Anyone have any experience with stevia? From what I've read, it's a natural calorie-free alternative to sugar without the unhealthy effects of sugar and artificial sweeteners. I've received some as a gift. I'm quite satisfied with the taste. Thus far, I've only tried it in hot tea and oatmeal. Legally, stevia can't be sold as a sweetener or used as a food additive in the USA. But considering the toxic waste the FDA does approve as food additives, I figure if they don't want us to have it it must be good for you. Any thoughts?
[Edited 1/21/08 7:02am]

I have known ppl that used Stevia for all of their cooking and baking.
I have been told that you can taste the difference but it is a good alternative.
I would use it before Aspartame any day though.

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[Edited 1/21/08 7:00am]

I've never heard of it.

I always have a box of it in my pantry. It isn't terribly sweet, so I mainly use it for things I want to sweeten just a bit (like tea) or to cut the amount of sugar I would normally use in something like hot chocolate. I would use it in place of something like Splenda.

I would never bake with stevia or try to use it for making ice cream. Sugar has chemical properties in those applications (browning, lowering the melting point) that just can't be duplicated.

It is good for some things and not so good for others - there is a taste diference and it is not quite as sweet as sugar

It has a bitter aftertaste. don't like it

I've used it in lemonade and iced tea. It has a little bit of aftertaste but otherwise it is really good. In Japan they use stevia as the sweetener in diet colas, but in this country it was "banned" as a food additive thanks to the corn and chemical lobby. The head of Archer Daniels Midland company, a major corn processor, lobbied to keep the price of sugar cane artificially high so they could put high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener in just about every food, while G.D. Searle (now owned by Pfizer) lobbied to ban stevia as a sweetener so they could market NutraSweet (aspartame). BTW, at the time NutraSweet was introduced to the market by G.D. Searle, guess who was the CEO of the company.....

Donald Rumsfeld.

728huey said:

It drives me crazy all of the stuff they put aspartame in these days.

Quamirozsaz said:

I tried it years ago when still I lived in the States. I recall rather hazily working on a feature for it for a job with with Prevention Magazine. I liked it alot, actually.

They've started selling it here in Germany in health food stores, but the price is too astronomical for me to justify going back to it.

Isn't that what Splenda is?

AnckSuNamun said:

splenda is sucralose. It's different.

CarrieMpls said:

I use Splenda sometimes since it's made from real sugar. I was just avoiding anything with Aspartame. Either way, I guess it's damaging to your health.

I grew a stevia plant in my herb garden last year, and have about a quart of dried leaves right now. I mostly just use it in tea or coffee, putting a pinch of a leaf in my tea infuser, or a whole leaf in the coffee press. It does have somewhat of an aftertaste.

I know a woman who runs a health food store, and uses stevia in all of her baking. I've had many of her cookies and they taste just fine. It's confusing though, adjusting the recipe for using stevia instead of sugar, so I don't do it. Organic sugar is fine for me.

A note on Splenda: 30% of sucrolose from Splenda is metabolized and stored in the liver and kidneys, resulting in enlarged liver and kidneys, reduced growth rate and decreased fetal body weight in pregnant women.

AnckSuNamun said:

Says the manufacturer. And they can't say it in France anymore - because it was found to be misleading. (Splenda does not start out as sugar cane. It is manufactured, with three chloride ions in place of three hydroxyl groups.)

Genesia said:

I've been reading how it's broken down now. I use it every blue moon, so I never thought to check up on it. I have diabetic family members who use these sweeteners on a regular basis though. They're aware of the Equal/Sweet-N-Low scandal, but I don't think they were aware that Splenda was equally bad.

AnckSuNamun said:

I'm not sure that it's as bad as aspartame. (I use it on occasion, myself.)

Bottom line: you don't want to be using sweeteners of any kind (artificial or "natural") on a regular basis. It just primes the pump for constant cravings.

they've come up with something else. I've never heard of stevia before.

I've never baked or cooked with it, but it's great for adding to things like tea and coffee.

statuesqque said:

It's not too bad. Like the others have said it's pretty ok for tea. It's not so new though, it's been out for at least 10 years. I guess back in the day you generally could only find it at health food stores like "Whole Foods Market" and "Wild Oats"---

Stevia has been around for a while. From what I've read, it's been sold as a sweetener in Japan since 1971. It accounts for 40% of their sweetener market. They put it in everything from chewing gum to Diet Coke.

Ottensen said:

REALLY, 10 years...this is the first I'm learning of it. I remember when Equal first came out as a sugar alternative, then the big Splendia push but nothing before that…other than Sweet n' Low, which is nasty to me, though when I bake from scratch I always use sugar.