takes.
- The lesson I keep learning through these experiments and in life in general:

Dread lives only in your head… and only when it’s fed.

Week 3-4: Sweet Surrender…

Drinking beverages like coffee without sweetener feels similar to having a reduced sense of smell, like when you have a cold. The general flavor is there; it’s just a bit less satisfying.
By week 3 though, I started to appreciate the natural flavor of coffee more.
Temperature matters. Similar to how a warm rosé or white wine is a travesty, one should not subject themselves to cold, bitter coffee. It tastes much better to me when adequately warm, especially without the support of sweetener to prop it up.
Adding some cacao powder and orange extract became my favorite alternative. Terry’s Chocolate Orange vibes, anyone?

Where I Failed…

That cute thought about simplifying my beverage prep by cutting out the step of sweetening coffee, keto hot chocolate, etc. did not pan out. I found myself spending at least as much time trying to add other natural ingredients (e.g. peppermint extract, vanilla extract, cinnamon) to make it less offensive to my taste buds.
I stopped making my keto hot chocolate altogether because it was so dismal unsweetened.

Where I Won…

The winning combo I found to make coffee great again—or acceptable, at least—is a splash of almond milk, a few drops of peppermint extract, and a tablespoon of cacao powder. Mix it up, don’t think too much, and enjoy the minty hot chocolate sensations.

What Surprised Me…

I typically have an ACV (apple cider vinegar) drink in the afternoon. In addition to ACV, this health elixir includes lemon or lime juice, flavored sparkling water, and normally some sweetener to balance out the acidity. Surprisingly, this beverage was far easier to drink without my normal stevia than expected. The palatability ranges a bit depending on the sparkling water brand and flavor. The winners have been Trader Joe’s pineapple-flavored sparkling water and La Croix Mango.

Whoomp, there it is…

The first day after this experiment, I put on some Ariana Grande sweetener and celebrated!
Fortunately, I added just 1/3 as much stevia as I used to add, and my taste buds still rejoiced. That was plenty to make it way more satisfying… so I’d say this experiment was successful. (Yes, I’m a grande Ariana fan.)

Thanks for reading! Please leave me a comment with any feedback and/or what you think my next experiment should be:

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