My stevia sweetener is now available in grocery stores – YES! Many years ago, I ran across an “artificial sweetener” in a vitamin store that was made from the stevia plant. At the time, I was on a diet and not too fond of the other artificial sweeteners (can you say aftertaste?) that were on the market at that time.
So I picked up a box and took it home. It was fabulous! Stevia comes from a plant, and not from chemicals like a lot of other artificial sweeteners, so right away, I felt better about using it in my iced tea and other beverages. Stevia sweeteners are made by steeping the leaves of the stevia plant like tea. That releases the rebiana – the naturally sweet ingredient found in the leaves – which is dried into a product that looks just like sugar.
The box of stevia sweetener that I purchased many years ago also advertised that it was good for diabetics. Since I had a diabetic brother-in-law, I sent him a box that year for Christmas. My sister said he really liked it, and she started using it, too. They could not find the stevia sweetener in their hometown, so every year, they would put the stevia sweetener on their Christmas list and I would try to send them a box.
But then I ran out, and the vitamin store was not a place that I visited regularly, and I slowly went back to my chemical-ly artificial sweeteners. Some new brands came out that weren’t too bad, and eventually, I forgot about the stevia sweetener.
Fast-forward a few years and my eye catches a new box in the artificial sweetener aisle of my grocery store. The name sounded like stevia … Truvia™ … so I picked up the box. A pretty green and white box with a luscious looking strawberry dipped in … sugar? No, dipped in Truvia™ Natural Sweetener! YES! … it was stevia!
Stevia sweeteners are different than artificial sweeteners (at least in my opinion) because they taste so much like sugar and there is little or no aftertaste. It can be used not only in beverages, but also in cooking and sprinkled on cereal or fruit just like you would sprinkle sugar. I did a taste test with my husband – who is NOT an artificial sweetener kinda guy (except for his Diet Pepsi). I dipped a fresh strawberry into Truvia™ and told him to taste it and tell me, on a scale of 1-10, how much it tasted like sugar.
Now before I tell you his response, I have to qualify this by saying that he is what I call a “super-taster”. He’s a picky eater and he can tell the difference immediately if you try to substitute an ingredient in one of his favorite dishes – believe me, I know, I’ve tried! So I was very pleased when he announced, “An 8 or a 9 – really close!”.
If you haven’t tried Truvia™ yet, you are missing out on a great, natural zero-calorie sweetener. Try it today!
Sources:
Truvia website: http://www.truvia.com/index.html
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