Who is using stevia instead of sugar or splenda?

Anyone here switch to stevia instead of artificial sweeteners? I only use that and agave now.

Yes.I've been using it for 2.5 years now.

I put it in my coffee. It doesn't have the icky aftertaste of Sweet-n-Low,Equal,etc. The brand I like is the NOW brand found in health/natural food stores,although I will buy the Vitamin Shoppe brand too!

That being said,I have managed to pack on 6-7 lbs in the past 9 months.

If there was a pill to keep me away from cheese and crackers,I'd be the first in line!

Yes, I use it and have for some time.  Xylitol, which I also use, is better for some things.  But I don't shy away from maple syrup and honey in moderation.

I have just recently switched over to stevia as well in an attempt to minimize all of the crappy chemicals we seem to consume via junk food, diet foods, and well my favorite sugar substitute, Sweet N Low. To be honest stevia doesn't quite taste like sugar or sweet n low--it has a bit of a more smoky flavor but is good and has helped me decrease the amount of coffee I drink and look to other alternatives to coffee as well. I've definitely cut back on my sweet n low consumption and have found new interesting beverages like chai lattes which are more nutrient dense since women are always short on calcium consumption.

Where can i buy stevia? I really want to stop using splenda, but i can't find this stuff!

I'm a Splenda user. I recently tried Stevia packets (Life Brand at Shoppers Drug Mart, for the Canadians out there) and I had to use 3-4 packets just to taste any sweetness in my coffee. I ended up throwing out the coffee and pouring a new cup, using 1.5 packets of Splenda. I was not impressed with Stevia, but I think it might be because I've conditioned myself to the super-sweetness of Splenda.

My endocrinologist told me to stay away from Stevia because of its potential problematic impacts on my blood sugar/insulin levels.

As recently as 10-16-07, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  has warned: "If stevia is to be used in a dietary supplement for a technical effect, such as use as a sweetener or flavoring agent, and is labeled as such, it is considered an unsafe food additive."

On August 17, 2007, the FDA warned the maker of Celestial Seasons teas (Hain Celestial Group Inc.) about a potentially unsafe herb (Stevia) in some of its teas, saying it might be dangerous to blood sugar, reproductive, cardiovascular and renal systems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration sent a letter to Hain, dated Aug. 17, calling the herb, a natural sweetener made from a South American herb called stevia, "an unsafe food additive."

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As far as I'm concerned, I recommend caution using Stevia as a sweetener until its been scientifically confirmed that its not a danger to your blood sugar, reproductive, cardiovascular and renal symptoms.

=^..^= MOLLY

I use Stevia and love it! I have been using it for over a year now. It took me awhile to get used to it, there is an aftertaste. I noticed the aftertaste less in my tea than in my coffee. But after a week or too I couldn't notice it at all; and when I ran out and had to use sugar one morning I thought my coffee was waaay too sweet, so now if I do have to use sugar I need much less of it. I have had desserts/chocolate baked with stevia instead of sugar, and it's really noticeable, but since I've been taking it for awhile it didn't taste all that bad. I'd recommend starting off by adding it to your tea, however.

I have found a brand called Kal that has almost no aftertaste!  Stevia is available at the Fortino's grocery store healthy/organic department (Canadian) and most health stores will carry it also.

I use the powdered stuff, but you can buy it in liquid form too. 

Original Post by mollymouser:

As far as I'm concerned, I recommend caution using Stevia as a sweetener until its been scientifically confirmed that its not a danger to your blood sugar, reproductive, cardiovascular and renal symptoms.

=^..^= MOLLY

 Research shows that Splenda and Aspartame are safe alternatives, so it DRIVES ME CRAZY that people are pushing themselves away from it.  I refer all questions to Google Scholar, which is the best tool to find research on the topic.

 But I get it.  "Healthy" to some people MUST equal "organic."  And "Healthy" to some people certainly means "exotic" and "expensive." 

 Silly.

I agree with agave - but only because I love myself some tequila. 

 Funny thing though - most farmers that grew agave (a plant in the south and Mexico similar to aloe I believe) are starting to grow corn instead because of the possibility of using corn as a fuel... so I expect agave and tequila to have an increase in price in the next season.

