Most of you know I had gastric bypass surgery last year (my one year surgiversary is on November 18th, 2010!). The biggest “side effect” of gastric bypass, next to weight loss and reduced stomach capacity, is an intolerance to sugar. Most post-ops, myself included, can handle only very small amounts of sugar. In terms of numbers, I can tolerate 10-12g of sugar in any single “meal” or item. 12-15 makes me feel kind of icky. 15+ and I full on dump — and by dump I mean my body “dumps” on the sugar overload, which for me causes shakiness, nausea, an increased heart rate, a drop in blood pressure, and an intense feeling of, “Ugh, I feel like crap, I hope I don’t pass out”. It’s awful, but not quite as awful as those who get the “traditional” symptoms/side effects of dumping — all of the above, plus vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and cold sweats.
So what’s a girl to do? “Stay away from sugar!” is the obvious answer, but there are times when I could really go for something sweet. And by something sweet I don’t mean a bus-sized twinkie or a pool-sized amount of a milkshake, which anyone who has never been overweight might automatically assume of us fat chicks (and dudes). Just a cookie, a few bites of cake, a very small milkshake, a small scoop of ice cream, etc. But even sweets in those small amounts will more often than not contain too much sugar. Licking a few spoonfuls worth of brownie mix will induce dumping. And sheesh, let me tell you about the 4 oz. of a Panera Bread smoothie that had me wishing for death… it was BAD.
So when I read about SUSTA, I knew I had to try it. SUSTA is an all-natural sugar substitute that contains the sweetness of the sugar, but not the high glycemic index (that is what triggers dumping). NXT Nutritionals, the company that produces SUSTA, also managed to make it so that it’s lower in calories, which is nice if you’re counting. Also, SUSTA contains pre-biotics, pro-biotics, and 10% of the recommended DV of Vitamin C.
NXT Nutritionals was kind enough to send me a box of SUSTA. Each box contains fifty individual packets. Each packet provides enough sweetener for tea, coffee, cereals, etc. Dan tried it in both hot tea and cold tea, and I used it on hot cereal and cold cereal, and I even made cookies with it. Worth noting:
- SUSTA tastes just like sugar, in my opinion, though it has a slightly softer and more powdery consistency
- SUSTA leaves a bit of a sweet aftertaste
- SUSTA doesn’t seem to dissolve in liquids as easily as regular sugar does
Overall, I really like SUSTA. I used a quarter of a cup of it in place of regular sugar in a small batch of low-fat chocolate chip cookies, and it was nice to indulge on a few small cookies (dipped in milk, no less) without worrying about — or actually — dumping! The aftertaste is only really noticeable if you drink right after consuming SUSTA, and who cares if it doesn’t dissolve as easily in liquids? It does dissolve, and that’s what really counts.
I’m about halfway through the box of SUSTA that NXT Nutritionals sent me, and yes, I will be ordering more once it’s gone!
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Disclosure: NXT Nutritionals provided me with products free of charge in exchange for my honest review of them.
I am glad you found something you really like. It sounds good! My mother has had to cut sugar out of her diet after her colon cancer surgery because she can’t handle it either. I should tell her about this since I don’t think she’s found a sweetner she really likes yet.
I’ve used SUSTA for about a year now. I use half sugar and half SUSTA in all my baking and neither me or my husband have noticed much difference in the taste of our baked goods. No difference in texture or taste (banana bread, pies) as far as we’re concerned. My husband also uses it on his morning oatmeal. He hates all other sugar substitutes but he has been using this one for a year. We wish we could buy it in stores but it’s not on the West coast yet so I’m limited to buying on-line.