Five years ago today (LOL), I created a thread about artificial sweeteners.
The thread eventually got locked, and the official explanation was that the topic was too controversial.
People say that hindsight is 20/20, and I now believe that the problem was me and my propensity to get into stupid online arguments–something that I have made a lot of progress on.
Now I’m interested in purchasing Stevia, which is a natural sweetener.
What’s kinda annoying is that many Stevia products online are of different concentrations, and the sellers seem to never say what the actual concentration is.
Some Stevia products say what the equivalent amount of sugar the Stevia is, which is helpful.
Other Stevia products tell you how much Stevia to add to an ounce of beverage, which is also helpful.
I’m looking for the least expensive high concentration Stevia available online in the U.S. and I think I want liquid Stevia.
It looks like these are three good choices (for higher concentration liquid Stevia) on Amazon…
Does anyone on BLF use Stevia, and which Stevia products do you like/recommend?
Also, are there any better bargains out there, perhaps not on Amazon (but with customer feedback)?
I did stevia way way way back almost when it first came out. A little dot on the tip of your finger would be enough to sweeten coffee the same way a coupla spoons of sugar would.
I liked stevia in coffee because of its natural licorice taste. Kinda like adding anisette or whatever that licorice-flavored stuff would be. Gave it a nice flavor as long as not overdone, so I’d add a little stevia and the rest normal sugar (sucrose/saccharose).
But in time, when normies started clamoring for it, they couldn’t deal with teenytiny microspoons to dole out the miniscule amounts of stevia they’d want, so after much beyotching, mfrs decided to cut stevia with more or less fillers. Think inositol was one of 'em, maybe dextrose, too. So now normies could use regular spoons to dole out the sweets.
Uncut stevia is great in coffee and used partially in place of sugar in cookies, anything that would go great with a bit of a licoricey taste. In tea, etc., it’s vile. Any “stevia” that claims to “taste just like sugar!” probably has only trace amounts of stevia. The pure stuff will taste like licorice.
I originally got it in a small box like might contain a handball, it’s that small. Also got it in small foil packets with a wisp of white powder in each. Also got it as a brown powder like “sugar turbodado” or whatever. So the form is all over the place. And what you want is the concentrated pure stevia that has zero other ingredients.
In case you aren’t already aware of these issues with some people who use Stevia:
If you take lithium supplements or medication for hypertension or medication for diabetes, you need to talk to your doctors before using Stevia, as you might need to change the dosages of your medications to maintain your health while using Stevia.
Also, Stevia comes from a plant in the same family as ragweed, sunflowers, and marigolds. Some people allergic to one or more of those plants have significant allergic reactions to Stevia.
See Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and WebMD websites for details.
I’ve been using this one for a long time. Always gonna be the yay and nay sayers about everything. Who knows this might kill me faster than white sugar.
Now I’m searching for “Stevia extract powder” on Amazon.
It looks like Stevia extract powder can offer more bang for the buck than liquid Stevia (on Amazon at least.)
So…
I’ll answer the question that no one has asked (and no one probably wants to hear the answer anyway.)
I’ve been using liquid sucralose to sweeten my unsweetened Kool-Aid for five years.
The problem with all artificial sweeteners, including sucralose, is that they can cause one to urinate frequently.
I have read that Stevia can also cause that problem, but Stevia doesn’t cause that problem with everyone, so I’m hoping that if I switch from liquid sucralose to Stevia I can solve the problem.
Likely viewed as unhelpful advice, but have you tried weaning yourself off your “sugar” addiction?
I used to drink tea and coffee with sugar in, slowly reduced the “dose” now don’t feel like the drinks need it.
I’ve an awful sweet tooth, but generally manage to avoid added sugar as much as possible. Likewise for salt, cut down over a long time and now it’s like I need less to achieve same flavour.
The only exception I have is aeroplane coffee which is rancid without sugar, but as it’s a small cup, I only add 1/4 of the sachet… Ironically, the lady next to me dumped two sachets into her tea and when she was done drinking, proceeded to fish the undissolved granules out with the stirring stick to eat them???
I avoid a lot of sugar, but some of my food has sugar in it.
For my beverage of choice, which I drink all day long when I’m at home, I prefer unsweetened Kool-Aid with a sweetener added.
I don’t think I’ll quit drinking Kool-Aid with sweetener added.
From what I have read, Stevia is one of the more healthy sugar alternatives–not that I want a discussion about what is healthy and what isn’t because that is very controversial.
