What is Stevia?
What is Stevia? I was introduced to it by a friend and wanted to do a little research on it before sharing with you. Stevia leaves can be 30 times sweeter than sugar. When processed, the sweetest parts of the plant, called glycosides are extracted from the leaves and isolated. The combination of these compounds is 300 times sweeter than sugar and contains no calories. In additional its leaves contain 100 important nutrients that are vital to the function and well-being of the human body.
What is Stevia?
It is a great replacement for artificial sweeteners and is no calories and no carbohydrates! What I love in addition is the company uses no chemicals, solvents or alcohols in their process and no waste either! The leaf becomes cattle feed or ground mulch and the spent water is distributed to local farmers to irrigate their fields.
SweetLeaf Stevia was founded by James A May in Paraguay. I love the convenience of the SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia. Of course another key for me is that it is Gluten Free! The flavored SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia in English Toffee and Chocolate Raspberry are such a wonderful addition to my morning tee and coffee! They are so conveniently packaged. I can slip them into my purse and take them with me when I am on the go or traveling. They make a great addition to fruit smoothies, desserts, plain yogurt and even cottage cheese! I love making my organic lemonade with them too. I love that they are safe for diabetics too!
Quick Facts:
- It is a natural sweetener
- It is 100% natural and contains no calories, carbohydrates, alcohol and has a zero glycemic index
- It contains no chemicals
- It has GRAS status – an FDA designation for substances determined to be safe in foods by competent scientific research
Common Uses:
- Stevia is a sweetener in soft drinks, beverages, desserts, sauces, yogurt, ice cream, cereals, toothpaste, mouthwash and baked goods.
- Stevia can be used in most recipes that call for sugar or a sugar substitute
- Kills Candida
SweetLeaf Stevia is available in 35-count box of individual packets, 70-count box of individual packets, Stevia Plus Shaker Bottle, Liquid or Stevia Tabs.
Here is a chart for Stevia use in cooking:
What are your thoughts of Stevia? Have you tried it? I hope I help you figure out what is stevia?
Green Smoothie Recipes:
Advanced Green Smoothie Recipe
Disclosure: The information and product was provided to review for this post however all opinions are 100% my own.
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I recently discovered that aspartame is directly linked to Alzheimers. I LOVE Equal, but decided (as an employee of a retirement community) that I DO NOT want to continue abusing my body with this chemical form.
I have been using stevia for about a month. Yes, there was a slight adjustment period (a few days only, but now, I don’t notice it at all. My only concern is that many of the products I like to use have aspartame in them. the challenge is finding good healthy sweet snacks (I love sweet) that do not rely on aspartame.
My go-to dessert? Frozen blueberries, non-fat milk and stevia to sweeten it up. The milk gets slushy, the berries are wonderful and its as sweet as I want!
My mom has the same problem. She has been look up recipes for sweets made with honey other natual sweetners. There are lots on Spark.com. You have to look throught the site a bit to find it, but while worth the time. All the recipes are dieter friendly. I have not bake with stevia yet, but it is on my list of things to try.
I was just doing some research on Stevia this morning. I tried it a long time ago and found it to be bitter. I am thinking about trying it again. I just got some blood work done that revealed I am pre-diabetic. I am trying to give up sugar. Hopefully I can avoid becoming a diabetic through healthier eating and exercise.
I started growing Stevia this past season. I have the complete opposite of a green thumb, but all 4 Stevia plants that I planted took off like wildfire! I harvested it and have dried it; I love the fresh leaved ‘muddled’ (smashed with a spoon) in a cup with tea or other drink added. The dried leaves crumble easily into most anything but don’t completely disappear. I’ve found that steeping them in water then straining the water makes a nice version of simple syrup. 🙂 MUCH cheaper than buying the packaged Stevia too.
I’d like to try it. Where in the US do you live?
I’m in Virginia, Patty
Gotta reply again so I can get a the response. Thanks in advance!
*leaves*
I am in the process of switching to Stevia extract it takes a few days to get used to it. Too much = too sweet! I purchased it at Whole Foods it is their 365 brand. a drop or two in my morning cup of coffee is enough. Have not baked with it yet. Has anyone tried to bake with it?
I bought a stevia plant from Walmart this past summer, just one and it grew and grew and grew. It was about 3ft tall and had lots of leaves. I did about the same thing as BJ. I have a lot of dried and use it with a tea strainer mainly for drinks. I haven’t been brave enough to bake with it yet. It tastes really good and no after taste. I would like to know if anyone has baked with it and how after they have grown it.
I live in New England. Not sure if I can grow this plant. I’d like to though. Anyone try to up north?
