Stevia which has been around as substitute for sugar for quite some time it is just coming to the attention of greater numbers of people as more and more is appearing on market shelves as branded sugar substitutes.

I believe that stevia is one of the best natural sweeteners available. It is natural, calorie-free, and can be used as is or in baking and cooking. I like it so much more than all of the artificial sweeteners out there I thought i would talk about it here today.

Stevia is a a natural deciduous shrub plant which that grows  in the southwestern United States ,originally native to South America. The sweetening level of stevia depends upon the species involved; there are hundreds of different species of this plant and perhaps a dozen of which  have the sweetness characteristics desired. While it is possible to buy fresh leaves or dried leaves from the plant itself, when you purchase stevia in the store, you are most likely going to be purchasing a powdered extract from the plant or a liquid concentrate.

If you buy the liquid concentrate, the composition of the stevia depends on the method of production. Sometimes these liquid concentrates are produced by boiling the leaves directly in water and sometimes the leaves are steeped in water or a water-plus-alcohol mixture. Although it’s unclear from the research that has been done exactly which form of stevia is the most health supportive, there is no question that stevia extracts in any form come out far ahead of white table sugar or high fructose corn syrup in terms of their potential health benefits and has none of the health negatives associated with sugar and weight gain and insulin issues. Among the possible benefits here are therefore the potential hypoglycemic (blood sugar lowering) effects and potential blood pressure lowering effects. These qualities are what first brought me to stevia as a family member is diabetic and I was seeking the best sugar substitute for our family.

Stevia which has been used by many especially in South and Central America as both a sweetener and a medicinal agent. In the United States, stevia is approved by the Food and Drug Administration a federal agency of the U.S.for sale as a dietary supplement, but it cannot be promoted as a sweetening agent or a food additive because the FDA has not felt comfortable with the research evidence documenting its safety. I don’t have any research-based reasons to share the concern of the FDA, however, and so I do like this sweetener as an alternative for those persons and they number in the tens of millions who are seeking a table sugar replacement.

Something you’ll be sure tonotice about stevia is that it is very very sweet and so it is wise to be carefuland  get used to how much sweetening bang you get for your teaspoonful. In its refined, white powdery as opposed to the granular quality of sugar. It is usually in the extract form in which there is a very high concentration of steviosides, It may be several hundred times sweeter than the normally used  table sugar. It should therefore be used sparingly when substituted for sugar, whether it is for sweetening beverages, to be used in baked goods recipes, or for any of the many other ways that you may choose to use it.

 I use and have used stevia for some time now. For me the reason is that while I think stevia can be a great natural substitute for sugar, notably for those who have blood sugar concerns. Stevia is not usually purchased as a whole food (in the fresh or dried leaf form), but rather as a powdered extract or liquid concentrate.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 8:33 am and is filed under diet and nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.