Stevia

[Guest guest]

If, like me, you want to cut down on the sugar in your diet, but you are leery

of artificial sweeteners, you may be interested in stevia.

 

Stevia is the sweetest natural substance known to man. It is much sweeter than

sugar. It comes from the leaf of a South American tree, " stevia rebaudiana " .

Stevia is not a sugar and does not raise blood sugar. The FDA has not approved

it as a sweetener in the US, but elsewhere it has been used as a sweetener for

hundreds of years! It is very popular in Europe and in Japan.

 

I used stevia years ago but I've been using sugar since then. Tonight I bought

some stevia again because I really want to cut the sugar and I no longer want to

use artificial sweeteners. I just made a pitcher of iced tea and sweetened it

with stevia- it took about a teaspoon for the entire two quarts!

 

If you are baking something like a quick bread, that needs sugar to activate,

you can use less than the normal amount of sugar and make up the difference with

stevia. It is much sweeter than sugar, though, so be cautious.

 

I also recommend that you try to find refined, or " white " stevia, because the

simply crumbled leaf can have a bitter aftertaste.

 

Anyway, this is my endorsement of stevia. It is very sweet and studies in

Europe and Japan have found no adverse effects. I'll be honest with you- it's

not sweet the same way sugar is sweet. Sugar has a particular, unique taste, in

addition to its sweetness, and stevia is more purely sweet, like an artificial

sweetener.

 

Enjoy!

 

- priscilla