When I enthusiastically recommend the health promoting herb, stevia, to people as a natural sweetener, the response of those who have tried it may often be a nasty face, a yuck. And that reputation for stevia has gotten around even to those who have not tried it. This is because some forms of stevia on the market are indeed very bitter, and if people are not prepared for how little to use, the first taste can be a shocker. After that, they may never try it again, and may wonder how anyone in his right mind would want to. Stevia is so concentrated a sweet that just one extra drop is way too much, though over the years of using all the brands, I have found some that I am very pleased with, and I can squirt away at my leisure, pointing the dropper and knowing the sweetening is occurring in a gentle way. I no longer have to hover over it with my face close to the dropper, counting each drop and stirring and tasting after ever one.
Unfortunately, some companies use dextrose with the stevia to accomplish this, and that completely cancels out the benefits of stevia as far as I am concerned. Stevia itself does not raise the glucose levels, and is natural, not a sugar, so it allows us to avoid things like dextrose. Adding it makes absolutely no sense to me at all.
Stevia is wonderful for those who avoid sugars because they are hypoglycemic, diabetic, have candida issues, or are simply minding their health and beauty. Stevia helps us become more tolerant to glucose, keeps us from digesting as much of it, and keeps us from craving it. Often the craving for alcohol is because of the sweetness so it can help that too.
Sugar is not good for anyone, as it causes inflammation of the body leading to wrinkles and aging. It also lowers the immune system drastically immediately upon consumption. It throws off the liver, spleen, pancreas, and creates mental fog. It causes cavities and gum disease. There are many substitutes for sugar, and all the chemical ones are worse than sugar itself, with well proven ill effects. Agave is a much better, choice as it is low on the glycemic index, but it does still act as a sugar somewhat.
Stevia not only avoids all those problems, but it actually helps overcome them. Diabetics, hypoglycemics, people with dental infections can all find improvement from the effects of stevia, a supplement that tastes good on the way down. You can feel good about drinking your herbal tea all day long with stevia in it. Only those who have low blood sugar need to be concerned, as it does bring it down. It also raises energy, and helps clear thinking, calms nausea, and keeps infection down.
I can not help recommending stevia to people all the time because I see how they are affected by sugar or artificial sweeteners, and stevia is such a godsend. I use it constantly in tea, yogurt, hot chocolate and inka and chai, thai curries, milkshakes, smoothies, pancakes, and candies. I have taken to recommending NuNaturals, www.NuNaturals.com, predominantly, as their products are consistently tasty, and some have no added sweetness at all, and they use only natural additives. They also have a variety that includes their new product, possibly the most delicious, which includes vanilla. It can be hard to afford or find real rather than artifical vanilla in some places, so this solves that problem. They have an alcohol free variety for those who take medications, are alcoholics, avoid alcohol because of religious reasons, or are being extra careful with to avoid candida. I recommend the most heartily their No Carbs type, as it truly has all the benefits of stevia without even the tiniest drawback of added sweetening that goes into even some of their own products. While they never add dextrose, they do use glycerine and maltodextrin in some forms of stevia, so if those are an issue for you, just go for one of their other forms of stevia such as the No Carbs. They even have a variety of forms such as tablets, powder in a bottle, or in packets, and liquid in glass or plastic dropper bottles.
Some foods are even tastier with a combination of stevia and xylitol, which NuNatural also carries, and I now most often use them together. The xylitol adds just the extra really lusciously sweet flavor that makes it authenticly desertlike.
I once had a cute little stevia plant, myself, and the leaves do taste like honey, but I could never bring myself to eat more than tiny nibbles, as it was my little friend. I named it Stevia Nix. Awww.
