Sugar v Agave v Stevia

sozzell

Hi All,

So I have been using Agave nectar where I would usually have sugar - in coffee and sometimes baking - in a bid to lower my calories but it's getting pretty expensive so I was wondering about Stevia which looks to be pretty new here in the UK.

I was wondering if anyone could advise as to the best type of sugar/sugar replacement to use?

Or should I just stick with sugar?!

TIA :-)

neanderthin

I would say use sugar if it fits into you calorie allotment.

Railr0aderTony

to be honest, Splenda tastes better than Stevia but Stevia is more natural. I have both at home and usually mix them in my coffee.

hostile17

You hear that Stevia is 'natural', but is it natural to highly concentrate a leaf extract purely for the purpose of sweetening which is 300 times the sweetness of sugar? Nothing natural about that.

As someone who has had a real addition to artificial sweeteners and now kicked the habit... I imagine Stevia is largely similar in that it confuses your body into thinking it's going to get calorific intake when it isn't and continues to condition you to want sweet things - even sweeter than sugar.

(These are my views though, not much scientific backing!)

Try sugar... but maybe try gradually brining the sugar down bit by bit.

roachhaley

TBH, if you're mainly using sugar to sweeten your tea/coffee and in small amounts baking it wont be that high calorie. I use dark brown sugar and it is 19 cals/tsp. And that goes a long way.

I only use Splenda when the amount exceeds 1 T

PhatAv8r

by and large, the place you make money with Stevia or agave is cooking, not sweetening coffee... both require less to provide 'sweet'... agave's big thing is it sweetens at a low GI which minimizes any insulin response to it.... Stevia is also natural and low GI, but you can substitute a tbsp for every 1/4 cup in a recipe, at zero calories...

But, your final conclusion is the best in my bet, use it occasionally, but why switch from sugar... if you can't fit the calories into your budget, maybe you'll drop coffee? which has caffeine, another unnatural chemical that changes blood and body chemistry...

For me, I use agave in place of syrup, mixed with PB2, it makes a pretty awesome substitute for pancake syrup, and much lower than syrup and PB together...

Stevia I'll use to sweeten herb tea and take the bite off it..

But otherwise, I use sugar for cooking, sweetening my hot soy milk in the morning, and other stuff... since I use about 3 tbsp a day max

sozzell

Thanks for the replies :-)

I do have some unopened Splenda at home actually. How is Splenda in baking? I bake a lot of banana bread (and usually use brown sugar for that) for my OH so I don't want to mess with the taste too much!

roachhaley

Thanks for the replies :-)

I do have some unopened Splenda at home actually. How is Splenda in baking? I bake a lot of banana bread (and usually use brown sugar for that) for my OH so I don't want to mess with the taste too much!

I find that Splenda has a weird taste when you bake with it. I've gotten used to it, though.

alexsmith01

Agave nectar still is quite high calories anyway doesn't it?
I'd say use sugar or agave nectar, but just don't use heaps of it.

sozzell

by and large, the place you make money with Stevia or agave is cooking, not sweetening coffee... both require less to provide 'sweet'... agave's big thing is it sweetens at a low GI which minimizes any insulin response to it.... Stevia is also natural and low GI, but you can substitute a tbsp for every 1/4 cup in a recipe, at zero calories...

But, your final conclusion is the best in my bet, use it occasionally, but why switch from sugar... if you can't fit the calories into your budget, maybe you'll drop coffee? which has caffeine, another unnatural chemical that changes blood and body chemistry...

For me, I use agave in place of syrup, mixed with PB2, it makes a pretty awesome substitute for pancake syrup, and much lower than syrup and PB together...

Stevia I'll use to sweeten herb tea and take the bite off it..



But otherwise, I use sugar for cooking, sweetening my hot soy milk in the morning, and other stuff... since I use about 3 tbsp a day max

PB2? I probably have around 3-4 coffees per day, so 3-4 teaspoons of agave. I was thinking about the cost more than anything actually as it's nearly £3! Obv. way more expensive than regular sugar.

Whilst agave does have higher calories than regular sugar it is way sweeter so you use less...

arleyv

You could try Xylitol, it has 10 cals per tsp and is a natural sugar alternative.
i use it and love it!

robinskv

I am always hesitant about man made sweeteners. Even though some are plant/nature derived, I wonder about the process that is used to get there. If it is a health concern, maybe stay with sugar and try to ween yourself off. If it is just calories, then Stevia is pretty good tasting.

kim8184

I did some research on Agave vs. Sugar and I believe they are pretty close to having the same calories. Stevia, at least to me, taste way to bitter. I was used to Equal when I started this Low-Carb lifestyle and found out that what they use to make it a powder has carbs in it. So I did some research and found EZ Sweet on Amazon. It is really good, no bitter taste and tastes like real sugar. I don't think it's too expensive, pretty much the same as the other artificial sweeteners out there.

CollisionofNova

I have both stevia and sugar in my house. For tea, lemonade, ice tea, or baking I use stevia. I'm lucky that it doesn't have a bitter aftertaste for me and I'm even growing some plants on it on my balcony. I only keep the sugar around for baked goods for friends or cheat meals.

Though I've gotta say the stevia aftertaste took some getting used to. It's not bitter, but it is different. Actually, a lot like artificial sweetners, I guess.

jcb1958

Must jump in & post a warning about any of the sweeteners that end in "itol". For a lot of folks, it is a potent laxative. I was diagnosed with IBS for years until I read a warning about it being used in kids cold medicine & causing this symptom. I read labels in the house & found I was having a sugar free fudge bar daily. Within 3 days of discontinuing sorbitol, my symptoms were gone. I try the products periodically & have same symptoms. I've found that a lot of products that say Splenda on the front, also use an "itol" for sweetening as it is much cheaper.

cydonian

Stevia has a slightly grassy aftertaste, with it being a plant and all, and some people can't really get used to it. I like it in certain things... I made a fruit bread pudding over the weekend with it and you couldn't even tell, and got the flavor of the berries instead of SUGAR, like you would with regular. I think a lot of people also use too much Stevia when they do use it. You only need a teaspoon of Stevia to a cup of sugar.

MrsLVF

I'd say sugar or agave.

In my opinion Stevia tastes like black licorice, which I personally do not like.