Re: Stevia

From: Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Date: Thu Apr 06 2000 - 08:45:53 MDT


On Wednesday, April 05, 2000 7:17 PM Don Klemencic klemencc@sgi.net wrote:
> Speaking of the unhealthy American binge for high-glycemic carbohydrates,
> one of the worst is sugar. There is a potential alternative in a plant
> substance called stevia, but do a subject search on the net for stevia to
> see how it was blocked by bureaucracy and money politics.

I assume this is no longer the case, since we have stevia at my place of
work and I've also seen it on sale in food stores.:)

I agree with the rest of Don's sentiments against the FDA. Check out
www.lef.org for more on the FDA and letters you can send to your
Congressperson (for US citizens) if that's the route you want to go. (I've
done this before and intend to keep doing it. It's a very cheap form of
activism.)

> Stevia has been used by South American Indians for hundreds of years as a
> sweetener. It currently has about 40% of the sweetener market in Japan and
> is also used widely in Europe. It's hundreds of times sweeter than sugar,
> but has essentially no calories. It doesn't degrade when heated, so it can
> be used for cooking. It has the potential to be a powerful tool in
building
> a diet that avoids blood insulin spikes.

I've used stevia before and I've one problem with it. This is that it
invariably makes everything it touches taste like licorice. Now, don't get
me wrong here. Licorice is a fine taste indeed. However, I don't want
every sweet thing I eat to taste like it.

Aside from that, my way of lowering carbs in my diet is to lower carbs in my
diet -- not to seek a sugar substitute. But I've never been overweight. In
fact, I'm more toward the underweight side of the spectrum. So perhaps
stevia is the answer for some people. Can't hurt to try.

Hope you like the taste.:/

Daniel Ust
http://mars.superlink.net/neptune/



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