If your New Year Resolution is to reduce your calorie intake then the FDA is on your side. In December 2008 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Stevia product rebaudioside A (rebiana) as a general purpose sweetener. Rebiana is an ingredient derived from the leaf of the stevia plant. Stevia has been available as a dietary supplement in natural food markets for a long time but now that it has the FDA stamp of approval as a safe food source we will be seeing it more and more as companies begin incorporating stevia into new products such as Cola-Cola's Sprite Green and Pepsico's zero-calorie Sobe LifeWater (black and blue berry, Fuji apple pear and yumberry pomegranate).
Trademarked stevia sweetners are Truvia™ (Coca Cola and Cargill) and PureVia™ (Whole Earth Sweetener Company LLC and PepsiCo).
I have been using Stevia from natural health food stores for a good 6 months and abandoned the Splenda habit. I like the idea of using something natural so why would I need to use a marketed Stevia product by the soda companies? Couldn’t one grow their own plant? :O
I tried stevia but the side effects were awful for me.
Since I decided to just use good old fashioned natural sugar in the form of evaporated cane juice or (horrors) plain sugar, I’ve had no problems and no weight gain and my dentist says my teeth are doing great.
I have a feeling that if we employ the technique of ‘moderation’ then there’s no reason to be afraid of sugar.
It has recently been proven that sugar is not the cause of ADHD (or hyperactivity) in children.
I think sugar has been getting a bad rap for no reason since it became fashionable to avoid it…in the 90s.
Artificial sweeteners have the same awful side effects for me, and apparently still pose a health risk in spite of their own funded studies to prove their safety.
I figure if it can cause side effects for me, it’s messing with something in my body and should be avoided by everyone with a body…after all, I’m not the only one…just the ’sensitive’ one.
http://qualityassurance.synthasite.com/truvia-sweetener—our-continuing-investigation.php
be careful…… read, read, read..this is just one of many sites alerting us to the fact that Truvia is a processed form of stevia… the way splenda was touted as derived from sugar… but was chlorinated… resulting in toxicity. Poke around and you will find reliable sites that are researching Truvia. I,for one, will continue to use plain and simple Stevia and continue to grow it in my garden. Just be careful.
There are other natural alternative sweeteners that don’t have the unanswered questions that stevia has. Swerve is a little known one that you can actually cook and bake with just like sugar and it doesn’t have that aftertaste that stevia has. check out swervesweetener.com –this one is a better choice.
Stevia Extract In The Raw is another brand available and it tastes great, not like the less pure products available. It is made by the Sugar In The Raw people.
I’ve been using Sweet Leaf Stevia for years. It has no aftertaste, and is the real thing, not one extracted ingredient like cocacola and pepsi are trying to pass off on us. It’s almost a guarantee that these companies will alter or process it somehow. Why do they always have to mess with a good thing? Leave it the way it was created and there will be no side effects. This plant has been used for hundreds of years in it’s native country with no ill effects.
By the way, Blissful, it was never claimed that sugar CAUSED ADD or ADHD, but it most definitely exacerbates it.
THE FDA DID NOT APPROVE STEVIA
Please learn the difference between Reb A and stevia – for your health!
http://goldencarla.typepad.com/carla_goldens_get_healthi/2008/12/the-fda-did-not-approve-stevia-today.html
Be well, Carla aka OneHealthyGirl.com
Thank you! Carla Golden for keeping us in tune with Reality…we should have figured on our own, but our unfounded optimism got in the way of reason @_@