Anybody use stevia?

[Raw Rob]

I want to go zero-carb. Carbs cause me problems. (skin, digestion) Anyway, I love having a bit of honey in my egg shakes. I'm thinking about getting some stevia to replace it with. I only just read about stevia last night in the book, "Cure Tooth Decay," which is really good by the way. So, what do people think or know about stevia? Thanks.

[goodsamaritan]

Get a potted stevia plant and plant it in your garden.
Pick a few fresh leaves when you want to taste something sweet.

[wodgina]

Go cold turkey, its 90% mental.

[Raw Rob]

It's not a problem. I don't have sweet cravings. I just liked that little bit of honey in my egg shakes. I've been having them without it. I'm just curious about stevia because it seems pretty natural but there's a lot of controversy surrounding tests on it. It sounds to me like the FDA has hidden agendas in banning it, and then finally allowing it. That is, I think they're cooperating with certain corporations. I can live without it, just wondering if anyone else on here has used it or knows anything about it.

[wodgina]

yes I've used it a fair bit. I've used the processed white version and that tastes really good although a bit bitter and the pure herb which is green is not that sweet and is very bitter. The processed is the best.

The only problems I had were that I went mad with the stuff making my drinks sweeter and sweeter which just made me crave sweet things more and more!

It's fine I think, unless you get an insulin response like I do. If thats the case go cold turkey on anything remotely sweet.

[Waungata]

Get a potted stevia plant and plant it in your garden.
Pick a few fresh leaves when you want to taste something sweet.

My sister-in-law has one in a pot and it does taste sweet. I didn't taste the nasty aftertaste that people speak of. There was a little bit of an aftertaste but it wasn't bad tasting.

[goodsamaritan]

I know stevia is set to be heavily promoted because they will be putting it into soft drinks.

I get enough sweet things from my hydrating tropical fruits.  I do not see a need for myself to be eating stevia leaves.

If people have a sugar / sweets addiction, it can be cured easily by vco detoxing http://tinyurl.com/vcodetox if you are not allergic to VCO. My brother cured his ice cream addiction this way.

[Satya]

Stevia is like a plant steroid, and I would not personally take it on any regular basis.  If you need some sweet taste, then better to get it from a food that might actually provide other nutrients.  I agree with Andrew that if you are trying to go zero carb, adding sweet taste is just going to make it harder in terms of compliance.

There have been to date, to the best of my knowledge, no human trials with stevia leaf or extract.  But here's what it did to male rats:


    J Ethnopharmacol. 1999 Nov 1;67(2):157-61. Related Articles, Links

    Effects of chronic administration of Stevia rebaudiana on fertility in rats.

    Melis MS.

    Departamento de Biologia, Setor de Fisiologia, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciencias e Letras, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. msmelis

    A study conducted on prepubertal male rats showed that chronic administration (60 days) of a Stevia rebaudiana aqueous extract produced a decrease in final weight of testis, seminal vesicle and cauda epididymidis. In addition, the fructose content of the accessory sex glands and the epididymal sperm concentration are decreased. Stevia treatment tended to decrease the plasma testosterone level, probably by a putative affinity of glycosides of extract for a certain androgen receptor, and no alteration occurred in luteinizing hormone level. These data are consistent with the possibility that Stevia extracts may decrease the fertility of male rats.

    PMID: 10619379 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Raw Rob]

Yikes, yeah I'm not gonna mess with that stuff.

[Raw Kyle]

I've tried Stevia extract and didn't like the taste too much. For a while as a raw vegan I was using agave nectar, which is very tasty. Honey beats them all though imo, flavor and health wise.