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<\/a>Stevia is a natural product made from the leaves of a plant related to the sunflower.\u00a0 It is native to South and Central America.\u00a0 The plant has been used for decades there as a sweetener for the native teas and for folk medicines.\u00a0 You can buy it at most supermarkets as well as in health food stores. It\u2019s not even expensive.<\/p>\nStevia has zero calories and a zero glycemic number.\u00a0 It is heat stable and can be substituted for sugar in almost everything.<\/p>\n
The drawbacks?\u00a0 It can have a bitter, licorish-like aftertaste.\u00a0 My first encounter with Stevia was several years back in liquid form. It was so dreadful that I didn\u2019t try it again for years.\u00a0 The production of Stevia has come a long way since then, though.\u00a0 Now there are varieties that have no aftertaste and some that are combined with sugar or other sweeteners so that they are very palatable.<\/p>\n
Baking with Stevia can be a bit tricky since the comparison to sugar varies depending on the type and brand.\u00a0 It is great as a sweetener for tea, though, and I use it daily in that way.<\/p>\n
There is still a school of thought that any sweetener on your taste buds fools your autopilot into believing that sugar is on the way. One thing about sugar — it makes you crave more sugar. \u00a0Just notice what happens to your hunger and your cravings when you have even a healthy sweetener.\u00a0 You may find that it doesn\u2019t affect you one way or another. \u00a0 Regardless, if you are going to eat something sweet, you might as well make it sweetened with something that doesn\u2019t harm you, add calories, or give you a surge in your blood sugar.\u00a0 Stevia can be a great option.<\/p>\n
Eating to live and living for Christ,<\/p>\n
Susan Jordan Brown<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We\u2019ve talked about bad-for-you sweeteners and some that aren\u2019t so bad, but still have calories.\u00a0 What about zero calorie sweeteners?\u00a0 Yes, there are some.\u00a0 One of the most popular is Stevia. Stevia is a natural product made from the leaves of a plant related to the sunflower.\u00a0 It is native to South and Central America.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[388,389],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-eating-plan","tag-stevia","tag-sweetener"],"yoast_head":"\n
Healthy, Zero Calorie Sweetener - Beyond Gorgeous<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beyondgorgeous\/2012\/03\/healthy-zero-calorie-sweetener.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Healthy, Zero Calorie Sweetener - Beyond Gorgeous\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve talked about bad-for-you sweeteners and some that aren\u2019t so bad, but still have calories.\u00a0 What about zero calorie sweeteners?\u00a0 Yes, there are some.\u00a0 One of the most popular is Stevia. 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<\/a>Stevia is a natural product made from the leaves of a plant related to the sunflower.\u00a0 It is native to South and Central America.\u00a0 The plant has been used for decades there as a sweetener for the native teas and for folk medicines.\u00a0 You can buy it at most supermarkets as well as in health food stores. It\u2019s not even expensive.<\/p>\n