Is Stevia For You And Your Family?

Stevia offers an acceptable, safe alternative to high calorie sugars and corn-syrup. With America's waistbands getting larger than ever, finding safe substitutions has become a priority. A can of pop contains 150 calories. You can likely do without the extra calories, let alone all that simple sugar, likely to be quickly stored as fat. Alternatives to sugar are becoming a bigger business every year, and traditional sweeteners are getting pushed to the side as people look for natural alternatives.

The long-term effects of chemical sweeteners are unknown, as studies rarely last longer than a couple of years. Using sweeteners from natural sources is arguably more safe in the long run.

How to best use Stevia

There are a few different forms of stevia that you can get your hands on at a local natural food store or health food store. It is available in a liquid and powdered form, making it fairly diverse.

The only limitation to stevia is that it cannot caramelize as sugar does. When it comes to making things like meringue, stevia won't likely work. In addition, if you are concerned with the colour of the food, be aware that stevia is naturally green. Depending on the quantity you use, it may change the color. However, there is an extracted version of stevia which is clear, both in liquid and powdered form.

Aside from being wary of the color of the herb, you can use Stevia is any way you use sugar. Add it to coffee and tea, use it in baking, cooking and anything else.

One of the coolest things about stevia is that anyone can grow the plant and extract the sweetening from it from home. Using either the leaves, or the raw green powder, blend with up alcohol. You can also blend it with water for 24 hours, but it does not yield the same amount  the sweetening. The alcohol content can then be reduced by heating it slightly for some time, letting the alcohol evaporate off the top. Filter the liquid out of the leaves or powder and you'll be left with your very own, home-made Stevia!

Go ahead and try Stevia for your family, and see if it makes a positive difference, you'll likely be satisfied with the changeover, and feel good about eating more clean, natural sources. You'll also be reducing your simple sugar intake in a healthy way. Just be sure that you don't replace those calories with other unhealthy ones!