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What IS the Deal with Stevia? - The lowdown on this zero calorie sweetener

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A Green Lemonade beauty emailed asking to know a little more about Stevia – “Is it really a better and a healthier alternative to sugar?”

What is Stevia?

Stevia rebaudiana is a plant native to Central and NuNaturals NuStevia White Stevia Powder 100 Packets iHerb.com  What IS the Deal with Stevia? South America. Stevia rebaudiana is commonly known as sweetleaf, sugarleaf, or simply stevia. The Stevia plant is widely grown in these tropical climates for its sweet leaves. When these sweet leaves are made into a powdered or liquid sweetener, they are ~300 times sweeter than table sugar and have little to no calories. The taste of Stevia has a very polarizing effect on people. Some beauties love the taste of Stevia and others absolutely can’t stand it!

Is Stevia better for you than sugar? Is Stevia better for you than Splenda?

Detox darlings love to recommend Stevia most often to beauties currently using Splenda or white table sugar. Stevia, in their view, is a more natural sweetener relative to both Splenda (loaded with artificial gunk that weighs on your feel good bliss) and overprocessed white table sugar.

Health benefits of Stevia

Some beauties argue that Stevia, in addition to being a more natural plant based sweetener, is also great because it doesn’t feed funky body yeast like white table sugar, honey or even maple syrup. Yup, it’s this funky body yeast that makes you want to eat a whole sleeve of cookies (after eating just one).

Many other darlings also enjoy Stevia over natural sweeteners (including honey and agave nectar) because they find it can help them break through a weight loss plateau. Many beauties, through trial and error, have found that even simple fruit sugar weighs on their efforts to lose stubborn pounds. So, they’ll use Stevia. Stevia allegedly doesn’t create the same spike in your blood sugar that white sugar and other natural sweeteners can.

What brand of Stevia is the best?

I recommend the NuNaturals brand of Stevia in powdered form. I find it is the best tasting, and one of the most pure forms of Stevia on the market. It also comes in a liquid form that many beauties love.

What is Truvia?

Truvia is a brand of Stevia extract. The detox purists tend to consider this brand a little less pure than the NuNaturals brand. But on the other hand, Truvia tends to be easier to find.

How to use Stevia

Stevia, as I mentioned above, is definitely an acquired taste. Many beauties almost “put up with” the taste because it is a more natural sweetener and doesn’t have any calories. I personally find Stevia tastes best in a smoothie (like this one) or a fresh pressed green juice (try it out in this juice here in place of the fresh apple juice). I don’t particularly love it sprinkled on cereal, tossed into coffee or used in baked goods. That said, there are many people who do! I personally, like to enjoy a little bit of Stevia here and there along with a good quality honey, and a pure maple syrup. As with all good things, sweet things should be enjoyed in moderation.

How about you? Have you tried Stevia?

Note: Image above sourced from stranepiante on flickr.


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