What Sweeteners Are Allowed on the HCG Diet?
There are just two kinds of sweeteners that are allowed on Phase 2 of the HCG Diet. They are:
- Saccharin
- 100% Pure Stevia
Saccharin is most commonly known by the brand name Sweet ‘n’ Low, but many other brands exist of pure saccharin. You just have to read the ingredients and make sure nothing else is listed. This option is great because you can find it just about anywhere including restaurants and coffee shops when you get coffee or tea.
Generally, people believe that saccharin isn’t very good for you and may cause serious health problems if consumed often and in large quantities. We feel that the health risk is minimal since the HCG Diet is such a short amount of time. Plus, once you get to HCG Maintenance you can switch to using any other zero calorie sweeteners you like.
As for Stevia. nowadays you can find it in most grocery stores. However, brands like Stevia in the Raw and Truvia actually contain other additional sweeteners like erythritol and dextrose—big no-no’s on the HCG Diet. So, you must be sure to get only Stevia without sugar alcohols. We choose to sell Sweetleaf Stevia because we like the way it tastes and all the different flavors it comes in, but there are other brands out there that are also pure and safe to use on the HCG Diet. Just be sure to read the ingredient list. If there’s anything in it aside from Stevia (also called Stevia rebaudian, rebiana, rebaudioside A, or reb A), avoid it until HCG Maintenance.
Most sweeteners are not allowed on the HCG Diet. Here is a list of sweeteners you CANNOT have if you wish to have maximum weight loss.
- Splenda
- Equal
- Purvia
- Truvia
- Z-Sweet
- Stevia in the Raw
- Some other off-brands of stevia or ANYTHING with ingredients ending in -ose, -tol, -dextrin or contain any sugar alcohols.
