The new sugar-substitute, stevia, has been getting a lot of attention lately as more and more health food products have been adding it to their ingredient list. What is it exactly, and is it safe for me to use?
Well, stevia is actually an herb that’s extracts can be up to 300x sweeter than regular cane sugar. Stevia also does not raise blood sugar. So far, scientific tests that have been done with stevia has not proven that it is unsafe, but I don’t think enough has been done to prove anything yet. Since it is an herb, it has no calories or grams of sugar in it. In the laboratory, steviol can be converted into a mutagenic compound, which may promote cancer by causing mutations in the cells’ genetic material (DNA). “We don’t know if the conversion of stevioside to steviol to a mutagen happens in humans,” says Huxtable. “It’s probably a minor issue, but it clearly needs to be resolved.” This would be with high doses, however, and there is not enough scientific data to confirm this yet.
What I think: I have bought one bottle of liquid stevia to try. So far, I like the taste of it (I tried the french vanilla kind), and it is easy to use. I only need a a couple drops of stevia to make foods sweet for my taste. Also, I have not had ANY reactions to it whatsoever. No headaches, no rashes, no stomach aches…. So this made me really happy. I’ve tried it in my oatmeal and other desserts, and i has been fine. I eat just a couple drops at a time, and use it minimally. Its still an experiment to me, and I would like to see more tests done on it. The bottom line: a few drops a day won’t hurt you.
Anyway, onto a lighter subject: Breakfast! My favorite time of day. Today, I had strawberries and cream oatmeal. Mmm…Summertime gets me in the mood for this kind of stuff:
Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal:
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1 cup almond milk (or other kind of milk of choice)
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon ground flax (optional)
- chopped strawberries
Boil the oats and milk together in a saucepan. Then, add vanilla, ground flax (if using), and strawberries. There we go! Perfect for a summer day.
After this lovely breakfast, I went out to play tennis for a couple hours with my sister. We got a good sweat in! Then, back home for lunch:
Morning-star Black bean burger over a bead of spinach, topped with cherry tomatoes. With a nice glass of a strawberry-mango smoothie. I love these black bean burgers because they are super fast to make, and taste good, too. I get them in bulk at Costco. To heat them up, I simply throw them on a pan and heat over medium-high for about 5 minutes.
The smoothie was super simple, too:
Strawberry-Mango Smoothie:
- Frozen strawberries
- Frozen mango pulp
- orange juice
- milk of choice (i use almond milk)
- optional: protein
Simply blend ’em up! The mango pulp I use is from Goya. I recently found this in the frozen food section at Sweetbay. It was only $1.50 for one packet, and the only ingredient is mango. The packet lasts a while, too. It could probably make about 5 good-sized smoothies.
Whew! This was a long post today! I hope you got something out of my rambling!
Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:
What do you think of stevia? Have you tried it before? Do you like the taste? If you know any more information about it, please tell me because I would really like to learn more!
LOVE STEVIA! a few people i know Hate the taste.. but i LOVE IT! too much.. i think im addicted cuz i go through liquid stevia bottles like crack. love the taste!
Yeah, I’ve been liking it so far. Do you like any flavors in particular? I know they have all sorts of kinds! Do you know anything more about it than I do? Iwould really like to study it more…
I found this article and it was really informative for me. I had been buying the Truvia thinking ok same thing and a coupon. Should have know the subsedizers were at work.
The Real Story of Stevia
By Mary_RD
Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting Jim May, the “Father of Stevia.” To earn his title, Jim spent the past 30 years getting stevia to the American table. Jim told his tale of passion and perseverance, one where the little guy wins. Stevia is an no-calorie herbal sweetener that is 300 times as sweet as sugar. It grows wild in Paraguay where it has been used for hundreds of years.
