Stevia is an herb naturally derived from South America. The sweetness comes from the plant’s leaves which contain two glycosides: stevioside and rebaudioside.
Steviocide is to blame for the mild bitter aftertaste but research has shown it to have the most health benefits.
Rebaudioside is the sweetest part and less bitter. There are not many known benefits to rebaudioside.
To date there are 300+ studies that are linked to health benefits including reducing blood sugar, weight loss and even some forms of cancer.
The benefits of stevia are two-fold:
- There are medicinal properties in stevia that assist in healing.
- Substituting sugar with stevia omits the primary cause of most illnesses including uncontrolled blood sugar, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
For a longest time we could say without hesitation, ”Yes, stevia is the best sugar substitute”. But that was before it became a buzzword and food manufacturers got their hands on it.
Now, most of the stevia products you find in stores contain harmful additives and GMOs.
There are 4 main types of stevia:
- Stevia leaf – the leaf of the stevia plant is 200-300 times sweeter than sugar and is known to have less of an unpleasant aftertaste than that of chemical based alternative sweeteners. This is the purest form and is the best for consumption.
- Green stevia – here the leaf has been ground into a powder and is the least processed (as far as processing goes). This form is only 30-40x sweeter than sugar and has been used for centuries in Japan and South America for not only a natural sweetener but for health purposes.
- Stevia extract – this is where the sweetest and the less bitter part of the leaf has been extracted. However, this type does not contain the health benefits found in stevioside and has not been studied very extensively.
- White stevia – (Rebaudioside) – here stevia undergoes approx 3 or 4 step process of extracting just the sweetest component of the plant and is 300-400x sweeter than sugar.
Truvia – this is the stevia you need to steer clear of. It undergoes a 42 step process and includes erythrytol-made from GMO corn.
So here, basically you’re out to find a healthier option and you get a substitute that does more harm than good. Many other brands include dextrose, a simple sugar, as the main ingredient. Again you’re paying more money for an impure product and what I like to call, a health-food-poser.
Stevia has no discovered side effects but just as anything, it should be used in moderation.
Live it!
The best part is – you can easily grow stevia at home. No garden needed! All you need is a small space to grow it (in a pot or in the ground) where it will get both sunlight and shade. If you live in a dryer climate, make sure it’s watered about every 3 days.
It grows back every year and you can take the leaves right off of the plant and use them in smoothies or simply harvest them for use in recipes.
Check your local farmers market for stevia plants. I picked these up for $5 each!
If you don’t want to grow your own, I recommend Sweet Leaf Stevia brand.
How do you use stevia? Share your favorite recipe here!
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