Why I'm Sweet on Stevia
All things sugar or artificial sweetener are verboten to me on my wacky diet, except for stevia. (And thank God for stevia!) I'll take savory over sweet any day, but occasionally I still like to enjoy something sweet--usually at breakfast or after dinner. Per my dietary restrictions, I can only use pure stevia, though. Products like Truvia and Stevia-in-the-Raw are mixed with erythritol, dextrose, and maltodextrin, so I can't use those either (curses!). Thanks to the internet and the proliferation of Whole Foods-esque grocery stores near my house, I did find the perfect solution for me: KAL Pure Stevia Liquid Extract.
Since stevia is about 400 times sweeter than sugar, I just need a few drops in my Redwood Hill Farms goat's milk plain yogurt or in my buckwheat porridge to convert them into a sweet treats. Some other benefits of stevia:
- All-natural. It comes from a plant.
- No calories
- Low-glycemic. Does not impact blood sugar.
- No carbohydrates
Initially, there were some issues with trying to get the FDA to approve stevia as a sweetener, but it was approved in December 2008, probably largely thanks to the Coca-Cola and Cargill companies, who took a keen interest in the product. According to this article (and others), the issues with the FDA seem to have been politically motivated--not due to concerns over potential health risks. Spoiler alert: the name Nutrasweet owned by...wait for it...Monsanto is bandied about. The author of the article even wrote a whole book on the topic.
*Stevia products on Amazon.com
Have you tried stevia? If so, how do you like it?
--StellaCadente*
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Jim Nutt on February 21, 2011 at 06:18 PM
My wife introduced me to stevia when we got married, we use the Sweetleaf powder (the pure stuff, not the Stevia plus) for sweetening ice tea. Works wonderfully, I've been looking for stevia sweetened sodas in my area without much luck.
Kate McDermott on February 21, 2011 at 10:23 PM
I've been using the pure stuff, either powder or drops, for years in my tea.