Once upon a time…
Back in the early 1980s, Jim May learned about stevia from Peace Corp workers who had been in Paraguay. Jim saw stevia as something good for the body and good for South American farmers as well. In 1982, Jim began to import high-grade stevia extract that he produced in Paraguay – until the FDA enforced an all out ban.
The FDA said stevia was an “unsafe food additive.” Their concerns were based on several flimsy studies done in South America. No matter that stevia had been safely used as a sweetener in Japan for 25 years, or that scientists could not replicate the results of those studies.
According to Jim May and Vegetarian Times, the FDA’s behavior was “motivated by a trade complaint,” presumably from a food company that would be hurt by the competition. In the early 1980s, a new artificial sweetener, aspartame, had been introduced by GD Searle, a pharmaceutical firm owned by Monsanto. Aspartame had been proven safe by industry-sponsored tests.
Times Change
In 1994, with the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) stevia could be sold as an “Herb and Botanical Extract” – no longer under the jurisdiction of the FDA. Jim could now sell stevia but he couldn’t call it “sweet” because that would make it a “food additive” back in the hands of the FDA. But word got out that stevia had a sweet taste.
Knowing that FDA regulations allow independent laboratories to submit safety tests to the scientists who award GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status to food ingredients, Jim hired a group of former FDA scientists to do studies on stevia over the next decade. Simultaneously, the agricultural giant, Cargill, and Whole Earth Sweetener, a subsidiary of the company that makes Equal, were performing safety studies on stevia. They submitting data for rebaudioside-A, a chemically purified extract of stevia, to the FDA and Jim submitted his data as well. In 2008, the FDA accepted reb-A as a food additive. Jim May could then sell stevia as a sweetener and the food giants could sell their brands.
Stevia Now
Stevia is available under several names. There is Jim May’s SweetLeaf, Coke and Cargill’s Truvia, Pepsi and Pure Circle’s Pure Via, Sunwin’s Only Sweet, Cumberland Packing Company’s Stevia in the Raw, and others. Jim maintains that his brand is best because he uses purified water and ultra-filtration to extract all of the glycosides (the sweetness agents) from the stevia leaf. He says the big companies use the chemical, erythrinol, to extract only one glycoside, reb-A, from stevia. In discarding the others, stevia’s healthfulness declines.
But don’t feel bad for Jim. According to a report by a food and agribusiness financial institution from the Netherlands, sales of stevia-based sweeteners are expected to reach $700 million within the next five years. Jim’s company, Wisdom Natural Brands™, has tripled the size of its headquarters in response to the company’s growth. And while the big companies grow stevia on farms in China, Jim still cultivates his in South America. His dream for stevia finally came true.
Your thoughts….
Yes, I did see this article! Just the other day in fact. I think it is wonderfully informative story. I had a feeling that some brands of stevia would be chemically-produced, but I didn’t know which ones exactly. According to the article, sweet leaf is the only brand that does not use chemicals, but I would like to do some more research to see if there are others. I would also like to know the difference between the powdered forms, and the liquid forms. Looks like I have some research to do!
Thanks for sending me this article 🙂
Alex
Hi Alex
Thank you for posting about Stevia. I am new to Stevia. It has come to my attention as a safe alternative to Splenda and Aspertame. Since my diet requires the banning of sugar. I have been hopefull that Stevia can be a safe alternative for me. So far so good.
JoeW.
Hi Joe!
I feel that it is a great alternative. I really don’t use it much because I like my recipes to be completely sweetener-free (more challenging!), but it is great for those who need the extra sweet without the carbs 😉
This summer I planted a stevia plant in my little flower bed and recently harvested many leaves, dried them, and crushed them. Have you used fresh stevia yet — if so, any tips, ideas to share?
Hi Mary!
I would love to try and grow a stevia plant of my own, but I have not yet. Where did you get the plant? So, sorry, but I don’t know any tips for them!
Yes! I love stevia! I have been using it for years and have never had a problem with it! I dont get the sugar crash that I do with sugar! Its fabulous!