Stevia?

[happyhealthy1]

i found this coupon for stevia and wanted to share: ENJOY:)

www.sweetleaf.com/coupon.pdf

[KaitiUSA]

I will only have stevia, xylitol, or regular sugar..will not have anything artificial

[majicbunnies]

So it's gluten-free? How many calories?

[VydorScope]

So it's gluten-free? How many calories?

Zero, but be careful. If you are alergic to anything in the ragweed family (like I am) you will be alergic to it. Also if you have problems with your blood pressure (esply if you take blood pressure meds) or low blood sugar, you probably can not use stevia safely. In South America it is prescribed to ppl to reduce blood sugar or blood pressure.

[gf4life]

Okay, I have never used stevia before, until yesterday, and I have some questions here.

I got some protein shakes to supplement for breakfast. I need to eat a healthy breakfast, but don't have much time, and since I can't do dairy, it was suggested I try a good egg white protein powder. So I got Jay Robb's egg white protein powder and had my first shake for breakfast yesterday. I got strawberry and chocolate. I mixed the strawberry powder with some frozen strawberries and 1 tbsp. of almond butter. It tasted really good, but within 1/2 hour I felt sick. I was dizzy, had a splitting headache, my body hurt and as the day went on I had NO energy. I finally took a pain pill and went to bed.

I woke up feeling much better this morning and had a chocolate shake, thinking if I felt that bad again, then I was probably reacting to something in the shakes. I mixed the chocolate powder with 1 cup of chocolate almond milk and 1 tsp flaxseed oil. It was good and I felt fine all day. So I thought I would test the strawberry shake by mixing some and trying it after dinner. Again I felt horrible, just like yesterday. I am sitting here with a headache, bodyache, I am dizzy and I have no energy. So I checked the labels and this is the contents:

Chocolate: Pure extracted egg white albumen, natural flavors, bromelain (digestive enzyme from pineapple) and papain (digestive enzyme from papaya).

Strawberry: Pure extracted egg white albumen, natural flavors, stevia, bromelain (digestive enzyme from pineapple) and papain (digestive enzyme from papaya).

Both are labeled gluten free and dairy free, and are from chickens not fed with hormones.

So my question is could this reaction be from the stevia? Could this be an allergic reaction? I am mildly allergic to EVERYTHING on the skin test allergy panel, and severely allergic to dust mites and alfalfa. So since I am mildly allergic to everything, that would include the ragweed family. Is there anyone out there who has had a similar reaction that could have been caused by stevia?

At this point I am going to stop using the strawberry mix, and stick to the chocolate and the plain (just egg whites without the flavoring or enzymes) for my shakes. Honey gives me a migraine, I have bad reactions to all artificial sweeteners, but I can use real sugar (white, brown and raw) and agave with no problems.

[VydorScope]

So my question is could this reaction be from the stevia? Could this be an allergic reaction? I am mildly allergic to EVERYTHING on the skin test allergy panel, and severely allergic to dust mites and alfalfa. So since I am mildly allergic to everything, that would include the ragweed family. Is there anyone out there who has had a similar reaction that could have been caused by stevia?

Yes, if your alergic to anything in the ragweed family, you will be alergic to stevia. Ragweed is a fairly comon allergen and would be on that panel for sure. Thats why I aviod stevia.

[lorka150]

Is there anyone out there who has had a similar reaction that could have been caused by stevia?

i have heard from a handful of people allergic to ragweed they could not tolerate stevia.

if you have no other intolerances to those other products, i wouldn't doubt it.

[clbevilacqua]

I use liquid stevia and it sweetens great, but goes from sweet to bitter in literally a drop. Recently, the barista at Whole Foods had me try xylitol. It was great! Looks like sugar, measures like sugar, bakes like sugar and tastes like sugar-but with 40% of the food energy (calories). I bought some, took it home and replaced the sugar in the sugar bowl and NOBODY KNEW! It is accepted by the Am Diabetic Assoc., 100% natural and it is NOT derived from anything that contains gluten. The best info on it is on wikipedia.com

[tarnalberry]

I use liquid stevia and it sweetens great, but goes from sweet to bitter in literally a drop. Recently, the barista at Whole Foods had me try xylitol. It was great! Looks like sugar, measures like sugar, bakes like sugar and tastes like sugar-but with 40% of the food energy (calories). I bought some, took it home and replaced the sugar in the sugar bowl and NOBODY KNEW! It is accepted by the Am Diabetic Assoc., 100% natural and it is NOT derived from anything that contains gluten. The best info on it is on wikipedia.com

xylitol can cause loose stools and bowel discomfort in some people, particularly at larger doses. but in small doses, it's used in lots of places quite safely.

[VioletBlue]

Okay, I have never used stevia before, until yesterday, and I have some questions here.

