Stevia
 

Does anyone have any personal experience trying Stevia? What did/didn't you like about it?

I've done some online research and I keep coming up with the same yadda yadda. Most everything has been qualified by "in lab rats"(who ate half their body weight in it), which is why I'm asking about personal experience.

I tried it in a recipe for the first time this weekend (pumpkin muffins). I like the taste, but not so much the after-taste.

I can't stand the taste and after taste. I've tried it more than once and it just doesn't do it for me. I'm not a super sweet tooth anyway so I go with aspartame or some real sugar. I prefer brown sugar from the cane, not beet sugar. Honey does the trick as well for a few things.

I like Stevia because it's plant based and not from some extreme chemistry experiment. I mostly use it on unsweetened cereal, fruit, and in coffee it it's available. I've never tried it in cooking. I don't notice the aftertaste. But then again, I'm a diet Coke fiend. It's a nice alternative to Splenda, which I've tried and can't take. It causes major upset stomach/digestive problems for me.

I can't handle fake sugars of any kind. Aside from what I find to be an abnormal taste and texture, I get stomach aches and head aches from them. But that's just me.

Splenda is the worst offender. Stevia is actually obnoxiously sweet to me, but in an off way.

Funny story - I found out my husband used to use actual Stevia leaves in his tea growing up. Normally, I don't ask him these kind of questions, being that he grew up thinking that if you eat watermelon and drank beer, you would die. (Interesting Old Wive's tales they have down there)

we use truvia to sweeten drinks at my house and my husband and i both love it. i have not cooked with it.

I'm not a fan of the after taste. I prefer honey or agave nectar.

Thanks so much for this thread! I have bad reactions to both aspartame & Splenda, and was wondering what the natural sweeteners were like. FWIW, honey is supposedly really bad for diabetics, but I don't know for sure. I wish you could get small doses of Stevia, Truvia, etc, to test your body's reactions.

weird that i saw this thread. a co-worker is on a diet and is using stevia. she made me taste it. it was horrible. i can't believe that it's natural sugar. if all other sugar tasted like that maybe we wouldn't be so overweight. o_o

Personally, I don't care for the taste of stevia. I use real sugar, so if I am eating something that needs sugar in it, it had better be worth the calories!

My bff is Type I and she uses agave syrup because the artificial stuff can get to her at times.

Splenda/sucralose is the work of pure evil and is in so much stuff honeychile, srsly, it is everywhere. It makes me so sick and I have no idea how much it takes so I have to read the labels on everything. It is in a majority of toothpaste and mouthwash, so it takes me time to read the labels if I am not buying the more expensive "natural" organic stuff. Because of my sinus issues I have to be extra diligent about the damage from antibiotics, mouth breathing from congestion while sleeping, and general stanky breath and canker sores from stress so the benefits of chemical toothpaste are worth it to me until I get the nasal drama resolved.

Also be aware of anything that is low or no sugar added because Splenda/sucralose is in it as well. Juices, yogurt, non-dairy creamers, ice cream, cereal, it is more prevalent than Starbucks.

My grocery store sells Truvia in a container that's about a cup in size. They also sell a small box of packets in both Stevia and Truvia.

My Dad is diabetic and uses Agave syrup as well. I love to bake, and I baked with Agave for my dad- I just cut down on the liquid in the recipe and it works great without any aftertaste.

Splenda & Neutrasweet both give me horrible migraines, so I stear clear of those.

Truvia (made with Stevia but doesn't taste like it) is great and reminds me of sugar because of the white granules....looks just like it too but a little pricey.

Another great treasure is liquid Splenda (I have to watch my sugar/carb intake closely so when I come across a sugar-free treasure I get happy and want to share with the world :)). To me, it's so much better than the packets. The flavor is more intense so you use less, it has less of an aftertaste IMO, and it doesn't have the fillers that the packets have...just pure sucralose. And the little container lasts forever so you save money and can take it with you wherever you go. Also, some have reported headaches with the packets but not with the liquid version so you may want to give it a try.

I get mine from netrition.com (a great site for a variety of low carb and special diet products by the way that are hard to find in stores; also delivery is quick and cheap...$4 ground for your total order and arrives fast). Let me know if you're doing the low carb thing and I can recommend some other products from that site and other low carb sites.

Anyway, they sell the "EZ-Sweetz" brand of liquid sucralose. Find it here: http://www6.netrition.com/ezsweetz.html and remember that the bottle lasts for months.

Sugar is sugar for diabetics (including carbs which is the same as sugar to our bodies with the exception of fiber). I'm diabetic myself...it often doesn't matter if it's natural for a real sensitive person; however, some are able to tolerate more than others, including low sugar fruits in moderation. Juices and syrups are especially a problem for most although I don't know much about the Agave syrup...will have to look into that one but I probably can't have it. It's important to note though that each person is different and everyone is not in the same place regarding their diabetes so one person may be okay to have something that someone else will have a problem with. Some are also able to get away with eating more sugar/carbs because of the medications (including insulin for some) they take.