Weaned off Equal, Hello Stevia!

[OzRoo 1,492]

I finally managed to wean myself off Equal sweetener ..... !

Never liked Stevia before, but now I actually like it. Just need to be careful with the powder version, as little too much of it is soooo sweet!

I hope that by using Stevia in my coffee will help against swinging blood sugar levels, reduce sweet cravings and be lot healthier in the long run.

And yesterday , I could finally cross my legs again! Woohoo !!!

[Kristin Hernandez 11]

Good for you! Aspartame is suspect in parkinson's and other nasty diseases.

[Christinamo7 4,041]

wonderful! I have always liked Splenda, but I have been drinking the Vitamin Water zero and it has stevia, which I really like. I love lemonaid. I still find stevia too sweet for coffee though, I have been playing with blending it and using less.

[RickM 1,747]

It might help. All of these artificial/"non-nutritive" sweeteners were the greatest thing when first introduced and everyone went gaga over them, and over time the downsides to them were recognized. There are likely some "gotcha's" with Stevia that will be discovered down the road (there is no free lunch, as they say...)

The best thing that I have found to do is to work on reducing my need for sweetness, and mixing up, or diversifying, my sources of sweeteners (including the real thing,) when I do use them. I use them all (other than saccharine) in small amounts in different things when needed. That way I'm not overloading on any of them and when the big news comes out that X sweetener causes whatever horrifying disease, I'm much less impacted by it than if that had been my exclusive sweetener.

[OKCPirate 5,323]

For coffee I use SweetLeaf vanilla creme. It's Stevia with vanilla extract. That and some cinnamon and I'm ready to go in the morning. http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Vanilla-Flavored-Liquid-Stevia/dp/B000E8WIAS

[theantichick 2,204]

I am allergic to aspartame (well, it's a Migraine trigger, not really an allergy) and I like Splenda, but I've noticed lately I get a nasty aftertaste with it. I use Monk Fruit sweetener in my coffee, stevia always had a weird taste to it. I wish there were more options with the sweeteners out there. I'm hoping there isn't aspartame in the Protein drinks/shakes (I just ordered a variety to taste test, I'll likely be having surgery in July).

Is there a particular stevia you've found doesn't taste odd?

[OzRoo 1,492]

I actually managed to have a Cappuccino with nothing in it, as the coffee place only had sugar or equal.

It tasted fine.

Up till 2 years ago, I drank my coffees without any sugar or sweeteners ...... before the sugar/sweet demon appeared.

@@theantichick

I am finishing Stevia Powder from Wonder Foods. This is the one that is very sweet, so I use tiny amount now.

I also got "Naturals - sweetened with all natural Stevia". I haven't tried it yet, however it is made by Equal ..... the irony of it. Not sure if I can trust this, but I will try it.

I guess, my next stop will be at a health food shop.

@@rickm,

I agree that all the sugar substitutes were wearing halos when first introduced ..... Not anymore.

With Stevia, my GP doctor with naturopathic degrees, put me onto Stevia 20 years ago, to combat my hypoglycaemia.

So far I haven't heard anything bad about Stevia .....

There is Xylitol, but it is too expensive for me to use at this stage.

@@OKCPirate,

This sounds delicious! Thank you for the link