SparkPoints: (94,100)
Fitness Minutes: (116,646)
Posts: 18,709
10/28/10 7:36 P

I like Steviva and Sweet Leaf. There is another brand I also use, but I can't remember the name of the brand...

Pounds lost: 23.0

0 8.75 17.5 26.25

35

Posts: 102
10/28/10 6:55 P

Has anyone tried any of these Stevia brands?
What are your favorites?
Looks like I can get them from Amazon, but I'd love to hear what other people are using.
Thanks again for the responses.
Mary

Posts: 10,550
10/28/10 5:11 P

You are right about Truvia and Purevia ('nother story!)
The very best (cleanest) way to use stevia is to grow it yourself, dry the leaves and grind them or make infusions. I will be doing that myself soon when I get my seeds.

There are products on the market that combine something called erythritol and stevia that can be used cup for cup like sugar. They are just okay. Like so many sugar substitutes they are another highly refined food and also it leaves a slight cooling sensation on your tongue; not bad but still, it's there. This sensation is noticeable in some dishes more than others.

The powdered stevia you mention is VERY, VERY sweet and is only used in tiny pinches (or less!) Because sugar, when used in most recipes isn't only there for sweetening but also contributes grandly to texture. Your baked goods, for instance, won't turn out very well if you use a pinch or two of stevia extract powder instead of sugar or the erythritol/stevia blend I mentioned above.

Here are a couple of links for you to look at these stevia blends

www.steviva.com/

https://shop.bodyecology.com/prodinfo.asp?
number=BE021

Edited by: ANIDUCK at: 10/28/2010 (17:13)

Posts: 102
10/28/10 4:50 P

Thanks so much for the informative responses.
I have tried Stevia (the white powder kind from the health food store) but was not very successful with proper measuring. My recipe came out very bitter and had to be thrown out. Those of you that use stevia-how do you determine the proper amount? What brands do you use? I'm sure the Truvia and Purevia in the market are not as clean as I would like them to be.
Thanks again for the information and points of view.
Mary

Posts: 2,701
10/28/10 3:34 P

Ani- I liked your post. It is thought provoking as to what we want to 'Clean Up'.

Posts: 10,550
10/28/10 2:44 P

Here's a couple of links that someone posted on another team that I'm on (Natural Healing) that explain a lot about sugar...if you are interested

ldshealth.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=5
030172:BlogPost:7069&xgs=1&xg_source=m
sg_share_post

ldshealth.ning.com/profiles/blog/show?id=5
030172:BlogPost:7087&xgs=1&xg_source=m
sg_share_post

SparkPoints: (94,100)
Fitness Minutes: (116,646)
Posts: 18,709
10/28/10 2:41 P

It is a less processed sugar. Still just as fattening. Still empty calories. I sometimes use in baking... I'll reduce the sugar (say I'm using sucanat), and add a little stevia.

Pounds lost: 23.0

0 8.75 17.5 26.25

35

Posts: 10,550
10/28/10 2:31 P

I have brought up this question before and I certainly don't want to offend anyone who follows Tosca Reno's advice. I do think most of what she says is very good. But here's the question: What do you (each one of you personally, for yourself) want to "clean" out of your body?? What do you want to have "cleaned" out of the food that you eat???

So the answer to any question about whether or not a food is "clean" must have those first two questions answered before anyone can even begin to answer the question "is.....clean?

If a person is wanting to clean sugar out of their body and food then even succanat isn't clean. If, however, a person wants to get synthetic chemicals out of their body and food then they might want to stick to organic. If they want to clean highly refined (spoiled) food stuff out of their bodies then they have to look at the steps each food takes to get from nature to table.

Succanat is sugar, pure and simple. I like a little sugar once in a while and so I occasionally use organic, evaporated cane juice crystals. There are different brands of this.

Succanat is one of the more minimally refined types of sugar and so would be preferable by anyone wanting a little treat sometimes but also wanting to avoid the extra toxic effects of typical, store-bought white sugar. Just be sure that the label says "organic" and "fair trade". There are many human abuses in the sugar industry.
-annie

Edited by: ANIDUCK at: 10/28/2010 (14:32)

Posts: 102
10/28/10 1:53 P

Im also wondering how "clean" this would be?
I'm not sure if I learned about it from Clean Eating magazine or Tosca but I seem to recall that it fit the clean eating guidelines.
Anyone have any additional info?
Thanks-
Mary

Posts: 315
10/28/10 1:44 P

Too high in calories for me, will stick with Stevia. But it tastes pretty good if you want to try it.

Posts: 2,701
10/28/10 1:41 P

ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cooking/msg0
91432552072.html

I have never used it before, but here is a link I found to a blog.

There are several postings by people who use both agave and succanat along with their results and suggestions. Perhaps this can be of some help?

Posts: 102
10/28/10 1:25 P

Just wondered what the consensus was with using Succanat as a sweetener in recipes?
I read somewhere that this was an acceptable alternative to sugar in recipes for clean eating.
Any thoughts????
Thanks-
Mary