Stevia: A Few Not-So-Sweet Facts
by
Alan Steinfeld | Oct 10, 2016
I never liked it much myself. The taste while sweet, is a bit metalic -almost artifcial in flavor. I prefer no sweeter at all. What's wrong with a little sour or bitter... It is just a matter of pa
I never liked it much myself. The taste while sweet, is a bit metalic -almost artifcial in flavor. I prefer no sweeter at all. What's wrong with a little sour or bitter... It is just a matter of palette conditioning - go for it.
- Alan Steinfeld, founder of NR
Here is what Lauren Saccone of Pazoo has to say:
Odds are that at some point, you've used Stevia. Maybe you've mindlessly dumped the sugar substitute into your morning coffee before stumbling off to work; perhaps you've used it as an ingredient in your cooking when you ran out of your usual sugar. Most of us use Stevia and other sugar substitutes without a second thought, but maybe you should know a thing or two about this product you're pouring into your body. The Huffington Post provides some fascinating information on this sweet substitute.
It's A Plant: You read that right; Stevia comes from nature. The substitute is harvested from Stevia plants, which have been used for hundreds of years in Brazil and Paraguay to sweeten food and cure ailments. That sweet flavor comes from naturally occurring glycosides, making Stevia one of the more natural options for those looking to skip the sugar and keep the sweetness.
It's Not All-Natural: Now before you start celebrating Stevia as a gift from nature, let's have a reality check. The main ingredient in Stevia is all-natural, but the preservatives and flavorings used to keep it fresh usually aren't. Check the ingredients in your Stevia substitute and make sure there's nothing nasty lurking in your sweetener.
It's Super Sweet: When it comes to sweetness, Stevia leaves basic sugar in the dust. The sugar sweetener can taste up to 200 times sweeter than the same serving size of sugar. So serve up that Stevia sparingly.
It's Calorie-Free: One of the biggest attractors to Stevia is its no-calorie claim. And while that's absolutely true, it doesn't mean that switching it with sugar will cause you to lose weight. How can that be? For the same reason that those on a diet might want to rethink calorie-free soda. Your body expects a burst of calories from sugary-tasting treats; when those promised calories don't arrive, you're often left with a serious craving that you end up indulging in other ways. So give Stevia a shot, but don't expect it to be the solution to your weight-loss wishes.
Lauren Saccone/Pazoo