Is stevia good for u or bad for u?

Posts: 24,608
2/4/12 9:32 A

You might just want to give it a try and see if you like the flavor. It does have a different type of sweet taste; which some folks like and others don't. See what you think.
Becky

Posts: 111
2/3/12 9:10 P

I use Stevia in the Raw in my tea and I think it's great. There are no chemical additives so there is no aftertaste like other sweeteners.

Posts: 43
2/3/12 7:42 P

I am talking about straight stevia, not truvia or purevia. From what I understand stevia is not an artificial sweetener. It is an herb from nature. Thoughts?

Posts: 24,608
2/3/12 6:03 P

As ANARIE has said, Truvia and PureVia are basically artificial sweeteners. You don't find these forms of stevia in nature.

This link gives more:
www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_art
icles.asp?id=1273
These type artificial sweeteners are not good for you...for they provide nutritional benefit for your body.
These type artifical sweeteners are not bad for you, for studies have shown them to be safe.

So the question is do they benefit your weight loss plan. Are you in need of an artifical sweetener to cut sugar calories from your diet...If so, then they may be of benefit.

Dietitian Becky

Posts: 11,048
2/3/12 3:58 P

Are you asking about actual stevia, or are you talking about TruVia, PureVia, or the other commercial products made from it?

It's definitely not "good for you." There's no benefit from it. And the commercial sweeteners made out of stevia are really no less artificial than sucralose (Splenda.) Splenda starts with a plant, too, but Splenda and reb A, the stuff they put in TruVia/PureVia, all go through just about the same amount of weird chemical processing. (Truvia is made by Cargill and PureVia is made by Merisant/Monsanto.) The difference is that Splenda (and aspartame for that matter) passed all the safety testing that the FDA and the European food safety agencies require many times over, plus some extra, and reb A sweeteners didn't.

So is it bad for you? Nobody really knows. Probably not, but there's no way to know for sure. The Mayo Clinic recommends that it not be used by pregnant women and small children, and other sources recommend that men not use it. It's probably not dangerous, but other artificial sweeteners have much stronger proof that they're safe.

Posts: 313
2/3/12 1:00 P

I try to stay away from all added sweeteners. Any artificial sweeteners are bad, I don't care what people say. I went off of them and my chronic nose swelling & sinus infections went away.

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Posts: 3
2/3/12 12:59 P

Stevia is not bad for you in moderation like anything but I do agree with just using real sugar less. I sweeten with things like honey and maple syrup, if you do not want the maple taste buy a light in color syrup. Honey usually after baked is very slight in taste.

Posts: 1,404
2/3/12 12:53 P

I place any sweetener towards the bad side because it trains your taste buds to be use to sweet.

You can't use stevia for baking in the same way you do sugar...it's much too sweet to substitute easily. You'll have to see if there are any stevia based recipes.

In my opinion, just bake less frequently and use real sugar.

Once or twice a week I do use a stevia-sugar mix called sun crystals to sweeten something. I cut down from what I was using before. After the sun crystals run out i'll just use sugar

Posts: 43
2/3/12 12:49 P

Seems like it would b good for u. Just cking what others thought because I really want to start using it especially for baking. I have been using sugar because I feel that artificial sweeteners are dangerous so I was hoping that stevia would b a great alternative. Thank u!