I love this stuff, been using it for years! Other than coffee, the rootbeer and orange make great natural soda. I’ve tried other brands but was never as satisfied with the consistancy, flavor, ingredients or methods of process. The only thing addded to this brand in dry form is a natural fiber that also aids in digestion by helping the growth of benificial bacteria in our system. A number of others on the market use maltodextrin, which I don’t want.
I’ve found the best place to buy this particluar brand is Amazon. I’ve even tried buying the plant at my local farmer’s market. I think I paid about $2. I would steep the leaves and make my own syrup or use the leaves in hot tea. Unfortunately, my less than green thumb wouldn’t let me continue.
Love my sweet leaf stevia. I use it in my coffee, on my oatmeal, in my tea. I have not baked with it yet, however. It does take a while to get used to it but once you are off those artificial sweetners, you can definitely tell the fakeness of them if you try them again after not having them for awhile.
I’m a Stevia user of about 9 months now. I use it in my coffee, tea, oatmeal, etc… Have yet to bake with it either though.
I can’t wait to try this! I am looking for low/no glycemic sweeteners that are natural!! I am always a bit leary of the other ones!! Thanks for including the chart too! That is very helpful!!
Just tried the Sweet leaf, Its awesome!
I would love to try this.
My boss grows it in her green house and she had me try it. It’s wonderful and a natural sweetener!!
I use Stevia for anything I can. LOL. I don’t even use sugar anymore, I love it. Such a healthy alternative to all the other junk out there!
I have been using the Sweet Leaf Vanilla in my coffee for about six month. Also tried it in yogurt and oatmeal. I love it.
We moved here about 10 years ago and even back then Ron Wilson of Natorp’s was growing Stevia and talking about it’s values. I might grow some this year.
I have been using Sweetleaf for about 1 1/2 years. It is a great replacement for sugar and I love the fact that it is natural~!
I use Stevia in oatmeal, plain greek yogurt, tea, everything! I make a quick hot cocoa with just cocoa powder, stevia and water. So rich!!
im addicted to carbonated soda and im trying to quit so i have gone to juice drink mixes but i am told that also is bad for me since i am obese and i turn to making my own juice drink mixes and use splenda but once again i have been told this is bad for me…..besides honey i need another type of sweateners for my drinks and i have yet to try this one with its diff flavors
I had to give up soda also and know the problems with other sweetners. I highly recommend this liquid flavored stevia with plain soda to take that place.
I am very interested in trying Sweetleaf Stevia to help my family give up other sweeteners.
I love that it’s low-glycemic!
I’ve heard of this before but never got the chance to try it. It seems really interesting that they were able to find a substance sweeter than sugar. Great read, will definitely be coming back to this blog for future posts.
Stevia doesn’t make my legs tingle like aspartame. I like your review and I learned alot of new information.
Wow I did not know this could be added to cottage cheese!!
You have raised my interest in trying this product.
I’ve used stevia liquid drops for a couple of years now and love it. I keep a bottle in my purse so I can dress up my tea or coffee when I’m on the fly. Chocolate Raspberry is my favorite. Just a few drops in a cup of hot water and it’s like having a hot cocoa that doesn’t mess with my blood sugar. Other favorite is Vanilla Cream. A few drops in orange herbal tea is like a creamsicle and a few drops in the blender with a handful each of ice and strawberries is such a treat. Again, I can enjoy a treat without the insulin response of sugar and the toxins you get from artificial sweeteners. I LOVE STEVIA!
I havent tried the stevia yet but looking forward to it.
Need to try this in my coffee.
I have tried plain stevia before, but not the flavored. I would like to try the flavored.
Thanks for the informative review!
I am currently using another brand of stevia – and to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised just how much it tasted like sugar! However, not only do I LOVE the idea of stevia in a liquid form – I really love that it is flavored!
I use stevia all the time. I love vanilla in my keifer I ferment. Could eat that that way all day. Hubby uses chocolate in his coffee or milk. He likes it in my baked good (almond meal-no wheat) but I do not. To each their own ………..but it is great stuff!
This would be great in my morning coffee!
I have been wanting to try for a long time. I did not know it came in liquid form or that it came with additional flavoring. The fact I love the most: SweetLeaf Stevia is 100% natural and contains no calories
Their flavors sound like the would taste great in baked goods.
STEVIA is a great natural sweeter!
My Chiropractic suggested this. She is very into health and knows a lot. She feels with all the research she has done this is so far the best one for you. Her family doesn’t use regular sugar. I have bought some and used a little so far. Hope to use it more. Thanks for all the info on it.
If making a pot of coffee, how many dried leaves of Stevia would one need to place in the filter with the coffee? I usually add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar to my 2 cup mug, wondered if anybody has tried this. That way I could just reheat it the next day.