I got some protein shakes to supplement for breakfast. I need to eat a healthy breakfast, but don't have much time, and since I can't do dairy, it was suggested I try a good egg white protein powder. So I got Jay Robb's egg white protein powder and had my first shake for breakfast yesterday. I got strawberry and chocolate. I mixed the strawberry powder with some frozen strawberries and 1 tbsp. of almond butter. It tasted really good, but within 1/2 hour I felt sick. I was dizzy, had a splitting headache, my body hurt and as the day went on I had NO energy. I finally took a pain pill and went to bed.

I am just getting over a sever reaction to Stevia. I bought a box of NOW packets at the organic store. The only sugar I use is in my morning coffee. I thought it would be great to replace that with Stevia and it's "benefits". This reaction is beyond brain fog, it's almost psychotropic, along with extreme exhaustion and a bronchitis attack. Stevia is the only thing it could be, the only new introduction into my diet. I wish I had realized it had the potential to cause an allergic reaction. If the package had mentioned, if any of the glowing literature I've read in the last few weeks had mentioned it was part of the ragweed family I'd of steered clear of it.

Violet

[narenner]

I have been using stevia for awhile and have never had a reaction to it, but then again I don't have very many allergies. I have read of a few people having allergic reactions to stevia but they are very few and far between. I hate to suggest this but maybe its the brand? A lot of packaged powdered stevia add fillers into the stevia like maltodextrin or silica to bulk it up. Make sure when you're buying stevia (if you decided to give it another try) that you check the label.

I've been using SweetLeaf as my brand of choice because they offer so many different varieties of stevia. They have it in the green packages with fiber as a filler, but they also carry it in liquid form and as just pure stevia extract. I think the extract is too sweet but it can be great for cooking.

If you're willing to give it a try again I'd check out these videos I found on YouTube about SweetLeaf and stevia to get more info:

[gracecc5249]

On 7/26/2006 at 10:23 PM, Guest BERNESES said:

A naturopath who is well-known in the area recommends Stevia as a sweetener. I bought some to use in my iced tea rather than Equal. I like the taste, it has fiber in it but I'm wondering if there is anything BAD (or really good) I should know about it.

 

I know it's not approved by the FDA but then again, ?????????

I am wheat/gluten intolerant. I use Zing which is dextrose and stevia. It is gluten free and you need less than a quarter teaspoon to make something sweet. The lady who listed the ingredients with maltodextrin and inulin is using a different brand. I do not notice an after taste nor do I get sick from it. Nothing is approved by the FDA. I buy the large jar because I'm never changing. Good luck, let me know how it works.

[gracecc5249]

On 8/29/2006 at 5:17 PM, KaitiUSA said:

I will only have stevia, xylitol, or regular sugar..will not have anything artificial

If you have pets in your home, please get rid of the xylitol.  It is toxic for animals. If you don't have one then use at your own risk. I have animals and said to myself, if it can kill an animal, should I really be using it.

[kareng]

39 minutes ago, gracecc5249 said:

I am wheat/gluten intolerant. I use Zing which is dextrose and stevia. It is gluten free and you need less than a quarter teaspoon to make something sweet. The lady who listed the ingredients with maltodextrin and inulin is using a different brand. I do not notice an after taste nor do I get sick from it. Nothing is approved by the FDA. I buy the large jar because I'm never changing. Good luck, let me know how it works.

These comments on this thread are from 2008 and older.  Ingredients change over 8-10 years, so some of the info these people were going on might not apply today.

[gracecc5249]

2 hours ago, kareng said:

These comments on this thread are from 2008 and older.  Ingredients change over 8-10 years, so some of the info these people were going on might not apply today.

The only one I commented on was a general one and there are still stevias out there with inulin and maltodextrin. Zing Stevia doesn't have either one. That was the only one I was going on so I don't know what your point is.

[kareng]

47 minutes ago, gracecc5249 said:

The only one I commented on was a general one and there are still stevias out there with inulin and maltodextrin. Zing Stevia doesn't have either one. That was the only one I was going on so I don't know what your point is.

Sorry.  I thought my point was clear.  But I will be more specific.,

You chose to "bump" an 8-10 year old thread.  I was just pointing out, for anyone who see this, that the previous info may be out of date.

[gracecc5249]

1 hour ago, kareng said:

Sorry.  I thought my point was clear.  But I will be more specific.,

You chose to "bump" an 8-10 year old thread.  I was just pointing out, for anyone who see this, that the previous info may be out of date.

Well it wasn't out of date and since I just became a wheat sensitive person I thought I would help the person pick a sugar substitute. Maybe you should check facts before making statements that don't affect anything. The previous info wasn't out of date nor was anything I said out of date. Just helpful. Your retort was neither right nor useful since no wrong comment was made. Try reading, I hear its fundamental.