Okay, the low down as to why I want to know about sweeteners, particularly Stevia.

I have some stubborn acne. Runs in my family... Brother and sister out grew it, mom did but my dad (almost fifty) still has it. I'm 23. Anyway... I've read that Apple Cider Vinegar is really good for the skin and just good for you all over. I thought it would be nice to start trying to drink it more often as my mother (step-mom but always been my mom) is always talking about it and how good it is. Thought it would help with my acne and just be great for the healthy life style over all!

But I hate the taste :P My mother gags it down by watering it down but I don't want to torture myself with it.

However, I heard you can kind of make it taste like apple pie if you add cinnamon and sweetner and stir like crazy. I thought that would be a great idea! I don't drink sugary drinks anymore, it would be a great treat when I crave soda and hot chocolate and juice and be really healthy for me.

I don't want to make it unhealthy by dumping in all that sugar though, and a lot of artificial sweeteners, though low calorie, are unhealthy for you. Its why I don't even drink diet soda and diet drinks with the artificial sweetners. So I started looking up healthy sweeteners and came across Stevia. And the jury is out still.

On one hand, its hailed as one of the best, healthiest all-natural sweeteners (its derived from a plant.) You need way less of it then sugar and it lacks that funky after taste. Its said to have multiple health benefits and that older cultures where the plant is derived from have been using it for generations.

On the other hand, its labeled as this not fully tested danger sweetner that has been linked to genetic mutations and causing fertility problems. Its all said tolead to painful stomach cramps by some.

More sites and reviews say that its good for you then bad, but I just don't know. I'm thinking of sweetening with good quality honey as an alternative, but apparently that's bad for you too and I just don't know what to do.

I don't want a sweetener to replace all of my baking, or to use in all my tea.... I drink my tea plain. No milk, no sugar, no cream. The rare times I do bake I'm still gonna use sugar. I don't drink coffee. I JUST want it for this apple cider vinegar drink. I'd love if it was low calorie but I'm not looking for absolute zero calorie. I just want healthy. So, if you use stevia or know if its actually good for you or anything, please let me know!!! Or, if you know of a healthy sweetner , I'd love that too please!!!

I've actually drunk apple cider vinegar for various dietary protocols. Honestly, just my opinion now, three things to keep in mind:
1. The type REALLY matters, like really. Pasteurized and standardized (stuff from average grocery stores) is not very nice. The best quality is one like Bragg's, unpasteurized. You will taste and smell a difference.

2. Watering it down makes it 1000% worse! Cannot emphasize it enough, watering any vinegar down makes it hopelessly vile.

3. Keep the stuff in the fridge and drink it down just like a tequila shooter. You know, take a breath and hold it, knock back the shot trying to avoid touching your tastebuds as much as possible, and breath out after it's swallowed.

As for stevia ... I haven't heard a thing about it causing genetic mutations, that's a new one. It has literally centuries of use in many countries who are a lot more careful with what they put in their bodies than the US is (seriously, the US flouridates it's water and has no problem with GMOs or a whole lot of pesticides many countries won't allow over the border). US manufacturers didn't want to give up their share of the artificial sweetener pie that they knew crunchy granola types would be all over with a no cal sweetener from a plant. And that's part of the reason it's still technically not considered a sweetener but a food supplement.

There are other "no calorie" sweeteners that are often mixed with stevia because of it's taste. IMO it's sweet the same way saccharine is, the ghost of sweet, if you get my drift. Now some of the products that it gets paired up with are often sugar alcohol based products (e.g., xylitol, mannitol or erythritol), which technically means they still fall under the natural category, and some of THOSE do give some people GI problems (all the sugar alcohols except erythritol kill me). Erythritol is a natural sugar alcohol based product that is generally well tolerated by the vast majority of people but it does not dissolve in cold products and goes right back to a solid state if you dissolve it in something hot. Funny stuff, I tried making a simple syrup with it once, ended up with a bowl of liquid and a solid layer of erythritol in the bottom of the bowl.

Stevia "kind of sort of" tastes sweet in its weird way, like I said. You will find there is a variation in taste between powder and liquid (I prefer liquid) and even between brands. A bottle of liquid stevia lasts forever, you literally measure it out by the dropperful. So if you simply cannot abide straight, cold, good quality vinegar I'd say get a bottle of the liquid stevia and see if it a few drops takes the edge off.

