stevia

[aikiMac]

I've just been introduced to "stevia." It's like sugar, only it's not sugar. I don't really know what it is. Some kind of herb is all I know. It sure fooled me -- I thought it was sugar. Tasted just like sugar.

Stevia is a sugar substitute for cooking. You use it where you'd normally use sugar. Anyone ever cooked with this stuff, or eaten it in something? It's supposed to be healthy, or at least not bad for you, whereas sugar is overall bad for you. Where sugar will make you sick, stevia supposedly will not make you sick. Where diabetics cannot eat sugar, supposedly they can eat stevia.

That's way cool. We might have here a healing junk food. I dunno.

Anyone know where it fits in the macrobiotic yin/yang scale? I mean, this sure tastes like sugar but it's not sugar. Is it bad like sugar according to the macrobiotic principles? I really don't know.

Anyone know anything about stevia? It was introduced to me as a healing food.

[PlumDragon]

Stevia is very difficult to obtain in the US, if at all. A real shame that the FDA in this country is so blatanly overbearing on these types of freedoms.

[blessed_samurai]

Stevia is a plant sugar and it's all we use for sweetners at the Health Food Center (and a majority of what we use around my household).

Plum, you can get stevia at any health food store, natural foods store, and usually (I cringe to say this) at Walmart. I think just about every supermarket in Oklahoma and as far as I know my parents in SanAntonio can pick it up at any supermarket around them.

I'm not sure about its rating in the yin/yang macrocosm but it's a good alternative if you gots teh sugar blues.

[aikiMac]

Stevia is a plant sugar and it's all we use for sweetners at the Health Food Center (and a majority of what we use around my household).
You have a health food center?!

Tell me more about stevia. Why do you use it instead of sugar? What nutritional benefit does stevia have (it was introduced to me as having health benefits).

[blessed_samurai]

Yup, we have quite a few health food stores...Atkins, Natural Foods, Health Food Center, etc

I'm not overly sure of Stevia exactly having health benefits other than you can use it as a sweetner without all the scares of weird cancers (artificial sweetners) and potential fungus problems (sugar). It also doesn't raise insulin levels, so it's safe for diabetics. Tomorrow I'll ask the others if they are aware of potential health benefits. I mainly use the liquid form of it because it only takes two drops and I rarely even use it because I don't have much of what you would call a "sweet tooth."

[aikiMac]

Yup, we have quite a few health food stores...Atkins, Natural Foods, Health Food Center, etc
The way you said it, I thought *you* own or manage a health food center.


I'm not overly sure of Stevia exactly having health benefits other than you can use it as a sweetner without all the scares of weird cancers (artificial sweetners) and potential fungus problems (sugar). It also doesn't raise insulin levels, so it's safe for diabetics.
Aye, that's what I was told. That diabetics part blew my mind.

Wife made some *delicious* tea with stevia in it. I thought for sure it had 5 cups of sugar, but she said nope, just a little stevia. Amazing. It was really, REALLY good tea. Gotta learn more about this herb.

[scorpiousmac]

Hmmm,is it better for you than real sugar and if so how come I've never heard of it(used to be a chef)?

[blessed_samurai]

Nope, don't own or manage...well, I'm in charge of the sports nutrition area if that counts, so I'm kinda like a sub-manager or area manager...I have my own office if that counts for anything :p

[Brad Ellin]

I use it. I've cut sugar out of my diet, for a variety of reasons, and use Stevia whenever I want something sweet. It's available almost anywhere nowadays. Check the healthfood section of any grocery store, WalMart, Target, I think even GNC carries it.

[WotEvaYuKanDo]

As I understand it the reason it is not stocked much is that you can't market it as a sweetener for legal reasons (to be cynical there's no patent on it and there are some influential industrial lobbies interested in keeping the public ignorant)

So, here in London I've so far only ever come across one kind - NOW foods powdered extract. I was thinking of getting this but wondered is this one good for sweetening tea and the like? I've seen reference to other versions such as liquid drops, standardised leaves, and also that some have a distinctive acquired taste.

[WotEvaYuKanDo]

And, can you cook puddings with this stuff?

[mach5_kel]

Stevia I know has had some FDA problems in an ultra refined form. I am not sure the details though.

Stevia is great to cook with and is many times more sweet than sugar. Stevia is used in lots of countrys in soda pop, etc instead of aspertame. *death on aspertame if you ask me* Ie. Japan uses it in their diet pops.

Ive seen stevia in both a less refined green version and also in a white more tasteless version as well. What always struck me funny about it was that it is so fine, sometimes i would breath it up by accident. Talk about getting hooked on sugar :D

[Ringwraith]

Here's a site that has a lot of info on stevia as well as some interesting FDA info.
http://www.stevia.net

Cheers
Sean

[Narrue]

Stevia is a plant sugar and it's all we use for sweetners at the Health Food Center (and a majority of what we use around my household).


Sugar-cane and Sugar-beet are also a plant sugars so what’s the difference :confused: