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by kekebo 1404 days ago
Not OP but what did the trick for me was a combination of the following sweeteners, listed from largest to least amount:

- erythritol (~0 calories, ~2/3s as sweet as sugar),

- xylitol (~60% of sugar calories, improves oral biome, inhibits enamel demineralization),

- stevia or sucralose for added sweetness.

After experimenting with different ratios I now rarely crave sugar at all anymore.

Another thing to consider is that the initial dopamine response to sweeteners seems to generally be lower than with sugar, but there are indications that this gap may lessen with continued use over a matter of weeks (at least in mice in a small number of studies). Andrew Huberman from Stanford brought it up in a recent episode about nutrition: https://hubermanlab.com/how-foods-and-nutrients-control-our-...

2 comments

I'd like to add monk fruit to that list. Usually you wanna combine: (monk fruit OR stevia) + (erythritol OR xylitol) to get a very nice flavor. Stevia or monk fruit on their own are "flat" in sweetness but very strong. The xylitol or erythritol gives some fullness, or body.
PSA: xylitol is extremely toxic for dogs.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20473849/

Also it can give some people gastric problems. I don’t have an issue but know people who do.
Gastric problems to me, in other words are, a problem for my intestinal microbiome which my health depends on.