I tried Stevia and found that it tasted like dirty sugar mixed with burnt matches. I put some in my tea and the flavour got even worse. I don't know if you would get used to it but I personally don't know why I would try. I like splenda- I can put it in my coffee, bake with it and mix it into oatmeal and cereal. Even my picky family likes the baked goods I make with it.

Natural *is* better for your body, I suppose, but you've got to go for what tastes better and fits into your lifestyle. Which, for me, is splenda.

It's ironic that so many people stay away from things like Splenda in favor of Stevia because it's more "natural"

Bella Donna is "natural" too.

Realistically, though, the studies done on artificial sweeteners to get FDA approval tend to be more extensive than those done by those "organically" aware

Actually, I'm neither for or against Stevia. That which I have seen looks similar to the studies I've seen for Splenda, reasonable at low doses, uncertain potential at ridiculously high doses.  There are some who say "Big Business" has caused the FDA to stonewall the research.  To that I say, if that were the case, the sugar industry would have kept all artificial sweetners off the market, all the way back to saccharine.

Interesting!?!  I use stevia and love it!  My mom has been using it for 20 some odd years and has had none of the side effects mentioned.  I guess the old saying "everything in moderation" would be a good rule to follow especially if one is concerned with FDA testing etc.  After all, there have been products approved by the FDA to be acceptable that have proven to be otherwise.

Just wanted to point out that splenda is produced from a process that uses sugar.  The final product, Splenda, is not a natural product and contains chlorine atoms.  Part of this Chlorine is absorbed into the body.

I strongly suggest not using any artificial sweetners.

Splenda is just a really good marketing trick.

There are plenty of sources that caution against Splenda's use.

Enjoy!

Original Post by teletran_1:

Just wanted to point out that splenda is produced from a process that uses sugar.  The final product, Splenda, is not a natural product and contains chlorine atoms.  Part of this Chlorine is absorbed into the body.

You have fallen in one of the classic traps, the most known of which is never get into a land war in Asia....

Seriously, you associate chlorine with chlorine gas, which by itself is deadly.  But the body needs the chlorine salt in order to function correctly, in fact, it represents about 40% of the salt in your blood.

For every sweetner including sugar, molasses, honey,etc.  there are documented risks, primarily in excess

You have fallen in one of the classic traps, the most known of which is never get into a land war in Asia....

I see what you did there;)

I don't use stevia because it's considered organic/natural, I use it because I find it's cost effective and I like the taste. I do find trying to eat healthy is sometimes really expensive. I got my bottle of Stevia for $24Cdn for a 38g bottle. That may seem very expensive, but the bottle actually lasted me 10 months, and I use it almost every day.

Original Post by cellophane_star:

I'm a Splenda user. I recently tried Stevia packets (Life Brand at Shoppers Drug Mart, for the Canadians out there) and I had to use 3-4 packets just to taste any sweetness in my coffee. I ended up throwing out the coffee and pouring a new cup, using 1.5 packets of Splenda. I was not impressed with Stevia, but I think it might be because I've conditioned myself to the super-sweetness of Splenda.

 

I've been using stevia for over two years. I started using it when I started having neurological problems and thought it was because I was ingesting too much aspartame (no more neuro problems now!). Try getting the concentrated stevia powder rather than the packets or "spoonable" stuff, which contains useless fillers. One-eighth of a teaspoon of the concentrated stevia powder sweetens a cup of coffee for me--and I used to use two packets of Sugar Twin in a cup of coffee.

Really, a little bit of natural honey or even brown sugar (as white sugar is bleached) is better for you than artificial sweeteners...like they say everything in moderation.  Nowadays we are so concerned with eating properly that we forget that back in our parents days, everyone was healthy, there was no fast food joints to grab a burger at and people did not spend time with their families by sitting in front of the tv.  I don't think these natural product that have been around forever can hurt your weightloss goal as long as it is all in moderation. 

okay, I remembered seeing this Stevia stuff on a thread and I just found some free sample packets and took them home. I'm drinking green tea with 2 packets of "NuStevia"...and it tastes like fake sugar! It says it has a non bittering agent...but yick! Either I only needed 1 packet, or this stuff tastes awful! Oh well, I'll try anything once...and it was free anyways. Wheylow still tastes WAY better!