With all the sugar substitutes on the market, it's easy to be confused and misled by claims of healthfulness, and we found it hard to get our hands on a good green alternative. After all, it's hard to know what to believe about the molecules in those additives. But here's one sweetener that comes right off the plant, and can actually be good for you.
Baking This Holiday Season? Try Sweetening With Stevia
What we're all familiar with comes in pink, blue, and yellow packages, but each of these carries some confusion around their ingredients. Aspartame (that's what makes most diet sodas sweet) has been linked to headaches and dizziness; saccharin, another low-calorie sweetener on the market, has shown cancer-causing properties in labs.
So now there's a new low-calorie sweetener on the market called stevia, which is plant-based. At the farmers' market one day, a farmer plucked a leaf from his stevia plant and asked us to try it. We obliged, and were shocked at the sweetness. Stevia powder is just ground up stevia leaf. It's sugar-free, meaning it's safe for diabetics and won't give kids cavities; but its health benefits extend even to stimulating healthy digesting and, in some studies, lowering blood pressure. And best of all, it's a plant! That you can grow!
It seems that a plant-based sweetener is a much better option than one derived from chemical reactions in a lab.
For more eco-friendly information about stevia, including recipes, check out this article from Mother Earth News.
Have you tried stevia yet?
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(Image: Flickr member wanz 3rd, licensed under Creative Commons.)
Comments (6)
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I've been looking for a stevia plant at the farmers market! I love how the dried leaves taste in teas. I haven't found a powdered version that tastes good to me yet.
view SydneyBristow's profile
My family's been using stevia for years; I still think it tastes funky in a lot of things, but it's great in citrus flavored things, or acidic things, otherwise the flavor... not so much. But stevia Lemonade is GREAT.
view deliriumsama's profile
Sydney, I use liquid stevia (SweetLeaf Stevia Clear), and it works great for me. The powdered versions can be very hard to dissolve, and they all seem to create a lot more waste. The liquid comes in a glass bottle with a glass dropper, so I can recycled everything but the squeeze top. I may put a few old ones on Freecycle, as well.
view Elizabeth B's profile
I know stevia is good for me, but I hate the taste. I think it has a more chemical after taste than sweeteners actually made from chemicals! I'll stick with agave and honey, and for baking, old fashioned cane sugar...in moderation, of course!
view msmezzo's profile
I've only been able to find the liquid stevia and I'm unclear on how I could use if for baking. In liquids, it's very strong! Any more than 1 drop in a cup of tea and it will become sickeningly sweet. I'd try it in baking, except that I'm not sure whether losing the bulk of 1 cup of sugar for 1/8 tsp of liquid stevia would affect the recipe negatively.
view Kuri's profile
One of the things I've learned after working with stevia for almost a decade: the Truvia is just as much processed junk as any other sweetener substitute.
The best way to get sweetness from the plant, without that awful bitter aftertaste, is to use it in leaf form only. Even powdering it releases a bitter taste.
I add the leaves to my coffee in the filter, or mix it in with teas. I'm still not satisfied with any uses for baking.
view Di from magickalrealism's profile