The only sugar substitutes I use are honey and maple syrup. I'd like to try stevia but haven't gotten around to it.

I mostly use substitutes in coffee (replacing sugar in baked goods and other recipes is too much of a PITA). I've tried stevia but it's difficult to find a brand that doesn't leave a weird, chemical-bitter aftertaste. The only sugar sub that works for my coffee is agave nectar, particularly the lighter variety. I feel better using something harvested from living things than concocted in a laboratory.

Of course now agave nectar is controversial. You should google it. I've read that not only is it highly processed, but that it reacts in your body the same way HFCS does. I haven't gone to the ends of the earth in researching it but if you're interested, the info is out there.

I like stevia for when I'm cooking for my diabetic grandfather-- I've used it in liquid and powder form. I agree that some brands do have a bitter aftertaste, especially in things like tea. But for making desserts that don't require bulk or whipped cream it's great. And it doesn't have the harmful side effects that artificial sweeteners have.

I stick with sugar in baking (I don't bake that often and would rather have the real thing when I do) but when it comes to sweetening everyday foods like tea or yogurt, I use honey and agave nectar.

I use Splenda in my coffee (or sugar free syrups sweetened with Splenda; sugar free coconut syrup, you are my friend!) and typically use sugar in baking. I have honey and maple syrup for flavoring things like oatmeal, granola, yogurt, etc.

For the most part I just use real sugar in cooking and baking, but I also rely on maple syrup and honey. On the rare occasion that I'm having coffee, I will add Splenda, and I sometimes buy sugar free products that contain Splenda (like sugar free pudding). I try not to overload on artificial sweeteners, but I don't completely avoid them either.

I am allergic to cane sugar and cane products... molasses, splenda, brown sugar etc.

It is easier to get beet sugar now with the economic/food shift of using sugar cane for biofuel. So I have that source now. However I am so accustomed to agave nectar, maple syrup, and honey that I don't use beet sugar all that much.

I drink probably a diet coke a day, but aside from diet soda, I cannot stand artificial sweeteners. I won't do it in coffee, baked goods, anything and I especially cannot stand splenda. The aftertaste is just disgusting. My girlfriend even tried making me oatmeal and cookies with a 50/50 splenda/sugar combination and I couldn't eat either.

I use honey in bread and granola) and I used to use maple syrup until my girlfriend moved in (she loves the fake stuff. Sigh).

I live by the theory that if I eat the full fat, full sugar stuff, I'll eat less of it and will get the same amount of calories. Hasn't worked so far, but that's mostly due to my mindless eating habits rather than the food.

artificial sweeteners are terrible for you. eventually they interfere with your nervous system.

You forgot a most important Sugar is not only healthier while still being sugar... it's diabetic friendly!!!

Xylitol!

It's made from Berry and Corn Husk Sugar Alcohols and is great for those who otherwise need to avoid the detrimental effects of sugar. Expensive but phenomenal... except that it won't raise yeast!

I use honey, maple sugar, and maple syrup occasionally.

Cane sugar 95% of the time.
Honey and maple sugar 5%

Thank god I am not diabetic. I detest all artificial sweetners.

I should also mention that Xylitol doesn't taste artificial... It has just more intense/deep sugar flavour that I and everyone around me who has tried really liked more than regular sugar.

question is kind of misleading. like slowdown, i use artificial sweetner in coffee & other drinks, but not for cooking/baking. that's usually refined sugar, if for no other reason than it's easier.

I'm a label reader, I stay away from anything artificial, especially artificial sweetener, and i wont buy anything with high fructose corn syrup. i use raw sugar when i can sub out the bright white, and occasionally i will use honey or maple syrup, if it will improve flavor. But that's it. (Stevia by the way is banned in Europe)

I'll drink diet soda or sugar free red bull on occasion, but for some reason the idea of cooking with artificial sweetener totally grosses me out. Though we don't cook with much sugar (usually brown sugar or honey though I keep intending to buy maple syrup) in our house and when we do it's usually about 1/4 of what the recipe calls for. Not for health reasons or anything -- just that both me and my partner hate the taste.

I've been using agave nectar for the past few years instead of other sweeteners and have not had any negative effects that I used to get when I ate/drank foods/drinks with other sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. I just use a lot less of it than what I'd use otherwise because it's 3x sweeter than sugar.

