Strong sugar-free mints, with an unabashed pedigree
September 21, 2010 11:39 PM Subscribe
Are there any super-strong, all natural sugar free mints out there?
I've been having 5-7 strong mints a day to help keep my diet on the straight and narrow. I find they take away my appetite for long enough to get by when food temptations are too close. (They trick my brain into thinking that I just brushed my teeth, and I can't possibly eat right after I brushed my teeth.) I started this scheme with (original) Altoids, but recently switched to the sugar-free Altoid Smalls to protect my teeth from all the sugar.
I don't much like the ingredients though. Original Altoids contain Sugar, Gum Arabic, Natural Flavor (Oil of Peppermint), and Gelatin, whereas the sugar free ones are Sorbitol, Corn starch, Wheat Maltodextrin, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Magnesium Stearate, Sucralose. Basically one reads like a food (well, a candy) while the other like a chemical stew.
Are there any all natural, sugar-free mints out there that have the same strength as Altoids?
I've been having 5-7 strong mints a day to help keep my diet on the straight and narrow. I find they take away my appetite for long enough to get by when food temptations are too close. (They trick my brain into thinking that I just brushed my teeth, and I can't possibly eat right after I brushed my teeth.) I started this scheme with (original) Altoids, but recently switched to the sugar-free Altoid Smalls to protect my teeth from all the sugar.
I don't much like the ingredients though. Original Altoids contain Sugar, Gum Arabic, Natural Flavor (Oil of Peppermint), and Gelatin, whereas the sugar free ones are Sorbitol, Corn starch, Wheat Maltodextrin, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Magnesium Stearate, Sucralose. Basically one reads like a food (well, a candy) while the other like a chemical stew.
Are there any all natural, sugar-free mints out there that have the same strength as Altoids?
If you want the just-brushed-teeth taste more than you want something to suck on, I suggest plain old peppermint oil. Just one little drop on your tongue will get you all the punch with no sugar (or anything else, for that matter).
posted by phunniemee at 12:17 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by phunniemee at 12:17 AM on September 22, 2010
You could make your own. (I can't be 100% sure from the website that this mix doesn't contain small amounts of other ingredients besides the two sweeteners they mention, though.)
posted by lollusc at 12:22 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by lollusc at 12:22 AM on September 22, 2010
Landau All-Natural Sugar-Free Peppermint Candy (ingredients: sorbitol, peppermint oil, gum arabic).
posted by amyms at 12:38 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by amyms at 12:38 AM on September 22, 2010
I came in to suggest a non-mint "mint" -- not 100% sure it's simple enough, but it is a nice confection and not all chemicals. Cachou Lajaunie.
posted by kmennie at 6:18 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by kmennie at 6:18 AM on September 22, 2010
If it's sugar-free it's probably going to have sugar alcohols (sorbitol or similar) and emulsifiers, hence the sort of list you mention. Drops of peppermint oil or elixir on the tongue might well be the best way to go.
That said, my dentist recommends the Spry line of mints and gums to keep the environment in your mouth healthy. They do have a long list of ingredients, but the sweetner, xylitol, is apparently very good for your teeth. And the peppermint and cinnamon flavors are pretty strong. You can get them at places like Whole foods, vitamin shops and online.
posted by BibiRose at 7:07 AM on September 22, 2010
That said, my dentist recommends the Spry line of mints and gums to keep the environment in your mouth healthy. They do have a long list of ingredients, but the sweetner, xylitol, is apparently very good for your teeth. And the peppermint and cinnamon flavors are pretty strong. You can get them at places like Whole foods, vitamin shops and online.
posted by BibiRose at 7:07 AM on September 22, 2010
If you don't find what you're looking for and want to go the straight pepperint-oil route, try making minty toothpicks - basically just dunking toothpicks in the peppermint oil.
posted by aimedwander at 7:42 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by aimedwander at 7:42 AM on September 22, 2010 [1 favorite]
Keep eating the sugar-free Altoids, because they are made from natural ingredients. The "chemical stew" you listed is ultimately extracted and refined from plant matter (wheat and corn) or naturally occurring minerals. You are constructing a false dichotomy if you think that products like corn starch, sugar alcohol or maltodextrin (which is produced by the partial hydrolysis of wheat starch) are somehow quintessentially artificial while peppermint oil, gum arabic, sugar or gelatin (which is produced by the partial hydrolysis of collagen from boiled cattle and pig tissue) are not.
posted by dontjumplarry at 8:14 AM on September 22, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by dontjumplarry at 8:14 AM on September 22, 2010 [5 favorites]
Be careful of sorbitol - eat too much of it, and you'll spend the afternoon on the toilet wishing you hadn't.
posted by Slap*Happy at 10:39 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by Slap*Happy at 10:39 AM on September 22, 2010
Somehow missed "sugar free"; have now resolved to not comment prior to morning coffee. I prefer sugar free myself as the sugared ones leave one with bad breath at the end; if this is also your reason for wanting sugar free -- cachou does not have that problem. But anyway, sorry about that!
posted by kmennie at 12:09 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by kmennie at 12:09 PM on September 22, 2010
While not quite "mints" in the traditional sense, you may find Fisherman's Friends fit the bill.
posted by frmrpreztaft at 1:18 PM on September 22, 2010
posted by frmrpreztaft at 1:18 PM on September 22, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:08 AM on September 22, 2010