Hi all,

Stevia is NOT a diet supplement/pill of any kind. It is in fact a sweetner.

I had a girl from my work show it to me. She uses it to sweeten her tea, and certain dishes.

I had asked her when I saw her open this tiny little white jar, take 1/100th of a teaspoon if this white powder, and stirred it into her tea. So she made me a tea... and by god - just the teeny tiny pinch of this white stuff (stevia powdered extract) made the tea taste like there was at least 1 teaspoon of regular granlutated sugar in my cup!

Has anyone heard of this? Or even use it?

http://www.stevia.com/

If you are a user, do you know of any possible nasty side effects (e.g. like any other artificial sweeteners)?

My friend at work is a health-nut and swears by this stuff.

nope, my dietition highly recommends stevia, its all natural or something, one of the best "artificial sweeteners" for you, because apparently its not so artificial, I find it extremely sweet, however, it is one of the best things on the market these days.

I have heard there is some health concerns with stevia but I don't know the specifics. Just because something is 'all natural' doesn't mean it is safe. It is true that stevia leaf has been used for a while in asia but again I don't think it has been used extensively and similarly with soy, when you start to put something into everything and concentrate it, it starts to worry me. We haven't seen stevia in many products, partially due to cost though. I use stevia in liquid form occasionally.

If you need to use a sweetner for your food/drink, stevia is a good way to go. MUCH better than splenda for sure. I have some in my kitchen cabinet, but haven't used it yet. I hear that you should use it sparingly because of how sweet even just a bit is.

Today a friend from work brough me a slip from her stevia plant. I tasted a little bit of the leaf and low and behold it tasted like sugar! I stuck it in water to see if the plant would take root. If so I'll plant it.

I've been using it to sweeten my coffee and tea for about a month now. I went to the natural foods section of a local super market and they had packets of it. I carry some in my purse for eating out and have a stash at work.

I even found some flavored stevia to add to bottled water like Crystal Light. Tried Cherry and Lime and I really like them both.

I feel much better about using this than equal or splenda.

I have used it regularly for about a year now. I really like it better than Splenda for yogurt and drink sweetening. I use stevia or agave to sweeten almost everything.

Stevia in it's least processed form is hard to find.. but the best! (IMO) That way you can get away from all the processed stuff that worries people. I don't think that it's officially arroved by anyway.. but I swear by it. ( still use splenda for big things..but use stevia is much as i can. i hope to start growing my own if I can ever find the seeds! hehe

I am hoping my slip roots so I can plant mine.

Here's a link to Nutrition Action Newsletter on stevia:

http://www.cspinet.org/nah/4_00/stevia.html

This is from another website:

Scientists studying the potential toxicology and toxicity of stevia have several main concerns:

Energy Metabolism: Large amounts of stevioside can potentially interfere with absorption of carbohydrates in animals. It can further disrupt the metabolising/conversion of food into energy.

Cancer: Steviol has successfully been converted into a mutagenic compound, which may promote cancer by causing genetic mutation of a cell’s DNA. The catch? Scientists don’t yet know if this will happen in human cells.

Reproductive problems: European scientists cite potential adverse side effects to the male reproductive system. When fed high doses of stevioside for nearly two years, sperm production in male rats was noticeably reduced and the weight of seminal vesciles declined. Likewise, when female hamsters were fed large amounts of a stevioside derivative called steviol, their offspring were found to be fewer and smaller. Again, it should be noted that this has been neither tested nor proven in humans.

Draw your own conclusions

Hmm.. Interesting infor ddc, thanks...

I've been using stevia for a while now, usually I have 1/4 tsp once a day. Spenda makes me sick so I was looking for something else. I've been slipping back to using 1/2 tsp of raw sugar lately, might just go back to that...

@ddc: thanks for an informative info.
I'd say "everything is good in moderation" IMO, Stevia is healthier than all other loaded with no-one knows what sweeteners.

We just talked about this at our meeting... Apparently Stevia is the new rage now and the soda companies are marketing their own brand... Truvia is in stores now and she said it was made by Pepsi (not sure if that is accurate). Apparently several companies are making it and they all end their products in XXXvia. It is more expensive than sugar or Splenda, but might be worth it....

We've been using it for almost two years. It is sold with supplements in the store. You will never find it on the shelf with sugar--at least not right now. My children's dietician and pediatrician (a cancer survivor) uses it and would definitely not be using it unless she felt it safe.