I don't use the low-cal/no-cal substitutes as I have no medical reason to do so. I do use honey and maple syrup a lot for the added flavor. With the exception of my soda addiction I don't have a lot of sugary foods. I'm just not big on foods that are too sweet, I even find some fruits to be too sweet.

CWillows (CSI fan?), you would probably like Finnish gum. :) Xylitol is in almost all of it, and it's quite good in preventing tooth decay. The wiki link has a bunch of articles at the bottom from proven studies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol . And I must say, most of the younger generation of Finns that I met have fantastic, light, and straight teeth, with no orthodontics whatsoever and few cavities.

As for the sweetener, I don't use it but my mother and stepmother do. Splenda is the only one that doesn't give them headaches, and they can get it at Tim Horton's to boot. :)

Xylitol is good for your teeth (I think Tom's of Maine and some other 'natural' companies use it in things like toothpaste and mouthwash). I will add that it's super-toxic for animals, so if you have pets, be careful!

I've read a few scattered reports about agave nectar being bad for you, but I'm not concerned. Most of it seems to be coming from a few individuals who are referring to outdated processing methods. There have been health alarms raised about pretty much every sweetener out there. I've learned that it's not worth it to pay close attention since scientific opinions with regard to food are constantly changing.

For myself, I'd rather have something made with real sugar than an artificial sweetener. For example, I tried the new 10cal vitamin water, and it was terrible! Sweeter than the original, and I love my sweet stuff.

Now, that said, I understand that some people have to use substitutes due to health conditions. Some of my family does so, and they have said it is often hard or impossible to actually cook with the substitutes--baking in particular.

Artificial sweeteners give me migraines, so I avoid them.

As much as I'm usually standing up for less "refined" (in the sense of "snobby" not "processed") tasted, the sweetener question is where I find it impossible to keep my own (clearly superior) taste out of it.

Americans like everything Too. Sweet. If people would train themselves out of needing everything to be sickeningly sugary, they wouldn't need artificial sweeteners because we'd be talking about a difference of tens, not hundreds, of calories. (Diabetics and other health issues excepted, obviously.)

Tea? Yogurt? Coffee? Carbonated beverages? These things do not need to be sweet. So I use real sugar - or honey or maple syrup - whenever I'm using a sweetener; not only do artificial ones taste nasty, they're too sweet. Since the calorie count is relatively tiny, I don't worry about it.

I said yes, but only in my coffee, and not all the time. Sometimes I use real sugar.

I stopped using artificial sweeteners when I became pregnant in 2007. Haven't bothered with them since.

I use real sugar. I used to live in a town admist sugar cane crops and see no problem using the real stuff. In fact I have every type of sugar you can get in my house. Raw sugar, icing, castor, normal (is that a type?), brown, dark brown, demerara...

No artificial sweeteners as long as I can avoid it.
Cane sugar, Agave, brown sugar, honey, molasses, sorghum, I don't have any problems with these things. I like the more unrefined cane sugar if it is avaliable can find it. But the minute something has Saccharin, Sucralose, or Aspartame in it, I have to stop eating the taste bothers me so much. My family and friends are like 'you can taste it?' and I've always said 'you CAN'T?'
Good to know I'm not the only person with an aversion to the chemically aftertaste, I always thought I was being a little bit silly.

I hate the chemical aftertaste of artificial sweetener too. For baking it's the real stuff only and for my coffee I take cream, no sugar!

Like confusednazgul, artificial sweeteners, including aspartame and sucralose give me horrible, horrible migraines.

I don't eat all that much sugar to begin with (and I very seldom drink soda) but if I do, I buy cane sugar sweetened ones. If I don't want the calories but want a 'soda' I drink La Croix flavoured sparkling waters.

Artificial sweeteners give me awful migraines. Not only do I not cook with it, I've taken to asking if it's in baked goods I'm offered from friends and coworkers.

I tried Splenda and about 3-4 weeks later suffered from the worst digestive pains I've ever had - literally buckled on the bed in pain. I thought it was IBS or something worse, went on bland diets for months on end (but I didn't give up splenda, go figure).

I overheard friends talking about it about 8 months later who did not know I was having health problems, saying they heard Splenda can cause similar issues. I was shocked.

I gave up Splenda immediately, and after a few days I was back to normal - it's been about 10 months and I have not had one issue since.

Splenda is b-a-d stuff.