Stevia

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luvdachs
luvdachs Posts: 30
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone have any personal experience with the sugar substitute called Stevia? Pros/Cons?

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  • creativehi
    creativehi Posts: 10
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    Its a natural sweetner.It is sugar subsitute.Its added advantage is that it has no calorie.I have never used this as sugarsubsitute.I usualy use honey with tea and milk.
  • missweightloss14
    missweightloss14 Posts: 8 Member
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    i tried stevia in the raw...me personally i hated it.

    it made my coffee and other stuff taste funny and i pretty much only use sugar substitutes so i'm not to picky.

    hope it helps!
  • LuvonLuv
    LuvonLuv Posts: 68
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    I've used it for very long time. My husband has continued to use it.
    I can't say there are any cons...just that the taste needs getting used to.
    Pros are that it's natural so obviously healthier, and no calories.
  • nccarolb
    nccarolb Posts: 858 Member
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    I use it, like it, and notice no funny taste. I've never cooked with it, so I can't answer to how that works, but for sweetening tea, it's great/
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
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    Its added advantage is that it has no calorie.

    This isn't 100% true. The calorie content per serving is low enough that they can declare themselves a calorie free food. But, Stevia does have calories, but at a fraction compared to sugar. I use it all the time, in baking, cooking, beverages.
  • jbpretty
    jbpretty Posts: 221 Member
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    I use a package with my plain Greek yogurt and berries everyday. I wouldn't be without it for that but I've never used it for anything else. At least not yet.
  • erbear117
    erbear117 Posts: 62 Member
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    I did a month with no sugar, started using stevia in my drinks/cereal, and never went back! As with any non-sugar, the taste will be different, but it doesn't take so long to get used to. The plant itself is full of antioxidants, and stevia is probably the most ideal sweetener as far as digestion & absorption goes. Stevia sodas can be a little weird, but once you start to cut sugar completely out of your diet, you don't miss the taste as much. And then you realize (as the visiting Europeans apparently do), that all the standard American food and drinks are soooo saturated with sugar, it tastes disgusting!!
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
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    The real, unrefined stevia is likely to taste funny.

    The refined stevia like truvia and purevia etc are ok, but their sweetness level varies which makes them suck for cooking.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Does anyone have any personal experience with the sugar substitute called Stevia? Pros/Cons?

    I use it all the time in my oatmeal, when I make homemade yogurt and when baking (but only 1/2 the sugar should be replaced with it). It's much sweeter than sugar so you don't need to use nearly as much, but if you do use too much, some people do detect a slightly funny aftertaste.
  • jennyxoheff
    jennyxoheff Posts: 25
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    Great mixed into foods to add sweetness!

    Really yucky in tea or coffee. Like....really yucky.
  • spikesmom
    spikesmom Posts: 441 Member
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    I've used several brands and found Stevia in the raw to be my favorite. There were a couple that I had to throw out (sweet leaf was the worst offender), and I'm not too picky, as long as it sweetens my coffee/tea.
  • luvdachs
    luvdachs Posts: 30
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    Thanks for all the input everyone! I think I will give it a shot and see if I like it. I am a big sweet-tea drinker, so it would be nice to at least be able to use it for that so I don't have to give up my major crutch completely.
  • jessakittyis
    jessakittyis Posts: 159 Member
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    I've been using it for about a week now (Stevia in the Raw) and I notice that if you use a lot it will have a slightly bitter taste. I would never substitute more than a 1/3 cup of real sugar in recipe which is I think 8 packets of the stevia according to the company's conversion guide.
  • Pamstimelines
    Pamstimelines Posts: 79 Member
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    I ate it for the first time in a greek yogurt. I thought it had a funny aftertaste like artificial sweetener (which I don't like bc of headache and nausea) but I don't know if it was the stevia or something else about the yogurt?
  • OperationSwimsuit86
    OperationSwimsuit86 Posts: 121 Member
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    There was a programme on here in the UK a few weeks ago called food unwrapped that had a whole section on Stevia and sweetners!! Look it up on youtube, I found it very interesting
  • EvelynBfly78
    EvelynBfly78 Posts: 240 Member
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    I've been using Stevia in the raw for almost a year. No funny taste here. I use it in hot coffee, oatmeal, iced tea & iced coffee among other foods. Not much of a baker so don't really have info on that. But, better for you than Splenda, Equal or any other artificial junk sweeteners.
  • castelluzzo99
    castelluzzo99 Posts: 313 Member
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    Excellent stuff! I like it best to sweeten sour things (like lemonade or cranberry sauce); savory/sweet like pumpkin cookies, not so much. Anyhow, it's been shown to help even out blood pressure, making it doubly helpful for diabetics. But don't get the Truvia or anything that has a close ratio to sugar. Get the white powder or the drops. I use the powder. Half an ounce lasts a long time, even when I make sweetened lemon water for my son almost every day. A teaspoon is slightly sweeter than a cup of sugar, to give you an idea. If you like sweets or want something to sweeten tea that won't add to your calories, I would HIGHLY recommend it. It's not artificial, or I wouldn't be recommending it.

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