Do you think that you need to quit sugar? The good news is that not all sugar is created equally. The sugar which can be found in whole foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains and dairy are not to be feared and excluding these foods from your diet can lead to long term negative health consequences. It is the added sugars in foods which is the biggest problem to your health and can lead to obesity, chronic diseases like type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome as well as increase your risk of many types of cancers. So what can you do if you enjoy a sweeter coffee of tea or wish to add some sweetness to foods and drinks? Why not try stevia, it is a natural sweetener derived from a plant and has been used in South America for centuries. It is not artificially formulated unlike other sweeteners and is safe to use as part of a balanced diet.
Stevia’s full name is Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni and it is the leaves of the plant which are used to produce the sweetener. The leaves can be used fresh, dried or dried and formed into a powder which is the most common form you can buy it in a supermarket store. You may see the purified extracts of stevia also called steviol glycosides in an ingredients list.
Stevia is 250-300 times sweeter than sugar or sucrose and can be used in cooking because it is heat stable. Try adding it to your coffee or tea as a sugar substitute or even on top of fruit as a desert option. Other benefits of stevia include:
- Happy Teeth!
Tooth decay has been another side effect of the extra sugar added to foods and drinks and this sweetener will potentially help your regular dentist check up to be a more pleasant experience.
- No Effect on Blood Sugar
Additional good news to being calorie free is stevia is fantastic if you do not want to increase the glycaemic index of a food or drink. This means the sugar in the blood is not increased and you won’t increase the amount of insulin needed to be released from your pancreas to control and lower the levels back to normal again, good news for anyone who has diabetes.
Stevia is growing in popularity and big companies like Coca-Cola are jumping on board the bandwagon. You may notice more products becoming available which are switching their choice of low calorie sweetener ingredients from choices like aspartame, sucralose or saccharin to stevia.
The Bottom Line: Adding sugar to foods can not only harm your waistline but your health long term. The good news is stevia can provide you with a way to increase the sweetness of foods and drinks more naturally than some of the other artificial sweeteners and is safe to use as part of a balanced diet!
