Stevia

[bear6954]

I am looking for a sugar substitute for my children to sweeten drinks and foods. Have you ever used this product? Any side effects? Where do you purchase it?

[julirama723]

I use stevia quite a bit, when I need a hint of sweetness. I purchase the liquid form of it at my health food store, though I believe you can purchase the granulated form in packets at regular grocery stores.

I'm not aware of any side-effects, but I do know that some people do not like the taste of it--it's sweet, with a hint of something else. Many describe it as a bit of a "licorice" taste. I don't mind the taste of it at all, but I do know it mixes better with some foods than it does with others. I wouldn't bake with it, but I use it to sweeten pumpkin or when I'm whipping cream or in drinks. It seems to mix well with fruits, vegetables, and dairy.

[MELINE]

I think you can find it in big health stores. I can't help you with that cause I live in another country. But it is safe for us, I am using it, it is also safe for diabetes and candida. It just has an unusual taste, but once you get used to it you will start liking it more.

There are some sites on the net that claim that stevia is not approved in some countries and that there may be some side effects after long time use. They don't claim that because there are actually side effects. They just say that stevia hasn't been used long enough so that we can be 100% sure that after long time use there are no side effects.

[ang1e0251]

Stevia has been around for awhile. I turned to it when I could no longer tolerate artificial sweeteners.

BEWARE!! Take a warning; I hadn't used it for a long time but found a few packets in the bottom of my sweetener container. I had the worst gluten reaction of the whole year!! I hadn't checked the packet, after all, I used to drink it. It was laced with flour!! Two little packets made me very sick. If you buy it, make sure it isn't mixed with anything else.

As an alternative, I tried agave recently. I liked the flavor and had no adverse reactions. It's made from cactus and is very low glycemic.

Coke and I think Pepsi are both coming out soon with new drinks that are sweetened with stevia. I'm anxious to see the ingredient list.

Hope this helps.

[mommida]

I was going to buy it one day and saw one of the side affects can be the big D!

I didn't buy it, like I need any more D in my life.

[julirama723]

Just to clarify my earlier post, the liquid form (sold in an eyedropper bottle) is gluten-free. I buy KAL brand.

I can't vouch for the stevia packets--I had no idea about the gluten, but did know they contain inulin (chicory root fiber or from some other source), which can cause stomach upset in some people.

[SevenWishes]

I've had stevia here and there over the years in its powdered form. I've not really noticed the "licorice-y" flavor from it personally, but can comment that the powdered form is a little hard to get dissolved into cold drinks or fluids. It can be done, but takes a good amount of stirring. If you take the packets with you to a restaurant, let's say, rather than use sugar or the artificial sweeteners on your table, it can be a little challenging to be able to stir the granules into that full up to the brim ice tea glass. A lot of the powder just sinks to the bottom of your glass and sits there. Stir as you might with your straw, they stubbornly remain there quite often. The granules dissolve quite easily in warm and hot liquids, however.

I was surprised to hear about Coke and Pepsi coming out with stevia sweetened drinks in the US market, as last I read, stevia was not approved for use as a sweetener here for whatever reason. It can be sold as a separate product, and it can be included in foods and drinks, but it must be labeled as a "supplement," not as a regular ingredient. There is a brand of sodas I've found at Sprouts markets that uses stevia as its sweetener, but like I said, the bottles are marked as "supplements." Odd. Will Coke and Pepsi mark their bottles that way, or has their version of stevia sweetener been approved to be used just like sugar or Splenda? Or is stevia now an approved sweetener? I wonder...

[ang1e0251]

What I read about it was that the companies were awaiting final approval to legally use stevia. Then I think in the last few days I saw that Coke was almost ready to launch. I'll have to search for the link. I usually read Wall Street Journal so it might have been there.

After being so sick, I looked at my packet of stevia and it clearly said flour.

[mindwiped]

The FDA has just approved of the stevia sweetener branded Truvia for consumption. It is now available in your grocery store, with the sugar and other artificial sweeteners. I've tried stevia, which has been used in plant form as a sweetener for many hundreds of years, but not the Truvia brand, and I don't know about it's gluten status. I know that the Truvia branded stevia is the only one currently approved (like Splenda was the only sweetener of it's type approved), but as other companies jump the FDA's hoops, we'll certainly see more. I found that even though it was labeled as an equal sweetener to sugar (able to measure out just like table sugar) it was sweeter than sugar, so I cut my amount back by about a third. It does have an aftertaste, but it's the first 0 calorie sweetener my body tolerates, and I'm looking forward to having a soda that has a lower calorie count.

[julirama723]

ang1--I am very glad you posted about the gluten in the packets! I purchased some a while back (thinking that packets would be more convenient than a glass bottle while traveling or camping) and it didn't even occur to me to check the ingredients!

[ang1e0251]

Yeah, me either. What a dork I can be sometimes! Glad you're checking yours.

[mindwiped]

I called Truvia last Friday (1/9/09) and their stevia is Gluten free, so if you use it, no worries.

[RiceGuy]

The brand I use is Stevita. I prefer the pure powder, which has absolutely nothing but the Stevia extract. It is a very fine powder, and I've not had problems getting it to dissolve. The liquid type has a more noticeable aftertaste IMO, but obviously everyone will have their preference. The one I use also comes in packets, but it costs considerably more. Stevita is the only brand I've found which isn't produced in China, and isn't bleached. The price has also been coming down, so now it's actually cheaper than the Sweatleaf brand, which is the most common one I see being sold online. The pure powders are intensely sweet, and it will probably take a bit of trial and error to get used to. I find that liquids get sweetened more easily than solids.

I have never tried the ones which measure tsp per tsp like sugar, so I cannot comment on those, although I wonder if the fillers and such that they use to bulk it up are causing the issues with dissolving.

Stevia is heat stable, thus is safe for cooking and baking. I use it in all sorts of baked goods - works great. For me, about 1/2 tsp is enough to sweeten an entire pie. I'm no sweet tooth, but I cannot imagine using more than 1 tsp in a pie. I tried 1 tsp once, and it was just too much, period. Though I have found some things can take more. When in doubt, I sample the recipe as I go along. Solid things like cookies, cakes and sweetbreads seem to need more - around 1 tsp per cup of flour is approximately what I use in a cake.

As for the FDA and all that, it seems clear that there has been corporate influence. However, the pressure has been building, and companies are getting self-approval (or something like that).

To date, there has never been any reported side effects from Stevia. No digestive issues, nothing. Companies (such as the ones producing artificial sweeteners) who oppose it seem to stop at no end to keep it off the sweetener market. The FDA is expected to finally change its ruling soon, but it seems that Coca-Cola and others are sick and tied of waiting.