If you're not afraid of some serious spice and want to drink ACV, you can try looking up recipes for fire cider. It's sugar-free and packs a wallop, but it's good stuff. There's also a place in Massachusetts that ships their own recipe across the US, which I have tried before and LOVED.

As far as Stevia goes, I use it without problems, but it depends on your own tolerances and whatnot. The liquid sweetener is great for drinks - you only need a little bit.

I've used stevia in the past.. how much are you talking about putting in the mix? Personally (and I used the powdered stuff) I found that if you add a good bit of it stuff ended up tasting a bit bitter. I was trying to use it for coffee and it just didn't do it for me.

For the ACV, agreed with Renew Me. Try and take it as a shot.

In the U.S. it was banned in '90s. The ban was lifted in 2008. I won't use it.

It didn't do Lydia any good so I avoid it

I won't get into the safety controversy with Stevia, I'll just say I'm among those who tried it and found the taste to be awful. The sweetness was overpowered by a horrible off-taste that I can't really describe. It wasn't an aftertaste, either, it was always present.

Your mileage may vary of course. I just know it was not the solution to the sweetener problem.

I never heard of erythritol before this thread, I think I will try it. I have terrible reactions to sugar alcohols but this one looks like it mostly just passes right through you.

Lol

I still have a half bottle of Sweet 10! That is some old school stuff. Still love it, only used it for fresh fruit smoothies.

Stevia sucks, along with all the NEW artificial sweetener junk. Quite frankly, I think it's all yukky. Pretty sure some one took some old floor wax, and waxed my mouth!

Brown sugar, white sugar, maple syrup, honey. None of these are bad things, used in moderation.

Balance and common sense!

Have you thought of making salad dressing with it and eating it on a big salad? To me, that would be more palatable than trying to make a beverage out of it.

If I had to drink it, I'd have to drink it as a shot or maybe stir it into one of the stronger flavored kool-aid type drink mixes.

Motts and Jolly Rancher and Walmart's Great Value brand all make an apple flavored drink mix that would probably mask it, but they're all made with aspartame, I believe.

Finding one that isn't sweetened with aspartame can be difficult. Personally, from the studying I've done, I believe that most (if not all) of aspartame's negative effects are caused by it's folate-depleting effects. Eating plenty of fruits and veggies or taking a folic acid supplement eliminates the risks or at least most of them.

I believe that all sweeteners, even the natural ones have risks, even fruit. I am diabetic so natural sugars are a bigger risk to me than the artificial ones. I use a lot of different sweeteners and try to combine them whenever I can because most sweeteners have a synergistic effect when combined. In combination they have more sweetening power than when they're used on their own.

As for the sugar alcohols (also called fruit sugars), I'm not a fan of erythritol, but I like xylitol (birch sugar), which doesn't bother me like some others.

I'm so sensitive to sorbitol that even one pear can rile my digestive tract something fierce (two pears and it's like I've gotten food poisoning).

If the only reason you want stevia is to mix with vinegar to drink to combat acne, you might want to consult a dermatologist first. From what I can tell, it's a myth that drinking vinegar helps with acne. There is a small amount of evidence to show that it can help topically - dilute it well and apply to skin - but it doesn't work for everyone.

It's possible that most of the folklore recommendations for vinegar are based on theories, not science, and should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm very much in favor of alternative treatments, and research them for myself, but vinegar is one that I passed on. There are some benefits to vinegar, but there are also a lot of myths out there.

Good luck with whatever method you choose

Most sweeteners are generally recognized as safe if they're being sold. There really isn't a lot of evidence out there (and by evidence, I mean from legitimate sources, not Mercola or Natural News), that they are bad for you. Most of the issue seems to be that some people will be more likely to crave sweets (and some, like xylitol, cause digestive upset.) I dislike stevia and aspartame due to the aftertaste, but like Splenda.

As far as acne, I don't know that there's any evidence for ACV. What sort of routine are you doing? You might want to head over to Paula's Choice and check out the line of products (I have a referral code if it's something you're into.) A lot of good information can also be had through the Skincare Addition forum on Reddit. A lot of people find that a combination of BHA, benzoyl peroxide and some retinol work wonders.